Job summary
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) is one of the largest providers of mental health and learning disability services in the country, recognised nationally and internationally for clinical excellence, research, and innovation. Our Trust sits at the cutting edge of mental health care, translating research into practice and shaping the future of the field. At the same time, we are grounded in the realities of delivering care for diverse and complex communities, navigating challenges such as workforce pressures, financial constraints, and rising demand, while remaining steadfast in our commitment to compassion, equitable, and outstanding care.
We are seeking a Chief Executive to lead SLaM with vision, courage, kindness, and operational excellence. This is a pivotal role during a time of growth and transformation, where balancing strategic ambition with operational rigour is essential. The successful candidate will drive improvement across quality, access, and outcomes, strengthen organisational performance while sustaining innovation, and building strong, collaborative partnerships across the NHS, local authorities, VCS organisations and communities. This is an opportunity to shape the Trust's future, champion clinical leadership, and foster a culture in which staff feel supported, empowered, and able to deliver their best work.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for an accomplished, authentic, and compassionate leader with extensive senior leadership experience in large, complex health or social care organisations. The ideal candidate will have a proven record of delivering transformation, improving performance at scale, and nurturing high-performing teams and positive organisational culture. Strategic yet operationally astute, courageous yet collaborative, they will inspire confidence across the Trust and system, turn vision into action, and demonstrate a deep commitment to equity, inclusion, and reducing health and racial inequalities. This is a role for a leader who can navigate complexity, balance ambition with delivery, and guide one of the NHS's most influential mental health trusts into its next chapter.
About us
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust is world renowned for its pioneering work in mental health. We serve a local population of 1.3 million people in south London and specialist services for children and adults across the UK and beyond. We employ over 6,500 staff. We are part of King's Health Partners, and are the only mental health trust in the UK to have our own biomedical research centre - hosted jointly with Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London.
We are supported by Maudsley Charity. We are focused on promoting mental health and wellbeing. We provide treatment that helps people get well and stay well, so they can achieve their full potential.
Our strategy Aiming High, Changing Lives has been built on the feedback of hundreds of staff, service users, carers and partners with the supportof many community organisations. It focuses on five key ambitions:
o Deliver outstanding mental health careo A partner in preventiono Being a catalyst for changeo Building a culture of trust togethero Becoming effective and sustainable
Running through all of our ambitions is our deep commitment to anti-racism. In our strategy, we pledged that we will be a leader in anti-racism within mental health care by 2026.
Our Values and Behaviours Framework was created using the inputs of over 1,200 staff, service users and carers. Together, we treat each other and our patients with kindness and respect.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to SLaM on this appointment. For further information about the role, including details about how to apply, please visit www.saxbam.com/appointments using reference AADASC. Alternatively, email Belinda.beck@saxbam.com. Applications should be received by midday on Monday 9 February.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to SLaM on this appointment. For further information about the role, including details about how to apply, please visit www.saxbam.com/appointments using reference AADASC. Alternatively, email Belinda.beck@saxbam.com. Applications should be received by midday on Monday 9 February.
Person Specification
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Significant senior leadership within a large, complex health or social care organisation
- Proven record of improving performance, quality and outcomes at scale
- Experience of leading organisations through periods of structural evolution, managing complex transitions and organisational change while maintaining operational performance and staff engagement
- Demonstrated operational grip alongside strategic leadership capability
- Experience of championing clinical leadership, patient involvement and social justice
- Evidence of leading high-performing teams and positive organisational cultures
- Successful partnership leadership across complex systems and diverse communities
- Experience of delivering transformation, innovation and quality improvement
- Strong financial leadership and stewardship
- Deep understanding of national and local health policy and mental health context
- Strong appreciation of population health, inequalities and community needs
- Knowledge of effective governance and assurance frameworks
- Understanding of academic partnerships, research translation and innovation in care
Skills, abilities and personal qualities
Essential
- Compassionate, authentic and values driven leader
- Strategic thinker who can turn vision into delivery
- Highly credible communicator with political acumen and emotional intelligence
- Courageous, resilient and decisive
- Demonstrable commitment to equality, inclusion and reducing health and racial inequalities
- Collaborative, curious and open, with a strong sense of accountability
- Inspires confidence, ambition and pride in others
Person Specification
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Significant senior leadership within a large, complex health or social care organisation
- Proven record of improving performance, quality and outcomes at scale
- Experience of leading organisations through periods of structural evolution, managing complex transitions and organisational change while maintaining operational performance and staff engagement
- Demonstrated operational grip alongside strategic leadership capability
- Experience of championing clinical leadership, patient involvement and social justice
- Evidence of leading high-performing teams and positive organisational cultures
- Successful partnership leadership across complex systems and diverse communities
- Experience of delivering transformation, innovation and quality improvement
- Strong financial leadership and stewardship
- Deep understanding of national and local health policy and mental health context
- Strong appreciation of population health, inequalities and community needs
- Knowledge of effective governance and assurance frameworks
- Understanding of academic partnerships, research translation and innovation in care
Skills, abilities and personal qualities
Essential
- Compassionate, authentic and values driven leader
- Strategic thinker who can turn vision into delivery
- Highly credible communicator with political acumen and emotional intelligence
- Courageous, resilient and decisive
- Demonstrable commitment to equality, inclusion and reducing health and racial inequalities
- Collaborative, curious and open, with a strong sense of accountability
- Inspires confidence, ambition and pride in others
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).
