Overview
Head of Workplace Health – Strand, London, WC2R 2LS
About us:
King’s College London is a world-renowned university founded in 1829 with more than 34,000 students and 12,000 staff across five London campuses. We’re committed to creating positive and sustainable change in our local and global communities through outstanding education, impactful research, and genuine service to society. We are proud to be ranked 31st in the world (QS World University Rankings 2026) and 36th in the world (Times Higher Education World Rankings 2025).
Health and Safety Services is a small team of professionals who advise upon strategy, policy and arrangements for occupational health and safety at King’s. We support a safe and healthy environment for work and study by offering clear guidance and practical support. Working with all levels of the university, from the Vice Chancellor to students, we help plan, monitor, and improve health and safety systems to ensure they are effective and inclusive.
About the role:
We are now seeking an experienced and forward-thinking professional to lead our workplace health function as Head of Workplace Health. Reporting to the Director of Health and Safety Services, this senior role is responsible for maintaining and developing the University’s arrangements for protecting the health of staff and students in the workplace and preventing work-related ill health.
As the University’s competent person for workplace health, you will provide expert advice and leadership on health risk management. You will develop and maintain written arrangements, lead projects and workshops, and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure systems and processes are robust, effective, and aligned with best practice.
You will also manage contracts for occupational health services, the employee assistance programme, and DSE case management—building strong relationships with key stakeholders and service providers to ensure there is effective user engagement and services provided meet the University’s evolving needs.
This role requires excellent influencing and communication skills, applying specialist knowledge to resolve complex or novel workplace health issues and contributing to the continuous improvement of the University’s health and safety culture.
About you:
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to evidence that they have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
- Accreditation or membership of a professional body relating to occupational health and/or occupational health and safety.
- Degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant discipline.
- Evidence of extensive experience in the provision of occupational health services to organisations of a similar size and complexity as King’s
- Evidence of a strong understanding of the legislative environment and best practice relating to health risk management in the workplace in a large research-led institution such as King’s.
- Evidence of a proven ability to manage contracts and maintain effective supplier-customer relationships.
- Evidence of proactively seeking and driving opportunities to improve services, processes and outcomes that lead to positive and impactful change.
- Evidence of excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and engage stakeholders at all levels.
- Evidence of authoring clear, well-structured arrangements relating to organisational health risk management.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge and experience of applying ergonomic principles to workplace health risk prevention and management
This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of workplace health at one of the UK’s leading universities, ensuring continuous improvement of the health and safety management system at King’s.
Downloading a copy of our Job Description
Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.
For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Andrew Nicoll (current role holder) or Saccha Johnson (line manager) at safety@kcl.ac.uk .
We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.
We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King’s.
As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.
We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.
Interviews are due to be held on Friday 26th September 2025
