The Chief People Officer is a critical member of the Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to the CEO and holding full accountability for the people strategy across the organisation. This is a rare opportunity for a HR executive to influence culture, workforce planning, and organisational effectiveness at the highest level of a large, complex healthcare business, one where the quality of our people directly translates into the quality of care we provide
You will partner closely with the CEO and Executive Team to ensure our people strategy is fully aligned with business strategy, driving performance, engagement, talent development, and organisational culture across a large and diverse workforce, including clinical and non-clinical staff
RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES:
Serve as a strategic partner to the CEO and Executive Team, providing expert counsel on all people-related matters
Design and lead the enterprise-wide people strategy, aligned to business goals and growth ambitions
Own talent acquisition, workforce planning, and succession planning across clinical and corporate functions
Lead organisational design and change management initiatives to support business transformation
Champion a high-performance, values-driven culture across all levels of the organisation
Oversee compensation and benefits strategy, ensuring competitiveness and internal equity
Lead employee relations, ensuring compliance with labour legislation and healthcare-sector regulatory requirements
Drive leadership development and capability-building programmes across the organisation
Ensure robust HR governance, policy frameworks, and reporting to the Board where required
Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion, and employee wellbeing initiatives
Build and lead a high-performing HR function and team
A Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Industrial/Organisational Psychology, Business Administration, or a related field (essential)
An Honours or Master's degree (e.g. MBA, MCom, MA in HR/IOP) is strongly preferred
Registration with the relevant professional body (e.g. SABPP) advantageous
Demonstrated experience operating within a highly regulated environment; private healthcare, hospital groups, pharmaceuticals, or medical services experience strongly preferred
Sound working knowledge of South African labour legislation (LRA, BCEA, EEA, Skills Development Act) and experience engaging with the CCMA and Bargaining Councils
Experience managing HR within a unionised and/or clinical/professional workforce environment advantageous
Proven track record of operating at Executive Committee / Board level, with strong commercial and business acumen
Broad generalist HR expertise across talent, reward, employee relations, organisational design, and culture
Demonstrated ability to lead large, diverse workforces, including professional/clinical staff populations
High ethical standards and sound judgement, with a genuine commitment to patient-centred, people-first values
Exceptional stakeholder management, communication, and influencing skills
