Chief People Officer

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

About

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) provides a full range of general acute, outpatient and diagnostic services at The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, the Herts and Essex Hospital in Bishops Stortford, and St Margarets Hospital in Epping.

We employ 4,000 people and serve a local population of around 350,000 people living in west Essex and east Hertfordshire, centred on the M11 corridor and the towns of Harlow, Bishops Stortford and Epping. Our extended catchment area incorporates a population of up to 500,000 and includes the areas of Hoddesdon, Cheshunt and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire.

Our values

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) Promise To Our Patients, As Identified By Our Three Values Which Will Contribute To Improving Our Patients Experiences, Is:

Patient at heart
Everyday excellence
Creative collaboration

Job Overview

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) is at a pivotal stage in its development, and our next Chief People Officer will play a fundamental role in shaping the future of our workforce, ensuring our people feel valued, supported, and empowered to deliver outstanding care to the communities we serve. Alongside the appointment of Thom Lafferty as our new CEO, this is an exciting opportunity to join our executive team.

This is a crucial time for PAHT as we embark on the development of our new Clinical Strategy and continue our journey towards a state-of-the-art new hospital, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform healthcare for our community. While construction has been delayed until 2032, our commitment to modernising our services, improving patient care, and fostering a thriving workforce has never been stronger. The Chief People Officer will be instrumental in driving this transformation, ensuring that our people strategy is aligned with our evolving needs and that we remain an employer of choice.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

We are looking for a dynamic and strategic leader who can bring fresh thinking, strong collaboration, and a clear vision to our people agenda. The successful candidate will have extensive experience in workforce leadership within a complex healthcare or public sector setting, with a track record of driving cultural transformation, workforce modernisation, and financial sustainability. They will be a visible and inspiring leader, with the ability to build strong relationships internally and externally, influencing national and regional workforce policy while ensuring that PAHT remains at the forefront of NHS workforce innovation.

What We Can Offer You

• Full induction and onboarding process in our organisation
• Free car parking for our staff
• Structured pay scheme, including additional living supplement to your basic salary
• Minimum 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time staff)
• Access to our Alex Lounge, our staff only rest area with free tea and coffee
• Access to NHS Pension scheme
• Flexible working options available, in line with our flexible working policy
• Onsite creche facilities
• Annual appraisals with career pathways
• In-house training courses
• Discounted hospital restaurant
• Staff health and wellbeing health services and complimentary health provision

Important information

• Our Trust is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all its employees. We welcome applications from anyone who meets the specific criteria of the post regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender reassignment, marital status, pregnancy, religion or belief or sexual orientation. Reasonable adjustments to the interview process can also be made for any candidates with a disability.
• All new colleagues joining PAHT will be subject to a probationary period of six months.
• The closing date given is a guide only. There may be some occasions where we have to close a vacancy once sufficient applications have been received. It is therefore advisable that you submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
• Our Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and vulnerable adults. Offers of employment are subject to pre-employment NHS screening checks.
• Providing false or misleading information or unsatisfactory pre-employment checks may result in the offer of a post being withdrawn.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration. The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Person specification
Education And Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Masters degree or equivalent experience in Human Resources (HR), Organisational Development (OD) or a related field.
• Membership of Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development or equivalent.

Desirable criteria

• Postgraduate qualification in Leadership, Organisational Development, or Workforce Strategy.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Extensive Board-level experience leading workforce, HR, or organisational development functions within a complex healthcare, public sector, or large-scale organisation.
• Proven leadership experience in developing and delivering multi-year workforce strategies, aligned with national workforce policies and systemwide healthcare transformation.

Desirable criteria

• Previous executive-level experience within the NHS, social care, or a comparable large-scale public sector organisation.

Further details / informal visits contact

Name: Thomas Patterson
Job title: Managing Director, Alumni Global
Email address: [email protected]
Telephone number: 07703821996
Additional information: Thomas Patterson, Managing Director on +44 7970 339 151 and [email protected], Beth Stickney, Principal Researcher on +44 7703 821 996 and [email protected]