Chief People Officer

derby.ac.uk; East Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - GBP 42,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational institution in the East Midlands seeks a Chief People Officer to provide strategic leadership in shaping the people agenda. This role involves attracting, developing, and retaining a high-performing workforce while ensuring compliance with all relevant frameworks. The ideal candidate will possess a graduate degree, chartered CIPD membership, and significant experience in managing HR functions. A focus on diversity and a commitment to organizational well-being are essential.

Benefits

Generous annual leave entitlement

Hybrid working environment

Access to well-being benefits

Discounted onsite gym

Employer-funded Private Health Insurance

Qualifications

• Proven experience in strategic management within large organizations.
• Experience delivering transformative change and high-performance cultures.
• Deep understanding of HR best practices and employment legislation.

Responsibilities

• Shape and deliver the University’s people strategy.
• Provide leadership for HR and People functions.
• Ensure compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Leadership

Interpersonal skills

Analytical capability

Communication skills

Education

Graduate degree or equivalent

Postgraduate qualification in HR or Business

Job description

Hybrid
This role will be based on site, primarily in the named location with the opportunity to work remotely available in line with our Adaptive Working Framework.

We have one simple promise – to make a positive impact. Through our ground-breaking research, teaching excellence and commitment to sustainable living, we are changing lives for the better.

The University of Derby is a modern university with a modern outlook. Everything we do is driven by delivering excellence and opportunities for our students, our staff and our region.

We have some of the best university facilities in the UK and achieve outstanding results for our teaching and research and have been awarded Gold in the prestigious Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023 – making it one of the top universities in the country recognised for its outstanding student experience and student outcomes.

Financially strong and seriously ambitious we offer our employees an inclusive culture that centres itself around staff wellbeing, where you can be confident you will receive all the help and encouragement you need to build a rewarding career with lots of opportunities to enhance your skills.

As Chief People Officer you will be joining an institution that understands and values the life-changing power of education. As a key member of our Executive team, the CPO provides strategic leadership for the University’s people agenda and is accountable to the Vice‑Chancellor for attracting, developing and retaining a high‑performing, inclusive workforce, while ensuring strong governance and compliance. Operating at the heart of our leadership and decision‑making structures, the CPO plays a critical role in translating our strategic ambition into sustainable organisational performance. As CPO managing a team of high-quality professional staff, you will lead and deliver strategies for talent, reward, performance, engagement, well‑being and inclusion and embedding a culture that fosters innovation, collaboration and organisational growth. With a deep understanding of the factors affecting employee relations, you will also oversee legislative frameworks governing employment, equality and workplace practices and in ensuring that university policies and decisions are legally sound, ethically robust and aligned with sector best‑practice mitigating risk and safeguarding the University’s reputation.

This role closes at 11.59pm GMT on Sunday 1st March 2026. Dixon Walter have been exclusively retained for this appointment. For more information or to apply, please contact Alan Walter via [e-mail]

The successful candidate will be a clear thinker and be able to work at a strategic level but have the ability to switch to operations as necessary to ensure procedures and policies are implemented effectively to achieve the key strategic objectives of the University of Derby. A graduate (or equivalent) with chartered membership of the CIPD you will have proven experience of successful strategic management of equivalent services in large and complex organizations. Understanding of the issues facing higher education would be advantageous but more important will be your experience of delivering transformative change, high-performance cultures and innovative service delivery. A technical expert, you will also possess excellent interpersonal skills and have the ability to work effectively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

• Shape and deliver the University’s people strategy as a core enabler of institutional
  success, supporting the Vice-Chancellor and collaborating with the Executive team to
  develop and execute strategic plans that secure the University’s future.
• Provide leadership and oversight of People Experience and Culture functions, including
  all aspects of Human Resources and the Talent, Culture and Inclusion team, ensuring
  these areas achieve their strategic objectives and deliver measurable impact for the
  University.
• As a member of the Executive Team, provide constructive challenge to ensure
  decisions place people at the heart of the University’s strategy while balancing
  institutional priorities, sustainability, and long‑term impact.
• Ensure effective communication and implementation of Board of Governors’ decisions,
  particularly those impacting people, culture, and workforce strategies, enabling
  alignment and accountability across the University.
• Maintain robust people governance frameworks that are fit for purpose, compliant, and
  aligned with sector best practice, ensuring clarity of roles, responsibilities, and decisionmaking.
• Provide assurance to the Board and Executive that the University complies with all
  legislative and regulatory requirements relating to people, employment and equality,
  diversity and inclusion.
• Ensure the University’s policy framework for people and culture is current,
  comprehensive, and aligned with government policy and sector guidance.
• Ensure the development and delivery of strategies for reward, resourcing, performance
  management, talent development, and employee engagement, which supports the
  University’s ambitions to attract, retain, and motivate a high‑performing workforce.
• Provide strategic leadership and oversight to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion
  (DEI) are embedded across the University’s culture, policies, and practices, driving
  initiatives that deliver belonging, representation, and equitable outcomes institutionwide.
• Provides strategic oversight of employee health, safety, and wellbeing, ensuring
  alignment with organisational people priorities and strong collaboration across Equity
  & Inclusion, Wellbeing, Occupational Health, EAP, and Health & Safety functions.
• Ensure the provision and strategic application of people analytics and workforce
  insights to enable evidence-based decision-making and long‑term workforce planning
  at an institutional level.
• Drive people‑related strategies that underpin financial sustainability, ensuring
  workforce planning and capability development align with long‑term goals.
• Represent and influence the people agenda externally, building strong relationships
  with national HE bodies (e.g., Office for Students, Universities HR, University Alliance)
  and key stakeholders to shape sector‑wide policy and practice.
• Ensure high performance and accountability across all people‑related operations,
  fostering collaboration and alignment with the University’s strategic framework and
  corporate objectives.
• Advise the Governing Council on people‑related matters, providing reports and
  assurance on performance against Institutional Success Measures and workforce
  indicators.
• Monitor and respond to developments in people policy and practice, ensuring the
  University remains agile and compliant in a changing HE landscape.
• Contribute flexibly to strategic change programmes and reviews, leading initiatives that
  strengthen the University’s people capability and culture.
• Represent the Vice‑Chancellor at events as appropriate.
• Degree‑level education or equivalent experience
• Postgraduate qualification in HR, Business, or a related field

Experience

• Proven track record of shaping and delivering people strategies at a senior leadership
  level within a complex organisation
• Significant experience leading HR and People functions
• Experience of working with Boards and Executive teams to influence strategic
  decision‑making
• Experience of embedding equity, diversity and inclusion within organisational culture
  and policy
• Strong background in governance and compliance, including employment law and
  regulatory frameworks
• Experience of representing an organisation externally and influencing sector‑wide
  policy
• Proven ability to build constructive relationships with trade unions and staff
  representatives, leading negotiations and fostering collaborative solutions in a
  unionised environment

Skills, knowledge & abilities

• Deep understanding of HR best practice, employment legislation, and equality, diversity,
  and inclusion principles
• Deep expertise in employee relations, with a proven ability to navigate complex
  workforce issues in a highly regulated environment
• Awareness of current and emerging trends in higher education and their impact on
  people strategy
• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate vision into actionable plans
• Exceptional leadership and people management skills, fostering collaboration and
  accountability
• Strong influencing and relationship‑building skills at all levels, internally and externally
• Excellent communication skills, able to convey complex information clearly to diverse
  audiences
• Analytical capability to interpret people data and provide actionable insights
• Resil and adaptable, able to lead through change and ambiguity
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 42 days inclusive of bank holidays and concessionary days (pro rata)
• Suite of holistic wellbeing benefits and support including family‑friendly policies, generous sick pay provision and comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to a variety of staff discounts at high street retailers
• Discounted onsite gym
• Access to employer‑funded Private Health Insurance
• Holiday purchase
• Cycle to Work scheme
• A flexible working environment
• A commitment to personal and professional development

For further information and informal enquiries regarding the role, please contact Alan Walter, Partner via [e-mail]

For enquiries regarding your application and for sponsorship eligibility, please contact the recruitment team via [e-mail] .

This role is eligible for sponsorship by the University, however, your individual circumstances must meet the criteria set out by UKVI ; this includes meeting the English Language requirement and earning a salary that meets the highest of either the going rate for the SOC code or the minimum salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route (£41,700 per annum, as of 22nd July 2025).

If the role is eligible, but the offered salary is less that the going rate for the role, you may still be able to apply for a Skilled Worker visa if:

Your job is on the Immigration Salary List

You’re under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training

You have a PhD level qualification that’s relevant to your job

You have a postdoctoral position in science or higher education

Please note that the University cannot confirm your eligibility for sponsorship until an offer is made and your individual circumstances have been considered.

The University of Derby is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion, regardless of age, disability, trans status, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief (or none), sex and sexual orientation.

We are Disability Confident Employers, demonstrating our commitment to disability inclusion, and invite applicants to highlight adjustments they may require to ensure equitable participation in our recruitment processes.

Further, we are committed to ensuring an environment which is trans and non‑binary‑inclusive for all our staff, students, partners, and visitors, and continuously review our policies, guidance and training.

When applying to join the University, you can choose your preferred title, including the gender‑neutral title 'Mx'. We also ask our candidates if they would like to share their preferred pronouns.This is voluntary but demonstrates our commitment to inclusivity for trans and non‑binary candidates.Once employed, you can add pronouns and preferred names onto our system.

The University of Derby undertakes anonymised shortlisting during the staff recruitment process. This means that, when shortlisting, panel members will not be able to see an applicant’s name and will see an applicant number instead. This demonstrates the practical steps we are taking to remove barriers to recruitment by minimising the possible impact of our unconscious bias.

However you identify, we actively celebrate the knowledge, experience and talents each person brings. Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds; therefore we are particularly interested to hear from applicants who will help our leaders and teams be more reflective of our student population.

At the University of Derby, we are passionate about embedding sustainability into everything that we do. We aim to bring environmental sustainability into all aspects of the University, including teaching, research and operational activities. In line with the University's strategic framework, we expect all our staff to embed sustainability into their working practices and support the University's objective to reach net zero carbon by 2050.

How to apply

Dixon Walter have been exclusively retained for this appointment. For more information or to apply, please contact Alan Walter via [e-mail]

The University of Derby is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our staff, students and children. At the University of Derby, safeguarding is everybody's concern.