Chief People Officer
As Ireland’s largest independent hospital group, Bon Secours Health System (BSHS) is renowned for the quality of its service provision and its strong tradition in healthcare. BSHS is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission centered on providing compassionate, world-class medical treatment to all those it serves. With over 4,000 staff and 500 consultants, the organisation cares for more than 400,000 patients annually.
BSHS operates five acute hospitals in Limerick, Cork, Dublin, Galway and Tralee, along with a Care Village in Cork, and is accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI) for quality and patient safety.
Our 2025 Strategic Plan is underpinned by a €300m capital investment programme that will enhance all of our facilities, including the introduction of advanced medical equipment and major IT developments such as an Electronic Health Record (EHR).
In July 2019, BSHS became affiliated with Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH) in the United States, a non-profit Catholic healthcare ministry with 57,000 staff across 43 hospitals and 1,000 care sites in seven states.
Bon Secours now wish to appoint a Chief People Officer (CPO). Reporting to the BSMH VP HR Strategic Partnership & Solutions, with a matrixed reporting line to the Ireland CEO and based at the Group’s Dublin headquarters, the CPO will serve as the principal architect of the People Strategy for Bon Secours Health System in Ireland. As a key member of the Ireland Executive Leadership Team, the CPO will provide strategic leadership across a complex, multi-site healthcare organisation, ensuring the workforce, culture and capability agenda fully enables safe, high-quality and sustainable services.
The CPO will drive workforce planning, organisational design, talent and leadership development, and oversee HR operations and industrial relations. Working within a global shared-services and matrix model, they will partner with US Centres of Excellence to align and deploy system-wide initiatives in the Irish context. The CPO will lead major change programmes, strengthen retention and clinical workforce capacity, and apply strong commercial discipline to all people related investments. The appointee will be central to shaping culture, enabling transformation, and ensuring the organisation is positioned for long-term operational and clinical success.
The ideal candidate will preferably hold a degree in HR, business, or a related area, though relevant professional experience will also be considered. The appointee should be resourceful, results-driven and possess a strong sense of urgency, with the ability to build trusted relationships while delivering the people agenda. They will be a strategic, commercially minded HR leader with substantial experience in complex, regulated and unionised environments, bringing deep expertise in employment law and industrial relations. They should have a proven record of leading large-scale transformation, inspiring high-performing HR teams and delivering measurable business outcomes across a multi-site healthcare organisation.
Candidates should forward by email full career details in complete confidence to Barry Herriott stating how they meet the requirements for the post. Preferred latest date for receipt of applications is December 19th, 2025
E: info@barryherriott.com T: +353 87 255 5500 W: barryherriott.com
