Chief People Officer

Location: Derby Campus

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.

About the Role

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.

About You

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.

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 alan@dixonwalter.co.uk

For more information and to apply on-line, please click the “Apply” button above.

Advert information