Chief People & Culture Officer

This recruitment is being managed in partnership with our search partner, Audeliss. To apply, please send your CV and cover letter to them directly by Thursday 22nd February 2026 on the following email address: applications@audeliss.com quoting reference MACMILLAN CPCO.

Job Title: Chief People & Culture Officer
Contract type: Permanent
Hybrid: Split between home and our London Office 
Salary Range: £150,000 - £160,000 per annum

About us
At Macmillan you'll find talented people working together to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer. We're going all out to find even better ways to help even more people who need our support. Our values are at the heart of who we are and everything we do, inspiring our thinking and guiding our actions.

Role Purpose

Macmillan has bold ambitions that can only be achieved by creating an environment where colleagues have the skills, support, and autonomy to do their best work. As Chief People and Culture Officer, you will lead the People & Culture Directorate and develop and lead a strategy that aligns with Macmillan’s vision, mission, and values. 

Working across the organisation and beyond, you will create an outstanding, inclusive employee experience that exceeds expectations and makes Macmillan a place where people thrive. You will embed culture, engagement, and employee experience into the core business strategy, driving culture change and leading people transformation. Acting as a trusted advisor to the CEO and executive team, you will shape workforce planning, talent management, and organisational development, ensuring that Macmillan becomes an inclusive, ambitious, and high-performing organisation.

Key Responsibilities - Full details can be found in the attached role profile. 

•    Spearhead cultural change to achieve organisation-wide transformation, driving high performance, equity, and belonging, and embedding a data-driven culture that enables colleagues to do their best work for people living with cancer. 
  •    Role model and embody the culture we aspire to, navigating complex transformation in a way that brings colleagues and stakeholders with you, and ensuring the people agenda delivers maximum impact. 
  •    Centre equity by design, bringing diverse perspectives and lived experience together to shape your team’s work and drive high performance across the organisation. 
  •    Lead and unite the People & Culture function to deliver impact and change, leveraging external insights and networks to bring the outside in and keep Macmillan ahead of the curve. 
  •    Embed equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the organisation, designing, implementing, and measuring interventions that create a culture where all colleagues and volunteers feel represented, included, and psychologically safe. 
  •    Act as a critical partner to the Chief Executive, implementing a transformative people and culture strategy that empowers colleagues and volunteers, fosters belonging, and delivers a uniquely brilliant Macmillan experience aligned with our values. 
  •    Advise the Chief Executive on People matters, develop an Executive team plan, and partner to build a high-performing leadership team with equity, diversity, and inclusion at its core. 

Essential Experience
•    Visionary leadership with a proven track record of driving cultural transformation, high performance, and lasting organisational change. 
•    Significant experience embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion, informed by lived experience of inequality or exclusion and/or working         with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. 
•    Demonstrable experience leading a large, multi-disciplinary People function through organisation-wide transformation. 
•    Deep expertise in inclusive talent management, organisational effectiveness, and strategic workforce planning. 
•    Strong knowledge of employment legislation and regulations, with experience leading a People function in a unionised environment. 
•    Safeguarding expertise or a willingness to learn and act as an Executive Safeguarding representative. 
•    Exceptional communication and influencing skills, with the ability to negotiate and secure buy-in for a clear vision and strategy at Board           level. 
•    A curious, forward-thinking mindset with the ability to apply external insights and trends to drive innovation. 
•    The ability to handle complex and sensitive situations with honesty, empathy, and integrity.

All applications will be managed by our search partner, Audeliss, so please do NOT submit an application via the APPLY button. As per the above, please apply to the following email address, applications@audeliss.com quoting reference MACMILLAN CPCO.

We welcome applications from everyone who meet the criteria and strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Macmillan. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee representation body, ‘Our Voice’ and 8 Employee Network groups help us promote fairness and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.