Engagement and Organisational Development Specialist

at  The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

This is a diverse and interesting role in the field of organisational development (OD) and culture change. Reporting directly to the Head of Organisational Development & Engagement, the role specialises in developing and leading on OD, leadership development and talent management.
Activity will involve a large amount of collaborative working, consultancy at all levels of the organisation and facilitation (from small teams to groups of 100+). It would suit someone with advanced skills in facilitation who can work autonomously, and with others, building relationships and interventions to drive improvements in capability and culture.
There is also a requirement to work closely with our colleagues in HR Advisory, Christie Education, Trade Union partners and external partners on the development and delivery of interventions. The role-holder will work with partners across the NHS system on NHS requirements and frameworks, so prior knowledge of the NHS would be useful but is not essential.
Candidates with diverse ways of thinking, living and identifying are actively welcomed to apply, strengthening our team ability to work on this together.
The role holder is expected to understand and promote the concepts of equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging and engagement, ensuring these are central to all activity undertaken.
This is a maternity cover for 12 months.
Flexible and hybrid working is supported in the team and questions about this are welcomed.
We’re looking for someone with excellent organisational skills who can manage a range of activities in a fast-moving complex NHS environment.
You should be experienced and competent in enabling sustainable change through OD and behaviour-focused interventions.
We’re particularly looking for candidates skilled in using conversational methodologies as the work involves steering organisational conversations to be effective, reflective, and rooted in action. The role-holder will be responsible for leading on organisational development and culture interventions, providing internal consultancy support and strategic approaches to talent management.
This includes driving activity to improve leadership capability, high performance in teams, and coaching approaches, as well as work to embed our values and behaviours and improvements in our PDR process and system. This includes the regular requirement of facilitating at Trust induction on the topic of values, behaviours, and culture.
Suitable candidates will have substantial experience working as a practitioner in OD, engagement or culture change and will demonstrate a passion for supporting our people and patient care.
Fundamentally, this role focuses on fostering an inclusive, healthy and effective culture where our people can thrive.
You’ll be joining the team at an exciting time.
The small department includes our EDI function and together we play a key role in developing inclusive culture across the trust. We work closely on all initiatives to ensure that these are aligned, based on contemporary thinking, and demonstrate impact.
Several new leadership development and OD interventions are in-design phase or just about to commence so you’ll have an opportunity to shape our offer and make a positive difference.
We support the frontline of cancer care and working in this team will directly impact on those who deliver it and the effectiveness of our organisation, bringing our Trust values and behaviours to life.
There is an expectation that the role-holder will work from home and spend time on the Withington site to engage with stakeholders, deliver interventions, and attend meetings. Travel to our satellite sites may be required on a minimal basis (Oldham, Salford, Macclesfield).
The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country.

Culture and Organisational Development
Lead a portfolio of OD initiatives that drive organisational effectiveness and staff engagement, helping to evolve cultures by impacting on behaviours, habits, and ways of working within the Trust.
Contribute to the development and implementation of strategic OD and engagement plans for the workforce, delivering interventions aligned to NHS national and regional standards and providing evidence-based changes to the working lives of staff.
Lead the design and development of Trust values and behaviours, collaborating with stakeholders to embed these into everyday systems and processes. Design and deliver internal presentations and workshops, and showcase these at regional and national forums.
Be an internal consultant on OD and culture to colleagues at all levels. Diagnose, design, and deliver organisational design and organisational development interventions.
Facilitate small and large groups on multi-faceted cultural and behavioural change activity, incorporating multiple inputs and the needs of stakeholders with changing priorities.
Provide expert advice to colleagues in HR on OD, staff engagement, cultural development, and leadership behaviours. Work with HR Business Partners on complex team dynamics and behavioural issues; designing, delivering and/or commissioning cultural interventions.
Ensure OD and engagement activities are well communicated and clearly understood by stakeholders, using consistent and engaging approaches to connecting with people.
Manage delegated budget in relation to OD projects.
Apply OD thinking and the principles of equity, diversity, belonging and inclusion into conversations and interventions. Draw on contemporary theory from OD philosophy and behavioural sciences, employing diagnostic and dialogic techniques to help teams foster sustainable people-focused culture change.
Strategic talent management, leadership and management, and PDR
Enhance long-term leadership capability and effectiveness by driving improvements. Lead activities that deepen our understanding of leadership within workplace culture.
Research and design an internal leadership development framework, articulating competencies, capabilities, behaviours and development needs and the transition points between stages. Create large-scale programmes and interventions that enable our leaders to develop in line with this framework.
Develop and implement the Trust strategic leadership plans, incorporating The Christie Leadership Framework into leader recruitment, selection, assessment, and development of leaders at all levels. Ensure these that plans align with Trust objectives, the NHS long term plan, and national and regional NHS standards.
Lead the development and promotion of the Trust-wide appraisal activity. This includes developing and implementing the Personal Development Review (PDR) policy, ensuring national benchmarking, researching best practice and monitoring its application across the trust.
Lead the introduction of a new electronic PDR system to improve completion rates and quality across all directorates and inform talent management and succession planning. This involves researching system solutions, overseeing system design and development, conducting user testing and training, and managing daily operations to ensure effective use by all staff.
Lead the development and implementation of the Trust talent management plans, including the succession planning model through which potential successors for our critical roles will be fairly identified.
Stay updated on trends in equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging in relation to leadership development, career progression and team effectiveness. Use this knowledge to challenge inequity and to create inclusive and accessible leadership programmes, experiences, and interventions.
Work across other NHS, Greater Manchester organisations and the GM Integrated Care System (ICS) to develop joint solutions and initiatives for talent progression and leadership development on behalf of our Trust; particularly leadership development programmes linked to race, disability and broader protected characteristics.
Be a stakeholder in national OD and leadership development work to advance the evolution of this work across the NHS system.
Develop and manage a bank of external suppliers for leadership development, culture work, coaching, mentoring and associated activities. Maintain strong stakeholder relationships, make recommendations and commission services, remaining mindful of cost, procurement regulations, and ethics.
Lead on the development of a coaching and mentoring culture in the organisation by developing and facilitating plans to increase coaching and mentoring capacity and capability. Lead on the CPD, quality and supervision for internal coaches.
Coach senior leaders on personal and professional development. Conduct 360-degree feedback, behavioural assessments or psychometrics and provide feedback that enhances self-awareness, raises aspirations, and strengthens leadership capability across the organisation.
ork closely with HR colleagues to understand key organisational challenges that impact on management and leadership capability, and design bespoke change interventions that will shift or address these, aligned to Trust objectives.
Create strategies and initiatives to drive high performance by helping leaders understand their teams’ motivational drivers. Collaborate with colleagues to ensure that these initiatives are cohesive, maximising motivation, engagement, and productivity, whilst fostering an inclusive work environment.
Collaboratively develop internal groups and networks to support leader engagement, connection, conversation and collective learning in line with Trust values and behaviours.
Conduct research, surveys, and audits to assess the quality and effectiveness of talent management, PDR, OD and HR activity (within role responsibilities). This includes introducing and evaluating new frameworks, policies, processes, and programmes. Regularly audit and evaluate interventions to ensure they align with strategic plans, analysing both quantitative data and qualitative feedback.
Create and deliver reports, presentations, and training events in formal settings. This includes reporting to senior committees (in line with Trust document standards) and presenting updates to the Executive Board and sub-Board.
Where appropriate, supervise staff working on projects, authorising timesheets where applicable
Leadership
Deputise for the Head of OD & Engagement as required.
Act as a role model for The Christie Leadership Framework (Appendix 1) and collaborate with colleagues to ensure an effective and positive working environment for the HR team.
Develop effective networks and represent the Trust across Greater Manchester, in order to deliver effective and efficient working practices within the Trust and across the system.
Engage in personal and professional development to stay updated on emerging trends, thinking and innovations. Encourage workplace discussions to promote collective learning and integrate ideas into activity.
Any other duties as may be required from time to time and which are commensurate with the grade of the post. NB. The portfolio may flex based on emerging requirements, and the preferences and competencies of the role-holder. Examples of other activities may include e.g., staff engagement, health & wellbeing, reward and benefits, etc