Chief Executive

Nearly 60 years ago, Dame Cicely Saunders founded St Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham, igniting the modern hospice movement with a vision for holistic palliative end-of-life care. Today, our mission remains steadfast: to ensure that every dying person and their loved ones have access to compassionate care and support whenever and wherever they need it. St Christopher's has evolved into a modern hospice charity, caring for nearly 6,500 individuals each year.

With a 32-bed hospice unit in Sydenham, we delivered 650 inpatient admissions, over 5,000 outpatient appointments, and more than 15,000 home visits last year alone. Our hospice care includes a wide range of multi-professional teams, including clinical staff, psychological and spiritual teams, social work and welfare, rehabilitation, wellbeing services. In addition, we offer bereavement services, including dedicated support for bereaved children. We are also one of the biggest providers of palliative care education in the world, working locally, nationally and globally. We have an active research and policy strategy and an innovative community action team.

Our impact is made possible by over 500 dedicated staff and 1,200 volunteers, as well as the generous support of our local community and 24 charity shops, which contribute to our annual funding of approximately £30 million.

With the combination of a solid financial base and a crystalised vision, we are looking for a highly ambitious and innovative individual who is passionate about the opportunities ahead. This person will make this vision a reality by acting as an effective ambassador for our work and mission; growing our impact, income and profile; and passionately galvanising a fantastic team and cohort of volunteers. The ideal candidate will be a bold, decisive, and innovative leader, passionate about palliative care and bereavement services. This person will evidence success and confidence as a senior leader in a complex organisation, whether in the commercial, charity or public sector.

Reflecting the diverse communities that we are proud to serve in South East London, St Christopher’s is committed to widening the diversity of its leadership and board. We actively and warmly encourage applications from a broad and deep range of backgrounds and experiences.

Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to St Christopher’s Hospice on this appointment. For further information about the role, including details about how to apply, please visit www.saxbam.com/appointments using reference ZAMAHB. Alternatively email Belinda.beck@saxbam.com. Applications should be received by noon on Monday 2nd December, 2024.