Job summary
Our Culture, Leadership and Learning Team at Cambridge University Hospitals plays a central role in shaping an inclusive, high-performing organisation where our people can thrive and deliver outstanding care.You will be joining a collaborative and ambitious team, committed to improving staff experience, strengthening leadership capability and embedding a culture of continuous improvement.
We are looking for a highly skilled, experienced and motivated individual to lead our People Experience and Engagement agenda across the Trust. This is a strategically important role, responsible for designing and delivering a trust-wide approach to employee engagement, insight and improvement that reaches all staff groups and communities.
Working closely with the Director of Culture, Leadership and Learning, you will bring together staff feedback, data and insight to inform meaningful organisational change. You will lead the development of a coherent engagement cycle, including the National Staff Survey, pulse surveys and targeted interventions, ensuring that insight translates into sustained improvement in culture, performance and staff experience.This role is predominantly based on-site, with a strong emphasis on building relationships across clinical and corporate teams. Your visibility, credibility and ability to engage at all levels will be key to success.
Main duties of the job
o To lead the creation and delivery of a comprehensive People Experience and Engagement programme and annual cycle, ensuring alignment with Trust strategy and workforce priorities.
o To provide expert insight and thought leadership on employee experience and engagement, using data from multiple sources to inform organisational decision-making and improvement.
o To lead the design and delivery of innovative, sustainable interventions that improve staff experience, engagement and organisational performance across a complex system.
o To bring complex data to life through compelling storytelling, dashboards and insight reports, enabling leaders to understand performance and take action.
o To oversee the delivery of Trust-wide staff surveys and evaluation activity, ensuring that outputs translate into meaningful and measurable change.
o To build strong, effective relationships with senior leaders, clinical teams and corporate functions, influencing and supporting improvement across the organisation.
o To lead and develop staff within the PX function and work across matrix teams to deliver complex, cross-organisational programmes.
o To support teams and services to improve engagement and experience, including challenging underperformance and enabling sustainable change.
o To lead evaluation and benefits realisation, ensuring that improvements are aligned with Trust priorities and deliver measurable impact.
About us
Our Trust
Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust comprises Addenbrooke's Hospital and the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge. With over 13,000 staff and over 1100 beds the priorities of the Trust focus on a quality service which is all about people - patients, staff and partners. Recognised as providing 'outstanding' care to our patients and rated 'Good' overall by the Care Quality Commissioner, is testament to the skill and dedication of the people who work here. CUH's values - Together - Safe, Kind, Excellent - are at the heart of patient care, defining the way all staff work and behave. The Trust provides accessible high-quality healthcare for the local people of Cambridge, together with specialist services, dealing with rare or complex conditions for a regional, national and international population.
CUH is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community - a place where we can all be ourselves. We value our differences and fully advocate and support an inclusive working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential. We want to ensure our people are truly representative of all the communities that we serve. We welcome applications for all positions in the organisation irrespective of people's age, disability, ethnicity, race, nationality, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity status or social economic background.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the attached Applicant Information Pack (combined Job Description and Person Specification) for key duties and responsibilities.
Due to Home Office immigration rules, a full time permanent vacancy cannot be filled by individuals on a Student visa. Therefore, please be advised that if you are a Student visa holder, we will not be able to offer you a full time permanent contract unless you have:- applied for a Graduate visa- or you will have successfully completed your course and have applied for a Graduate visa before the anticipated start date of your employment- or the Trust has agreed that they will Sponsor you as a Skilled Worker and you will complete your studies within 3 months of the anticipated start date of employmentThis vacancy will close at midnight on the 8th April 2026.
Interviews are due to be held on w/c 20th April 2026.
Benefits to you
At Cambridge University Hospitals, we want to do all we can to support good working days. We offer development opportunities and a wide range of benefits, including on-site leisure facilities, shopping concourse and day nurseries. Our good work programme currently includes providing reduced cost Stagecoach bus travel to and from Cambridge University Hospital site. Park and Ride bus journeys between Babraham Road and Trumpington sites are free, as is the route to and from Cambridge train station and our hospitals. We also subsidise the cost of parking on site for eligible staff.
On CUH campus, hot food is available 24/7 and at a reduced cost for colleagues. Recently we launched the first of our staff pod break spaces. Located in the Deakin Centre, we have a purpose-created colleague-only caf, with free tea and coffee, a break space and private outside area for colleagues to rest, refuel and recharge. Just one of the ways we are working hard to support good working days at CUH.
CUH is committed to assisting employees in achieving a good work-life balance irrespective of role or personal circumstances. Flexible arrangements may include, but are not limited to, part-time working, job-share, term-time working and flexible start and finish times.
Please note if you would like to discuss the required hours of this role further, you should approach the contact given. In some cases, alternative working hours will be considered.
We welcome applications from the Armed Forces.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the attached Applicant Information Pack (combined Job Description and Person Specification) for key duties and responsibilities.
Due to Home Office immigration rules, a full time permanent vacancy cannot be filled by individuals on a Student visa. Therefore, please be advised that if you are a Student visa holder, we will not be able to offer you a full time permanent contract unless you have:- applied for a Graduate visa- or you will have successfully completed your course and have applied for a Graduate visa before the anticipated start date of your employment- or the Trust has agreed that they will Sponsor you as a Skilled Worker and you will complete your studies within 3 months of the anticipated start date of employmentThis vacancy will close at midnight on the 8th April 2026.
Interviews are due to be held on w/c 20th April 2026.
Benefits to you
At Cambridge University Hospitals, we want to do all we can to support good working days. We offer development opportunities and a wide range of benefits, including on-site leisure facilities, shopping concourse and day nurseries. Our good work programme currently includes providing reduced cost Stagecoach bus travel to and from Cambridge University Hospital site. Park and Ride bus journeys between Babraham Road and Trumpington sites are free, as is the route to and from Cambridge train station and our hospitals. We also subsidise the cost of parking on site for eligible staff.
On CUH campus, hot food is available 24/7 and at a reduced cost for colleagues. Recently we launched the first of our staff pod break spaces. Located in the Deakin Centre, we have a purpose-created colleague-only caf, with free tea and coffee, a break space and private outside area for colleagues to rest, refuel and recharge. Just one of the ways we are working hard to support good working days at CUH.
CUH is committed to assisting employees in achieving a good work-life balance irrespective of role or personal circumstances. Flexible arrangements may include, but are not limited to, part-time working, job-share, term-time working and flexible start and finish times.
Please note if you would like to discuss the required hours of this role further, you should approach the contact given. In some cases, alternative working hours will be considered.
We welcome applications from the Armed Forces.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in specialist area.
- Post graduate qualification or equivalent experience and continuous learning in Organisational Development, Organisational Change or Organisational Behaviour.
- Evidence of relevant continuous professional development.
Desirable
- Recognised relevant management qualification or equivalent depth and breadth of leadership and management experience.
Experience
Essential
- Substantial experience of working within public sector or similar complex organisations in employee experience and or engagement.
- Success in working collaboratively across professions, services and stakeholders.
- Demonstrate success in planning and managing change projects.
- Significant cross organisational working.
- Significant experience of managing complexity and leading others and working with senior leaders.
- Experience of managing a matrix-based team and reviewing performance of the individuals.
- Analysis and utilisation of complex information to secure change.
- Stakeholder engagement, management and mediation in contested contexts.
Desirable
- Programme Leadership Experience.
- Public Sector or ICS working.
- Cross-institutional working.
- Working with executive and CEO leadership.
Knowledge
Essential
- Public sector knowledge and experience and knowledge of working in complex organisations and change management.
- Organisational Development, People Experience (inc. PX design) & workforce service improvement models.
- PMO Governance and performance management.
- The importance of successful partnership working.
- Principles of lifelong learning.
- Employee engagement and involvement including co-production of plans and change management.
Desirable
- Understanding of how a hospital and wider community health and care system works.
Skills
Essential
- Outstanding leadership, influencing, negotiating and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to build partnerships and secure ownership of proposals across organisational boundaries, including influencing clinicians and managers for service improvement.
- Ability to plan and organise a broad range of complex activities, formulating and adjusting plans to reflect changing circumstances.
- Demonstrate capability to plan over short, medium and long term timeframes and adjust plans and resource accordingly.
- Must be able to receive, sense-make, analyse (accurately) and provide highly complex, sensitive or contentious information, negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues, and present complex and sensitive information to large and influential groups.
- Excellent ability to bring data and insights to life, with highly effective storytelling skills.
- Ability to negotiate on difficult and controversial issues including performance and change.
- Strategic thinking-ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.
- Budget and resource management.
- Supporting and implementing strategy, guidelines and projects from initiation to completion.
- Computer literacy to include data protection and interpretation.
- Must be able to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct activities of others.
- Positive and effective team worker.
- Able to deal calmly and effectively with challenging situations where there are strongly held differences of opinion and find a productive resolution.
Desirable
- Complex programme evaluation.
- Digital and data system development.
Additional Requirements
Essential
- The ability to understand and behave at all times, towards patients, visitors and colleagues according to the Trust values of safe, kind, excellent.
- Willingness to work anywhere in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS and to travel, on occasion within the region and nationally.
Desirable
- Ability to work flexible hours.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in specialist area.
- Post graduate qualification or equivalent experience and continuous learning in Organisational Development, Organisational Change or Organisational Behaviour.
- Evidence of relevant continuous professional development.
Desirable
- Recognised relevant management qualification or equivalent depth and breadth of leadership and management experience.
Experience
Essential
- Substantial experience of working within public sector or similar complex organisations in employee experience and or engagement.
- Success in working collaboratively across professions, services and stakeholders.
- Demonstrate success in planning and managing change projects.
- Significant cross organisational working.
- Significant experience of managing complexity and leading others and working with senior leaders.
- Experience of managing a matrix-based team and reviewing performance of the individuals.
- Analysis and utilisation of complex information to secure change.
- Stakeholder engagement, management and mediation in contested contexts.
Desirable
- Programme Leadership Experience.
- Public Sector or ICS working.
- Cross-institutional working.
- Working with executive and CEO leadership.
Knowledge
Essential
- Public sector knowledge and experience and knowledge of working in complex organisations and change management.
- Organisational Development, People Experience (inc. PX design) & workforce service improvement models.
- PMO Governance and performance management.
- The importance of successful partnership working.
- Principles of lifelong learning.
- Employee engagement and involvement including co-production of plans and change management.
Desirable
- Understanding of how a hospital and wider community health and care system works.
Skills
Essential
- Outstanding leadership, influencing, negotiating and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to build partnerships and secure ownership of proposals across organisational boundaries, including influencing clinicians and managers for service improvement.
- Ability to plan and organise a broad range of complex activities, formulating and adjusting plans to reflect changing circumstances.
- Demonstrate capability to plan over short, medium and long term timeframes and adjust plans and resource accordingly.
- Must be able to receive, sense-make, analyse (accurately) and provide highly complex, sensitive or contentious information, negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues, and present complex and sensitive information to large and influential groups.
- Excellent ability to bring data and insights to life, with highly effective storytelling skills.
- Ability to negotiate on difficult and controversial issues including performance and change.
- Strategic thinking-ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.
- Budget and resource management.
- Supporting and implementing strategy, guidelines and projects from initiation to completion.
- Computer literacy to include data protection and interpretation.
- Must be able to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct activities of others.
- Positive and effective team worker.
- Able to deal calmly and effectively with challenging situations where there are strongly held differences of opinion and find a productive resolution.
Desirable
- Complex programme evaluation.
- Digital and data system development.
Additional Requirements
Essential
- The ability to understand and behave at all times, towards patients, visitors and colleagues according to the Trust values of safe, kind, excellent.
- Willingness to work anywhere in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS and to travel, on occasion within the region and nationally.
Desirable
- Ability to work flexible hours.
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details
Employer name
Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Addenbrookes Hospital-Division Corporate
Hills Road
Cambridge
CB2 0QQ
Employer's website
https://www.cuh.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)