Leadership, Talent and Organisational Development Lead

Job overview

Are you an experienced organisational development professional with a passion for OD, leadership, talent and culture? Do you have a track record of leading change and influencing senior stakeholders within a complex organisation? An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Leadership, Talent and Organisational Development (OD) Lead to join Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

This is a pivotal strategic role, leading the Trust's leadership, talent and organisational development agenda to build leadership capability, foster an inclusive and high-performing culture, and drive the delivery of our People Strategy.

Working in partnership with Executive Directors, senior leaders and colleagues across the Trust, you will provide expert leadership and consultancy on organisational development and design (ODD), helping to shape innovative solutions that enhance organisational effectiveness, staff engagement, inclusion and continuous improvement.

You will lead a specialist OD team, overseeing a broad portfolio including leadership and management development, talent and succession planning, coaching and mentoring, organisational development consultancy, and culture change programmes.

This is an outstanding opportunity to make a lasting impact, influencing strategic priorities and helping to ensure Berkshire Healthcare remains a great place to work, where colleagues can thrive and deliver exceptional care for our communities.

Main duties of the job

As Leadership, Talent and OD Lead, you will set the strategic direction for the Trust's leadership, talent and organisational development portfolio, ensuring alignment with the People Strategy, NHS priorities and organisational objectives.

You will provide expert consultancy to Executive Directors, senior leaders and divisional teams on leadership development, organisational effectiveness, talent management, engagement and culture change.

You will lead the design, implementation and evaluation of leadership and management programmes, talent and succession initiatives, coaching and mentoring networks, psychometric assessment processes and organisation-wide ODD interventions.

Working collaboratively across the Trust and wider system, you will use workforce intelligence and organisational data to identify priorities, evaluate impact and deliver sustainable improvements in performance, inclusion and staff experience.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The ‘must haves’ for this role:

• Extensive professional knowledge acquired through a master's level qualification or equivalent experience in Organisational. Development, Organisational Psychology, Leadership, Management or a related discipline.
• Significant senior-level experience in organisational development, leadership, talent management, people strategy or organisational change within a large and complex organisation.
• Significant experience leading a Leadership, Talent and OD team and service.
• Proven experience of leading organisation-wide change, culture and leadership initiatives and delivering measurable improvements in organisational performance and employee experience.
• Knowledge and experience of organisation design and transformational change.
• Strong consultancy, facilitation and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and work across professional boundaries.
• Experience of designing, delivering and evaluating leadership and management development programmes and organisational development interventions.
• Experience of delivering, leading and embedding inclusive change initiatives with an understanding of the dynamics of change and the effects on people.
• Ability to travel across sites and attend regional and national meetings as required.

For further information, please see attached job description and person specification.

Please ensure your supporting statement clearly demonstrates how your skills, knowledge and experience match the essential requirements of the Person Specification. We recommend addressing each requirement individually and providing relevant examples.

We have identified that this is a role where we have underrepresentation of ethnically diverse colleagues. As part of our commitment to inclusion and Unity Against Racism we offer guaranteed interviews to candidates who meet the essential criteria and identify as: Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British, Mixed and ‘Other’ Ethnic Groups.

We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to contact Ash Ellis, Deputy Director for Leadership, Inclusion and Organisational Experience, for a conversation about the role: ash.ellis@berkshire.nhs.uk.

Interviews for this role will be held on Friday, 25th September 2026. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it’s important that examples and responses given in your supporting statement genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey.

In addition to explaining how you meet the person specification, you must complete your employment history for at least the last five years. Any experience, skills or responsibilities referenced in your supporting statement should be evidenced within your employment history. Applications that do not include sufficient employment history to support the experience claimed may not be shortlisted.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.