Interim Head of Edinburgh Hospice Transformation

Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end-of-life charity. We are the largest non-NHS provider of end-of-life care in the UK, the only provider across all 4 nations, delivering community nursing and hospice care across the country, while providing information and support on all aspects of dying, death, and bereavement. Our leading research pushes the boundaries of what we know about good end-of-life, and our campaigns fight for a world where everyone gets to have the best possible quality of life while living with an illness, they’re likely to die from.

The care and support we provide is highly valued by the people we care for and their loved ones, but at present we are only reaching around 10% of dying people at the end of life. Right now, almost one in three people in the UK with a terminal illness, do not get the care or support they deserve at the end of their lives.

We want a different society than the one we live in now. Our mission for the next five years is to close the gap in the number of people missing out on what they need at the end-of-life, through 3 ways:

• Growing and transforming our direct care and support
• Delivering more practical information and support
• Leading in shaping the end-of-life experience
  
  

Job Description

We are looking for an accomplished leader on an interim basis to help support positive, sustainable change at our Edinburgh Hospice and associated Lothian community services.

This is a high-impact, time-limited opportunity for someone who can quickly build trust, listen to colleagues and bring people together around a cultural diagnostic and delivery plan. We welcome applications from senior leaders with strong evidence of delivering cultural change, workforce improvement and transformation in complex, people-intensive organisations.

The role requires a regular on-site presence at Edinburgh Hospice, at least four days each week, along with visibility across relevant Lothian community services

What you will be doing:

• Provide visible, compassionate and inclusive presence across the hospice and associated community services.
• Partner with the existing leadership team to understand current strengths, challenges and priorities.
• Lead a structured cultural, workforce and people review, drawing on staff insight, workforce data and stakeholder feedback.
• Co-produce a focused action plan with clear outcomes, milestones, responsibilities and measures of progress.
• Alongside leadership teams and People / HR Advisory colleagues, help address priority workforce, employee relations, recruitment, retention, wellbeing and attendance issues fairly and promptly.
• Strengthen leadership capability, role clarity, accountability, staff voice and collaborative ways of working across all levels of staff group.
• Provide clear assurance on progress, risks and dependencies, and complete a structured handover at the end of the assignment.
  
  

Please see the full job description here:

Qualifications

You will be successful in this role if you have:

• Substantial senior leadership experience in a complex, people-intensive organisation.
• A strong track record of improving culture, workforce stability or organisational people performance through change.
• The ability to establish credibility quickly, create psychological safety and engage constructively with different perspectives.
• Sound judgement in sensitive people matters and experience of working in partnership with People teams and staff representatives.
• Strong programme leadership, with the ability to turn evidence and insight into practical, measurable action.
• Clear, confident and sensitive communication skills, including experience of working with executive and senior leadership teams.
• Resilience, adaptability and the ability to maintain pace and focus in an evolving environment.
  
  

Experience in a clinical, health, care or hospice setting would be advantageous, but it is not essential. We are equally interested in candidates who can demonstrate significant success in cultural change, organisational development and workforce transformation in another complex service environment.

Additional Information

Location: Edinburgh Hospice, with visibility across associated Lothian community services

Contract: 6 month fixed-term contract

Hours: Full time, 35 hours per week

Salary: £66,600–£74,425 per annum

Benefits You’ll Love

• Annual leave allowance 25 days plus 10 public holidays (pro rata)
• Competitive Policy for parental/sick Leave
• Continuous Professional development
• Industry leading training programmes
• Season ticket loan for travelling to and from work
• Defined contribution schemes for Pension
• Marie Curie Group Personal Pension Scheme
• Loan schemes for bikes; computers and satellite navigation systems
• Introduce a friend scheme
• Help with eyecare cost
• Entitled to Marie Curie Blue Light Card
• Entitled to Benefit-Hub Discount Scheme
• 15% staff discount in all Marie Curie Shops
• Life assurance – for all employees
  
  

Application Process

• Close date for applications: 2nd November 2026
• Interview Dates: Week Commencing 2nd November 2026
• As part of your online application, you will be asked for a CV. Please review both the advert and job description and outline your most relevant skills, experience and knowledge for the role.
  
  

For further information or to arrange an informal chat please contact recruitment@mariecurie.org.uk

At Marie Curie, our values are central to everything we do. They guide how we care for people, how we work together, and how we make decisions every day. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe for everyone — staff and volunteers alike — supportive, inclusive and rewarding. We take stringent steps to ensure that anyone who joins our organisation are suitable for their roles and are committed to safeguarding all our people from harm. We actively consider our impact on the planet, embedding sustainability into everyday decisions to create a lasting, positive difference for the individuals we care for and the world we share.

We believe everyone should have the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential. Marie Curie is deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, recognising both the social justice imperative and the strength a diverse workforce brings. We actively encourage applications from people of all cultures, perspectives and lived experiences.

We are happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. If you require any support, please contact us at recruitment@mariecurie.org.uk.

Every application we receive is personally reviewed by a member of our Talent Acquisition team, and in return, we ask that your application authentically reflects you — your experience, perspective and voice.