Job summary
This post is only open for applications from individuals employed within the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board.
Organisations within scope are as follows:
- Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Isle of Wight NHS Trust
- Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
- University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Salary: Very Senior Manager (VSM)
Base: Across Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
Main duties of the job
Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust are embarking on an ambitious and transformative journey together and we are seeking an exceptional Group Chief Strategy Officer - GCSO to shape the future of our organisations and the services we provide for our communities.
This pivotal Group Executive role will provide strategic leadership across both Trusts, driving clinically, financially and environmentally sustainable services and enabling a shared strategic vision for the future of healthcare across the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth.
If you are an inspirational executive leader who thrives on complexity, system collaboration, and long term strategic transformation, this is an extraordinary opportunity to make a profound and lasting impact.
About us
Working as a partnership, both Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust have a shared vision for excellence in care for our patients and communities; with a set of strategic aims underpinning how we will achieve this.
The group model is delivered across both organisation. You may be based at either IWT or PHU and individuals may be required to undertake business travel between sites. For leaders managing staff across multi-site locations, you will need to be visible and provide in person leadership. The arrangements and frequency will be agreed locally.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Role
As Group Chief Strategy Officer, you will:
- Lead the development and deployment of the strategic frameworks for both PHU and IWT.
- Shape and execute the transformation strategy required to deliver modern, sustainable, high quality services for our populations.
- Build and maintain strong partnerships with local, regional and national stakeholders, ensuring both Trusts are well positioned within an evolving health and care landscape.
- Provide Board level leadership and shared accountability for strategy, performance, quality, and long term sustainability across both organisations.
- Role model collaborative, compassionate executive leadership and foster a culture aligned to our values across both Trusts.
This is a defining role at the heart of our Group Executive team shaping a shared purpose, driving complex transformation, and enabling both organisations to deliver consistently safe, effective, high quality patient care.
About You
We are seeking a strategic, visionary and highly collaborative leader with:
- Executive level experience within a large and complex organisation.
- A track record of developing and delivering major organisational strategies.
- Strong political awareness, exceptional influencing skills, and the ability to build trusted relationships.
- Significant experience navigating complex financial, operational and system challenges.
- Intellectual flexibility, analytical strength, and the ability to see and shape the long term picture.
- The confidence, resilience and integrity needed to lead transformation across diverse teams and organisational boundaries.
Most importantly, you will be aligned with the values of both Trusts and committed to working in a collaborative, inclusive and system focused way.
As part of your application, please ensure you include your CV and Cover Letter. Applications can also be emailed to Claire Winter, Recruitment Consultant - Claire.Winter9@nhs.net.
Closing Date: Monday 23rd February 2026
Interview Date: Monday 9th March 2026
For further details including the full Job Description, please see enclosed Candidate Brief
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Role
As Group Chief Strategy Officer, you will:
- Lead the development and deployment of the strategic frameworks for both PHU and IWT.
- Shape and execute the transformation strategy required to deliver modern, sustainable, high quality services for our populations.
- Build and maintain strong partnerships with local, regional and national stakeholders, ensuring both Trusts are well positioned within an evolving health and care landscape.
- Provide Board level leadership and shared accountability for strategy, performance, quality, and long term sustainability across both organisations.
- Role model collaborative, compassionate executive leadership and foster a culture aligned to our values across both Trusts.
This is a defining role at the heart of our Group Executive team shaping a shared purpose, driving complex transformation, and enabling both organisations to deliver consistently safe, effective, high quality patient care.
About You
We are seeking a strategic, visionary and highly collaborative leader with:
- Executive level experience within a large and complex organisation.
- A track record of developing and delivering major organisational strategies.
- Strong political awareness, exceptional influencing skills, and the ability to build trusted relationships.
- Significant experience navigating complex financial, operational and system challenges.
- Intellectual flexibility, analytical strength, and the ability to see and shape the long term picture.
- The confidence, resilience and integrity needed to lead transformation across diverse teams and organisational boundaries.
Most importantly, you will be aligned with the values of both Trusts and committed to working in a collaborative, inclusive and system focused way.
As part of your application, please ensure you include your CV and Cover Letter. Applications can also be emailed to Claire Winter, Recruitment Consultant - Claire.Winter9@nhs.net.
Closing Date: Monday 23rd February 2026
Interview Date: Monday 9th March 2026
For further details including the full Job Description, please see enclosed Candidate Brief
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Management qualification or equivalent
- Educated to a Masters Degree level or equivalent post-graduate qualification
- Evidence of sustained personal and professional development
Experience
Essential
- Operating at Executive Director level in a large complex service organisation
- Demonstrable track record of significant achievements and delivered results
- Developed and delivered a comprehensive strategy and plan
- Developed and maintained good relationships and partnerships with internal colleagues and external agencies, managing those relationships with diplomacy
- Negotiated and influenced on a range of complex financial issues
Skills and Knowledge
Essential
- Strategic planner and visionary capable of translating the service strategy into effective policy and objectives
- Analytical astuteness, able to maintain control
- Able to express issues in an easily understood manner for a range of audiences
- Open and participative management
Other
Essential
- Tenacity: demonstrates high levels of self-belief, drive, enthusiasm and stamina to achieve goals and see things through
- Intellectual flexibility, ability to think conceptually, recognise assumptions, evaluate arguments and deduce inferences
- Ability to motivate, inspire and provide innovative solutions
- Confidence in achieving results in an inclusive and collaborative manner
- Ability to work effectively in a complex and changing environment
- Confident, independent and effective decision maker
- Ability to work under pressure to demanding timetables
- Understands the need to deliver short-term priorities and achieve long-term goals (sense of balance).
- Displays innovative and lateral thinking
- Prepared to work totally flexibly
- High degree of self-awareness
- Ability to maintain confidence, at all times
- Exceptionally high levels of personal integrity and loyalty
- Intellectual flexibility that enables the reasoned assessment of a situation and the ability to draw pragmatic conclusions
- Ability to broad scan to keep abreast of developments in the Health Care sector
- Ability to deal with confidential issues in a professional and sensitive manner
- Self management
- Personal integrity
- Broad scanning
- Seizing the future
- Political astuteness
- Intellectual flexibility
- Drive for results
- Collaborative working
- Effective and strategic influencing
- Holding to account
- Drive for improvement
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Management qualification or equivalent
- Educated to a Masters Degree level or equivalent post-graduate qualification
- Evidence of sustained personal and professional development
Experience
Essential
- Operating at Executive Director level in a large complex service organisation
- Demonstrable track record of significant achievements and delivered results
- Developed and delivered a comprehensive strategy and plan
- Developed and maintained good relationships and partnerships with internal colleagues and external agencies, managing those relationships with diplomacy
- Negotiated and influenced on a range of complex financial issues
Skills and Knowledge
Essential
- Strategic planner and visionary capable of translating the service strategy into effective policy and objectives
- Analytical astuteness, able to maintain control
- Able to express issues in an easily understood manner for a range of audiences
- Open and participative management
Other
Essential
- Tenacity: demonstrates high levels of self-belief, drive, enthusiasm and stamina to achieve goals and see things through
- Intellectual flexibility, ability to think conceptually, recognise assumptions, evaluate arguments and deduce inferences
- Ability to motivate, inspire and provide innovative solutions
- Confidence in achieving results in an inclusive and collaborative manner
- Ability to work effectively in a complex and changing environment
- Confident, independent and effective decision maker
- Ability to work under pressure to demanding timetables
- Understands the need to deliver short-term priorities and achieve long-term goals (sense of balance).
- Displays innovative and lateral thinking
- Prepared to work totally flexibly
- High degree of self-awareness
- Ability to maintain confidence, at all times
- Exceptionally high levels of personal integrity and loyalty
- Intellectual flexibility that enables the reasoned assessment of a situation and the ability to draw pragmatic conclusions
- Ability to broad scan to keep abreast of developments in the Health Care sector
- Ability to deal with confidential issues in a professional and sensitive manner
- Self management
- Personal integrity
- Broad scanning
- Seizing the future
- Political astuteness
- Intellectual flexibility
- Drive for results
- Collaborative working
- Effective and strategic influencing
- Holding to account
- Drive for improvement
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
