BBC
Chief People Officer
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JOB DETAILS
Band: ExCo
Contract type: 1 x continuing (permanent) role
Location: Salford, Birmingham, Cardiff, Belfast, London, Glasgow
Important - Application Process
The BBC has engaged an executive search firm, Korn Ferry, to manage the selection process for this role. Please be aware that your application will be managed by Korn Ferry, who will have access to your CV and personal details for the purpose of this vacancy only.
Should you want any further information about the role, or to speak with someone, please contact Ellie Filler of Korn Ferry, at the following email address: BBCCPO@kornferry.com
JOB INTRODUCTION
This is a rare opportunity to join the BBC at a defining moment. As a member of the Executive Committee, the Chief People Officer will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of one of the world's most recognisable and trusted organisations.
As Chief People Officer, you will lead the BBC's people and culture agenda, driving organisational transformation as the business accelerates its evolution into a digital-first media organisation. You will help build a future-ready workforce, strengthen organisational effectiveness, and ensure the BBC continues to attract, develop and empower exceptional talent in an increasingly competitive and fast-changing landscape.
Combining strategic influence with operational leadership, the successful candidate will lead large-scale cultural and organisational change, helping the BBC navigate an evolving funding and media environment while preserving the creative excellence, innovation and public service values that make it unique.
Your Key Responsibilities And Impact
KEY PRIORITIES
- Re-shaping the organisation to achieve a leaner BBC with an effective, agile, and process-light operating model and working culture that is fit for the future and embeds creative and editorial excellence.
- Leading industrial and employee relations strategy through enterprise-wide transformation, building constructive, trusted relationships with recognised trade unions and employee representatives, to enable sustainable organisational change.
- Setting a path for how people can both start a career in the creative industry as well as develop exciting career and development pathways at the BBC.
- Supporting the continued alignment of the talent pipeline to ensure succession, retention, attraction, diversity and inclusion objectives are achieved.
- Upholding a culture that is values-led, focused on maintaining the highest creativity and editorial excellence, and which reinforces the strategy to create a modern BBC.
Key Responsibilities Will Include
- Lead the people strategy underpinning a multi-year transformation programme, reshaping the organisation's operating model and workforce to deliver substantial cost efficiencies, organisational simplification and enhanced organisational effectiveness.
- Drive cultural transformation across the organisation, embedding a high-performance, accountable and values-led culture that supports innovation, agility, editorial and operational excellence.
- Design and execute workforce restructuring and organisational redesign initiatives, including the delivery of significant headcount reduction programmes, ensuring business continuity and alignment with long-term strategic priorities with a view to re-organising how the corporation operates, as opposed to consistent restructuring programmes.
- Provide executive leadership of employee relations across a highly unionised and publicly scrutinised environment, leading collective consultation processes, workforce engagement and negotiations with recognised trade unions and employee representatives.
- Partner with the Director-General, Board and Executive Committee to define the future workforce required to support the BBC’s strategic evolution, including workforce planning, capability assessment and skills transformation.
- Lead enterprise-wide change management activity, ensuring leaders are equipped to communicate, implement and sustain large-scale organisational change while maintaining colleague engagement and performance.
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ARE YOU THE RIGHT CANDIDATE?
The BBC’s next CPO will be a transformational, Board credible executive, adept at navigating complex, high-scrutiny organisations either as the sitting CPO, or as a strong number two with sufficient Executive and Board level experience and ready for a step up. The successful candidate must bring the following expertise.
Key Experience
The Successful Candidate Will Demonstrate
- Enterprise Transformation – has led large-scale organisational transformation, including operating model redesign, strategic workforce planning, technology-enabled change and cultural evolution, delivering sustainable improvements in organisational effectiveness, agility and performance.
- Executive and Board Credibility – has advised CEOs, Executive Committees and Boards on sensitive People, Succession, Reward, reputational and governance matters, with an ability to coach and influence senior peers strategically and effectively.
- Commercial and Operational Excellence – works closely with Leadership Teams and Boards to align people strategy with organisational priorities, delivering measurable business outcomes through disciplined execution, operational excellence, stakeholder engagement and technology enabled solutions.
- Industrial and Employee Relations – has led industrial and employee relations strategy in complex, highly unionised and publicly scrutinised environments, building constructive partnerships with recognised trade unions, employee representatives and external stakeholders. Demonstrates the ability to navigate significant organisational change, manage workforce and reputational risk, and secure sustainable outcomes that balance organisational priorities with colleague experience.
- Leadership of a Modern People Function – has transformed People functions through technology, service redesign, data and analytics, operational efficiency, improved employee experience and stronger business insight. Brings experience of major HR technology implementation and building a culture of AI experimentation and functional cost management.
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Key Behaviours and Characteristics
- Strong interpersonal, coaching and listening skills with an ability to build trusted relationships and communicate effectively across all levels of a complex organisation.
- Action-oriented and pragmatic, able to translate strategy into execution and deliver outcomes in a fast-moving, operationally complex environment. Exceptional judgement and credibility, with a strong track record of identifying, developing and enabling talented leaders and high-performing teams.
- High levels of empathy, self-awareness and situational judgement, with the ability to influence, engage and bring others with them through periods of uncertainty and change.
- Enterprise thinker, able to balance immediate priorities with long-term organisational outcomes and navigate competing stakeholder interests effectively.
- Curious and externally focused, bringing insight from leading organisations and adapting emerging trends, technologies and ways of working to organisational needs.
Disclaimer
This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.
Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.
Before your start date, you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges, in line with our Recruitment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.
For any general queries, please contact: bbchr@bbc.co.uk
We are unable to accept applications via CV and only applications made online will be considered. Please click on the APPLY NOW button to proceed with your application.
Redeployment
The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.
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