Delivering an Executive Search to Appoint a Strategic People Leader for a Major Victorian Health Service.
The Brief
Future Leadership was engaged by a leading public health service in Victoria to appoint a Chief People & Culture Officer (CPCO) to lead the People & Culture directorate and support the organisation’s strategic transformation. Operating in a complex and diverse environment, the health service required a senior executive with the capability to evolve organisational culture, drive workforce strategy, and embed values-based leadership across multiple sites.
The appointment was critical to delivering the organisation’s strategic plan and responding to key challenges including occupational violence, gender equality compliance, and the development of a new People & Culture strategy beyond 2022.
Candidate Net Promoter Score
Future Leadership combines truly personalised relationships with innovative technology solutions to ensure an approachable and efficient process for all our Net Promoter Score across clients, successful candidates and unsuccessful candidates is well above industry standard.
Candidates supported every year
We maintain genuine relationships with past candidates and continue to support them with leadership solutions long term, after they land their role.
Senior Women Appointed since 2002
Over half of the executive search assignments undertaken by our team have resulted in the appointment of outstanding female or LGBTQI+ leaders to high profile roles.
Candidate Retention Rate for 12 months since 2002
Our thorough briefing process and ability to engage passive candidates mean that we go to great lengths to find the right person for the role – long term!
Future Leadership undertook a comprehensive search process tailored to the organisation’s strategic and operational needs. The search was designed to attract candidates with the capability to lead cultural transformation, workforce strategy, and compliance in a complex public health environment.
Key steps included:
- Briefing and Strategy Development: Engaged with the Chief Executive Officer and outgoing CPCO to understand the role’s strategic priorities, cultural context, and leadership expectations.
- Targeted Candidate Search: Conducted a national search across Australia and New Zealand, leveraging proprietary databases, sector referrals, and targeted advertising on Seek, LinkedIn, and the Future Leadership website.
- Candidate Assessment: Evaluated a diverse pool of candidates from sectors including healthcare, education, government, and private industry. Roles held by candidates included Chief People Officer, Executive Director HR, and General Manager People & Culture, indicating strong executive-level experience and HR specialisation.
- Final Evaluation: Shortlisted candidates participated in panel interviews with the Executive Team and Board Chair. Candidates were assessed for strategic vision, cultural alignment, stakeholder engagement capability, and readiness to lead in a multi-site, values-driven organisation.
Future Leadership Capability Framework
Culture and Engagement
Fosters a positive culture, creating a sense of belonging and inclusiveness. Creates an environment that encourages diverse perspectives and facilitates a psychologically safe environment.
Governance and Compliance
Establishes, champions and measures the effectiveness of an organisation’s regulatory and reporting systems. Identifies and evaluates risks, develops strategies to mitigate risk.
Stakeholder Relations
Establishes rapport with stakeholders, builds and sustains trusted and collaborative relationships. Identifies and draws on relevant and diverse perspectives and integrates them to support productive interactions.
Strategy and Purpose
Develops and leads strategy for the function/organisation, taking a broad and long-term perspective. Understands and considers context. Communicates and gains buy-in to the function/organisation goals, direction and vision, promoting change initiatives.
Communication and Influence
Articulates messages with clarity and impact to build understanding, inspire action, persuade others and enable information exchange. Considers the audience and draws on different styles to create impact.
The Outcome
The process resulted in the appointment of a highly accomplished Chief People & Culture Officer with more than two decades of experience spanning executive people leadership, industrial relations, and employment law within complex, highly regulated environments. The appointee brings a combination of deep technical expertise and contemporary people leadership capability, underpinned by extensive experience across the public sector, health systems, and large, unionised workforces.
The successful candidate has held senior executive roles leading end‑to‑end people and culture portfolios, including workforce strategy, organisational development, executive remuneration, employee experience, diversity and inclusion, wellbeing, and occupational health and safety. Of particular relevance to the health service context is their substantial experience overseeing large‑scale enterprise bargaining, managing sensitive industrial disputes, and providing trusted advice to boards, executives, ministers, and union stakeholders. This experience has enabled the appointee to operate with confidence and authority in high‑pressure environments requiring sound judgement, discretion, and an ability to balance competing stakeholder interests.
Throughout their career, the appointee has demonstrated a collaborative and values‑led leadership style, with a strong track record of transforming people functions to become trusted, business‑aligned partners. They are recognised for building high‑performing teams, strengthening governance and accountability, and embedding a strong focus on employee experience while delivering complex reform agendas, including large‑scale restructures and workforce transformation initiatives.
This appointment has positioned the organisation well to advance its culture evolution agenda, strengthen workforce planning and capability, and establish a robust foundation to support the next phase of strategic and operational transformation.