Chief Medical Officer in London

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an exceptional medical leader to join our Board as Chief Medical Officer. The Chief Medical Officer (CMO), also known as the Executive Medical Director, is a member of the Board of Directors and shares collective responsibility for the Trust's leadership, strategy, governance, performance and sustainability. The post holder provides visible, compassionate and inclusive clinical leadership across CNWL, ensuring high standards of patient care, safety, clinical effectiveness, education, research, innovation and professional practice. The CMO is professionally accountable for the medical workforce and leads Divisional Medical Directors, medical education, research and development, and pharmacy services.

Main duties of the job

• Working with the Chair, Chief Executive, Chief Nurse, Chief People Officer and Executive colleagues, the CMO ensures clinical priorities inform strategic decision-making, transformation and service delivery.
• The post holder also strengthens partnerships across Integrated Care Systems, Provider Collaboratives, NHS England, academic institutions and wider health and care organisations to improve outcomes, reduce inequalities and support sustainable services.
• As Chief Medical Officer, you will provide strategic clinical leadership across the Trust, champion quality and patient safety, develop our medical workforce and influence system-wide change through strong partnerships across health and care.

Job responsibilities

• Contribute fully as an Executive Director to Trust strategy, corporate decision-making, governance, risk management, population health and reducing inequalities and organisational performance.
• Provide expert medical and clinical advice to the Board of Directors, Council of Governors, Executive Team and relevant committees.
• Champion safe, effective, compassionate, affordable, patient centred and evidence-based care across all services.
• Act as a senior ambassador for CNWL at local, regional and national forums, strengthening strategic partnerships and the Trust's reputation.
• Ensure clinical objectives are aligned with quality, workforce, operational and financial plans.

Statutory, professional and accountable officer duties

• Responsible Officer for Medical Appraisal and Revalidation.
• Caldicott Guardian - line manager and accountable for CG Board lead for Research and Development, undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, medical workforce strategy and management.
• Board lead for Quality Improvement and joint lead with Chief Nurse for Quality Management System.
• Pharmacy line manager for the Chief Pharmacist who is also the Controlled drug Officer; responsible for all aspects of medicines management and optimisation.
• Lead for clinical pathway redesign and related organisational learning.
• Oversight of professional standards, including conduct, capability, health, performance and engagement with the GMC, Royal Colleges, NHS Resolution, PPA and other regulatory bodies as required.

Medical workforce leadership

• Provide professional leadership to doctors and dentists across the Trust, fostering an inclusive, compassionate and high-performing medical culture.
• Directly manage Divisional Medical Directors and relevant corporate direct reports, ensuring clarity of accountability and consistent professional standards.
• Ensure robust arrangements for consultant appointment processes, appraisal, job planning, revalidation, performance management, professional development and succession planning.
• Promote medical engagement, wellbeing and leadership development, ensuring the medical voice informs organisational decisions and transformation programmes.
• Support productivity, workforce sustainability and service quality through effective medical workforce planning and consultant engagement.

Quality, safety, clinical governance and learning

• Provide Joint executive leadership and accountability with the Chief Nurse for clinical governance, clinical risk, patient safety, clinical effectiveness, complaints learning, patient safety incident investigations learning and quality improvement.
• Work with the Chief Nurse and Executive colleagues to ensure governance systems support continuous improvement in quality, safety and patient experience.
• Champion Quality Improvement, benchmarking, evidence-based practice, research, innovation and the adoption of digital technologies that improve care, safety and productivity.
• Ensure medical engagement with patient feedback, incident reviews and organisational learning, including contribution to the Annual Quality Account and Board quality reporting.
• Promote patient, carer, governor and community involvement in service design, delivery and evaluation.

Education, research and innovation

• Provide executive oversight of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, working with the Chief People Officer, Director of Medical Education, Divisional Medical Directors and education partners.
• Ensure doctors in training receive appropriate supervision, support and high-quality learning environments.
• Maintain strong relationships with universities, deaneries and education bodies, and develop future clinical leaders.
• Promote research, innovation, learning and improvement as core components of clinical excellence.

System leadership and partnerships

• Lead and influence clinical strategy across Integrated Care Systems, Provider Collaboratives and regional partnerships.
• Build effective relationships with NHS England, commissioners, regulators, local authorities, primary care, voluntary sector partners, universities and other providers.
• Ensure clinical perspectives inform commissioning, service planning, integrated models of care and transformation programmes.
• Champion population health, prevention, reduction of health inequalities and improved outcomes for underserved communities.

Information governance and confidentiality

• Lead the work of the Caldicott Guardian and provide Board-level oversight.
• Oversee protocols and assurance arrangements relating to the lawful, safe and proportionate use of person-identifiable information.
• Through the Caldicott Guardian work with the Information Governance function to ensure compliance with relevant legislation, standards, improvement plans and regulatory submissions.

Person Specification

• Qualifications
• Essential: Full GMC registration, Current licence to practise, Evidence of continuous personal/professional development and appraisal.
• Desirable: Management qualification/postgraduate study.
• Experience
• Essential: Consultant-level experience with a substantial track record of senior clinical leadership, Substantial Board-level or senior leadership experience within a large and complex healthcare organisation, Experience of working as part of a senior executive team with collective responsibility for organisational performance, quality, workforce and finance, Significant experience of working across Integrated Care Systems, Provider Collaboratives and wider health and care partnerships, Capability in inter-agency working including NHS England, commissioners, local authorities, voluntary sector, user and carer groups, primary care and other provider organisations, Experience of influencing and leading beyond organisational boundaries, Leadership of major service review, transformation and change programmes, Proven track record of leading major clinical transformation, service redesign and quality improvement programmes delivering measurable improvements in outcomes, safety, productivity or experience, Demonstrable experience of leading quality improvement initiatives, Demonstrable experience of improving population health outcomes and reducing health inequalities, Experience of working with partners to improve outcomes for underserved communities, Experience of managing MHPS activities, Experience of managing and resolving conflict.
• Desirable: Evidence of leadership development at Board or Executive Director level, Experience leading research, innovation or digital transformation programmes.
• Skills
• Essential: Ability to carry the confidence of medical staff in each Division and specialty across the Trust, Ability to provide visible, inspirational and compassionate leadership within a complex organisation, Ability to develop and communicate a compelling strategic vision, Ability to lead through influence and build commitment to organisational change, Exceptional relationship-building skills across clinical, professional, system and partner organisations, Ability to establish credibility with regulators, commissioners, NHS England and partner organisations, Outstanding communication, presentation and ambassadorial skills, Ability to represent the organisation effectively at local, regional and national level, Ability to influence senior stakeholders and manage highly complex relationships, Strong and effective communication skills, particularly in articulating a more business-oriented approach to Trust business, Ability to contribute at a high level to corporate issues, Empathetic and purposeful about user, carer and voluntary sector interests, Ability to foster inclusive, compassionate and psychologically safe cultures, Ability to develop future clinical leaders and build leadership capacity throughout the organisation, Ability to adopt and convey the ethos of CNWL in external forums, Prepared to be open to challenge, Informed and able to lead on Clinical Governance, including clinical risk management, clinical effectiveness, research and development, and clinical audit, Confidence and resilience to pursue performance management issues and appraisal arrangements, Ability to interact effectively with senior clinical leaders and managers across the organisation, Effective time management and self-management, Ability to judge priorities and differentiate between urgent and longer-term issues, High-level influencing and negotiating skills, Ability to work both independently and as part of a team, Positive outlook, ambitious for improved services and committed to achieving them, Ability to develop strategic vision for the Medical Directorate.
• Knowledge
• Essential: Excellent people management skills, Respected in their clinical speciality, Knowledgeable or able to acquire knowledge about issues across all clinical areas, In-depth understanding of NHS policy, regulation and contemporary healthcare challenges, Detailed understanding of Integrated Care Systems and provider collaboration arrangements, Understanding of population health management and health inequalities, Comprehensive understanding of current national policies on mental and physical health and the commissioning environment, Understanding of links and partnerships with academic and training/development bodies, Understanding of the relationship between quality, workforce, operational performance and financial sustainability, Understanding of value-for-money principles and effective resource stewardship.
• Other Attributes
• Essential: Able to demonstrate active support for the Trust values and place patient welfare at the centre of all activities, Demonstrates the NHS Leadership Code behaviours of accountability, compassion, curiosity, collaboration and inclusion, Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, Commitment to improving patient outcomes and reducing inequalities, Able to undertake the duties of the role, with any reasonable adjustments where required, Personal resilience and the ability to lead effectively through ambiguity, complexity and change, Visible commitment to staff wellbeing, engagement and leadership development, Willing to take advantage of the Trust move towards agile working practices, Sufficiently mobile to travel independently to any Trust premises as required.