Head of Occupational Health and Wellbeing at Loughborough University

Job summary

Health and Safety Services

Full Time and Open Ended

Hybrid: This role is primarily campus-based, with an expectation of 3-4 days per week on campus and up to 1-2 days remote, subject to business needs.

This could be your chance to lead an Occupational Health & Wellbeing Service for an organisation that genuinely has wellbeing at its heart. At Loughborough University, were proud of our reputation for excellence in research, teaching, innovation, and sport, but its our people who make this possible.

As part of Health and Safety Services, the Head of Occupational Health and Wellbeing plays a pivotal role in supporting the success of our people, through delivering exemplar occupational health and wellbeing services that supports all staff across both our Loughborough and London campuses, in line with our ambitions.

Main duties of the job

Reporting to the Director of Health, Safety and Wellbeing, this is a unique and exciting opportunity to join an organisation that truly cares about wellbeing, and to take a leading role in enabling and delivering our strategy, to:

Shape the Occupational Health and Wellbeing Service
Lead on the delivery of the institutional commitment to wellbeing through the University Health and Wellbeing strategy.
Lead a team of well trained, skilled and motivated practitioners that care for colleagues and provide high quality professional advice to managers.
Maintain good governance and leadership, guiding the service to continue to deliver exceptional clinical practice.
Work collaboratively with key services such as HR, Organisational Development and our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion team.

Were looking for someone who can bring:

Experience of leading the delivery of an Occupational Health Service in a complex organisation.
Experience of developing and delivering a health and wellbeing strategy.
Specialist management experience within an occupational health department, with a sound knowledge of both legislation and clinical practice.
Experience of articulating and evidencing the impact of Occupational Health at senior leadership level.
Strong understanding of Occupational Health IT packages and the ability to use IT software for reporting, data collection and analysis.
Excellent communication and clear reporting skills.
Relevant specialist qualification/s and professional registration.

About us

Our Benefits

At Loughborough, our benefits are designed to support your life inside and outside of work, helping you to thrive and feel valued as part of our community. Examples of our benefits include:

Time off- generous holiday allowance, including 14 university closure days and bank holidays, with the option to buy extra through our holiday purchase scheme.

Where you work - access to a range of fantastic facilities with plenty of green space across our 523-acre East Midlands campus, plus an exciting community at our London campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Financial wellbeing - competitive pay, two excellent pension schemes, and everyday savings opportunities.

Support for you and those close to you- through our range of life event leave policies as well as access to an on-site nursery at our East Midlands campus, flexible and hybrid working options.

Health and wellbeing - discounted gym memberships and access to world-class sporting facilities, including physiotherapy, plus healthcare offers such as eyesight testing and wellbeing support.

Travel and sustainability - access to our electric vehicle and cycle-to-work schemes, as well as a variety of travel offers to support sustainable commuting.

Details

Date posted

22 April 2026

Pay scheme

Other

Salary

£59,966 to £67,468 a year Management and Specialist Grade 8. Subject to annual pay award.

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

N0089-REQ260247

Job locations

Epinal Way

Loughborough University

Loughborough

Leicestershire

LE11 3TU

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Family and Grade: Grade 8 Management and Specialist job family

Job Purpose

To develop and deliver a fit for purpose Occupational Health and Wellbeing service for the University. This willinclude:

Ensuring that the Health and Wellbeing strategy remains fit for purpose and aligns to strategic people &culture priorities

Ensuring that the Occupational Health team operate to appropriate clinical standards and that servicesmatch business needs

To ensure that the University is prepared to deal with emerging trends e.g. growth in musculoskeletal andmental health cases

Ensuring that suitable provision is in place at both a University and a school and service level.

Job Duties

To support the ongoing strategic development and implementation of the Universitys wellbeing strategyand frameworks contributing to a vision that defines the Universitys approach to Health and Wellbeing aspart of a broader People & Culture offer

Review the health needs of the University and emerging trends and ensure that the Occupational Healthoffer is and remains suitable

Provide data analysis to Schools and departments to signal trends and benchmark with the widerUniversity and external sectors

Collaborate with HR, Health and Safety, Organisational Development and Equity, Diversity & InclusionTeams, as well as senior leadership to embed health and wellbeing programs that support employeeengagement

Recommend and where appropriate deliver proactive and reactive health and wellbeing interventions

To lead a high performing occupational health service, ensuring the delivery of an efficient and effectiveprovision for staff

Advise on all aspects of occupational health and wellbeing in accordance with evidence-based outcomesand best practice

Act as Occupational Health and Wellbeing subject matter expert across the University

To be an active participant of the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Directorate, Senior Leadership Team andto provide day to day leadership for the OH & Wellbeing team.

Deliver directly Occupational Health services:

In collaboration with the Director of Health, Safety and Wellbeing and the Director of HR, define, select andmonitor the services standards required from outsourced providers.

Provide functional leadership and input into the staffing policy within the specialism

Manage the Occupational Health and Wellbeing team.

Define standards and expectations of outsourced providers in line with current best practice.

Explore options for best practice from all employment settings and deliver evidence based solutions

Ensure that Occupational Health reports delivered to managers are clear and provide evidence-basedopinion identifying actions that may be taken to resolve issues identified

Define the software needs and data architecture of the Occupational Health Service and utilise the dataproduced to inform and improve

Report to HSE committee and Senior Leadership Team on wellbeing trends and concerns along withproviding potential solutions.

Tender for ongoing services such as EAP, Physician provision and wellbeing services.

Monitor the delivery of the Occupational Health services to ensure that they comply with good clinicalpractice

Implement systems to ensure all staff delivering occupational health services have appropriate training,registration or licensing to provide such services.

Devise, prepare and coordinate and deliver a high-quality health surveillance programme (in conjunction with appropriate service providers) across the University.

Advise on processes for the active management of short- and long-term absence

Develop and implement policies, clinical standards, processes and procedures with the aim of deliveringbest practice Occupational Health support

Monitor, manage and maintain oversight of sickness cases which may have potential for wider spread e.g.TB, Meningitis, liaising with Public Health England and acting as necessary to minimise spread and risk tothe University and to ensure compliance with reporting requirements

Points To Note

The purpose of this job description is to indicate the general level of duties and responsibility of the post. Thedetailed duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character or level of responsibility outlinedin the document.

Organisational Responsibility

Reports to the: Director of Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Direct Reports: Occupational Health Advisors (2) and Occupational Health Co-ordinator

Budget Responsibilities: £250,000 plus