Associate Director of Culture and Organisational Development

St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Associate Director of Culture and Organisational Development

The closing date is 27 July 2026

Oversee the OD function and line manage a number of managers and team members. Main duties include:

• (i) Organisational Culture Development Programme: OD leadership and expertise for the Culture Programme, and line management of staff.
• (ii) Leadership Development and Talent Management: Responsibility for establishing, overseeing and leading the function, including line management of the Head of Leadership Development and Talent Management. Lead the development and implementation of management and leadership development and talent management strategies, frameworks and programmes.
• (iii) Employee Engagement: Responsibility for overseeing and leading the function and line management of the Head of Culture and Staff Engagement.
• (iv) Internal OD Consultancy: Lead and develop the newly established internal OD consultancy service, including line management of two OD Leads. Lead response to specific OD issues and needs that emerge from within business teams, departments, Directorates and Divisions, working closely with business leaders and HR Business Partners.
• (v) Other Projects and Programmes: Lead, line manage and develop other service areas including corporate learning and development and D&I action plan.

The post holder will be part of the Department’s and HR Directorate’s senior leadership teams and represent the function accordingly. They will be required to deputise for the Deputy CPO (Education, Culture and OD).

Main duties of the job

This role will provide strategic and operational leadership across key OD and culture functions, directly line managing Heads of Service to drive high performance, accountability, and delivery. The postholder will ensure alignment of OD priorities with organisational strategy, improving workforce experience, capability, and culture across the Group.

Leadership & Performance Management

• Line manage and develop Heads of Service, setting clear objectives and holding them accountable for delivery, quality, and impact.
• Drive a high‑performance culture through robust performance management, coaching, and timely intervention where standards are not met.
• Build leadership capability within the team to ensure consistent, high‑quality service delivery.

Strategic Delivery

• Translate organisational strategy into clear, deliverable OD and culture priorities across all service areas.
• Oversee planning, execution, and evaluation of programmes relating to EDI, HWB, learning and development, talent and leadership, and staff engagement.
• Ensure integration and coherence across all Culture and OD workstreams.

Quality & Impact

• Establish clear metrics and outcomes to evidence impact of interventions, including staff survey improvements and workforce KPIs.
• Use data and insight to drive continuous improvement and inform decision‑making.
• Ensure services are evidence‑based, outcome‑focused, and aligned to best practice.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Education

• Relevant qualification at Masters level, such as a Masters in Organisational Development, Ashridge Masters in Organisational Change, or NTL Institute OD Certificate Programme; or equivalent relevant experience at strategic management level.
• Other qualifications or certificates in relevant OD areas, such as coaching, psychometric testing, project management, action learning.
• Evidence of continuing personal development in people and organisational development.
• CIPD Chartered or Fellow or other relevant.

Previous Experience and Knowledge

• Extensive experience of providing specialist OD consultancy to a range of professionals and in a range of environments.
• Extensive experience of OD practice using context‑appropriate methodologies in a range of organisations and sectors including NHS, healthcare or health service organisations.
• Extensive experience of applying the full OD cycle and all stages within it, including entry, diagnosis, design, commissioning, delivery and evaluation.
• Extensive track record of delivering values‑driven culture change programmes in complex and large organisations, demonstrating impactful and sustainable change.
• Experience of working cross‑functionally, closely partnering with senior HRBPs and Heads of Workforce, and working in partnership with people at Executive/Board level and across the whole organisation system.
• Experience of working with and reporting to a Programme Board and other Board‑level governance committees and sub‑groups.
• Experience of working as an OD partner to senior leaders in directorates and divisions while balancing and aligning local OD requirements with organisational programmes of work.
• Extensive experience of working in a multiple and complex stakeholder environment and across organisational boundaries to effect change.
• Experience of holding corporate responsibility for major policy creation, development and implementation (including national policy implementation) that impact across or beyond the organisation; including ensuring alignment with NHS and legal HR requirements.
• Experience in specifying, developing and commissioning leadership development interventions and wider leadership development offers in large organisations.
• Experience of developing and managing talent management and succession planning methodologies, policies and processes.
• Demonstrable experience of working in partnership with, and influencing senior leaders, and staff at all levels.
• A strong track record of successfully delivering high‑impact OD interventions.
• Highly developed knowledge and understanding of changing NHS environment, strategy, and policy agendas and SW London structure, strategy, vision and policy.
• Strong experience of leading, line managing and developing a high‑performing team of staff and other managers.
• Experience of developing, monitoring and managing budgets for multiple organisational functions.
• Extensive experience of commissioning and contracting with external providers, and managing supplier relationships to ensure maximal return on investment.
• Highly specialist and up‑to‑date knowledge and understanding of organisational development and design, change methodologies and systems thinking.
• Demonstrable experience of increasing the OD capability capacity in large scale and complex organisations.
• Deep understanding of organisational behaviour and change and how to work with those in an environment that is driven by balancing patient care and financial constraint.
• Experienced in evaluating and reporting to committees, senior governance forums and Boards on OD priorities and impact.

Skills, Abilities and Behaviours

• Ability to formulate long‑term strategic plans that involve uncertainty and that may impact on the whole of the organisation.
• Ability to develop and take the lead in advising on long‑term strategic OD for the whole organisation.
• Expert consultancy skills, including implementing the full cycle of consultancy, including scoping, contracting, diagnosis, design, delivery and evaluation.
• A collaborative senior team member, who actively listens and builds upon others’ opinions, flexible in their approach, open to and acting upon feedback.
• Very high degree of self‑awareness of their own conscious and unconscious processes in order to manage individuals, teams and groups in the ‘moment’ when a full range of emotional responses can arise.
• Comfortable in working with ambiguity and multiple stakeholders, with the ability to work through the complexity to deliver tangible solutions, demonstrating impact.
• Ability to work with highly complex facts or situations requiring analysis, interpretation, and comparison of a range of options.
• Ability to analyse a range of very complex situations which require deciding on the way forward where no precedent exist or options conflict.
• Skilled in conflict management approaches and resolution when working with challenging teams and individuals.
• Having the mental toughness, concentration and emotional resilience to manage, challenge and lead teams through emotional turmoil and disharmony.
• Able to work with individuals and teams in disharmony and distress over long periods of time whilst maintaining a calm, centred and focused demeanour for an effective and efficient outcome.
• Able to draw upon a wide range of individual and group process interventions rooted in personal skill and experience.
• Very high awareness of their emotional processes, with high emotional intelligence across the domains of self‑awareness, social awareness, self‑management and relationship management to lead individuals and groups in their own personal development in service of improved individual and team functioning.
• Highly developed facilitation skills for a range of contexts e.g. large‑group development processes, learning sets, formal teaching setting, informal settings.
• Coaching and mentoring skills in both formal and informal settings to improve individual and team performance.
• Strong interpersonal skills, relationship building skills and humanistic values, alongside consulting and contracting approaches, to enable effective process management and outcomes of projects.
• Highly skilled in the service’s financial management and probity to achieve a balanced business plan and with a mindset of continuous improvement to creatively use limited resources.
• Leads with a cost improvement mindset and skilled in improvement methods that underpin the trust approach of service line management.
• Advanced analytical and judgement skills including understanding and application of complex statistical and numerical data.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal including advanced formal presentation skills, influencing and negotiating.
• Advanced skills in gathering and incorporating the views of staff, service users and carers into service change.
• Ability to set out conclusions and recommendations clearly and concisely in a range of written and verbal styles to reflect the needs of the audience.
• Ability to work flexibly, prioritise workloads and resource them in response to changing demands and requirements.
• Skilled in working with a wide range of clients, at all levels and professional groups to build trust.
• A creative approach to problem solving and aptitude for encouraging experimentation.
• Undertakes evaluation and research in their work to improve the efficiency and value of the OD service to the Trust and add to the body of OD knowledge nationally and internationally.
• Leads and works in partnership with national OD organisations, NHS and non‑NHS to develop the underpinning knowledge through research and evaluation.
• Competent in the use of technology and blended learning interventions to reach wide audiences and able to learn other software as needed.

Additional Requirements

• A high degree of self‑awareness and a recognition of the importance of understanding and utilising one’s own feelings/emotions.
• Personal presence, leadership qualities and the ability to work well with others to build relationships and trust.
• Political sensitivity.
• The flexibility and personal resilience to champion solutions in an environment of regular scrutiny by the media, public and others.
• A commitment to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion and embedding these in programmes and solutions.
• Excellent influencing, negotiating, partnering and communication skills.
• Self‑motivated and proactive.
• Able to work with a great degree of flexibility and adaptability.

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.

Employer name

St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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