Job Title: Chief Executive Officer
Employer: HSE
County: Dublin
Closing Date: 3pm, Thursday, 18th September 2025
Starting Salary: €398,174
About the Employer:
The Health Service Executive (HSE) was established under the Health Act 2004 as the single body with statutory responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services in the Republic of Ireland. As outlined in the Health Act, 2004 the objective of the Executive is to use the resources available to it in the most beneficial, effective and efficient manner to improve, promote and protect the health and welfare of the public.
The Health Service Executive has a budget of €26.9bn in 2025. The public health service has over 148,832 staff in whole time equivalent terms and is the largest employer in the country. There has been very significant cumulative additional funding in recent years, and this has supported growth in targeted service areas and developments. Within the total resources made available the HSE has achieved significant operational improvements and improved outcomes in important areas.
Reduction on mortality rates and gains in life expectancy are important markers of improvement in population health. The life expectancy of the Irish population has increased by nearly six years since 2000 and is now above the EU average, demonstrating the success achieved in supporting people to maintain good health as well as providing access to effective healthcare services during illness. At the beginning of 2020, Ireland was reporting the fastest improving life expectancy in the European Union (EU), and our people were self-reporting the best health in the EU. The most recent estimate of life expectancy in Ireland is 80.8 years for males and 84.7 years for females. Life expectancy for females has risen by 2.0 years between 2009 and 2019 and males, in the same period, are living an additional 3.0 years on average. The most significant increase in life expectancy is driven by reduced mortality rates from major diseases.
Nevertheless, the health system faces significant challenges, including a growing and ageing population, health inequalities and attracting and retaining the right workforce. Specifically, the number of people waiting for treatment is too long and there are annual problems with Emergency Department overcrowding. A critical objective for the new CEO is to lead and inspire a Team to address these structural problems. Delivering improvements in waiting lists and the performance of Urgent and Emergency Care services will be key performance indicators for the new CEO.
About the Role:
This post is being advertised at a time when there are long-standing challenges in health services, and it is recognised that tackling these challenges will require strong leadership and commitment. Working with the HSE Board, the CEO will be tasked to deliver an ambitious Corporate Plan 2025-2027 and Annual National Service Plans which are underpinned by the HSE values of Care, Compassion, Trust and Learning. The key objectives of the Corporate Plan 2025-2027 are informed by the Programme for Government 2025 and as outlined in the Oireachtas Sláintecare Report 2017. The Annual National Service Plan sets out the services that are provided to the people of Ireland for the investment entrusted to the HSE and within the strategic context of the Corporate Plan. The development of the Plan is also informed by the Minister for Health’s (DoH) and the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality’s (DCED) Annual Statements of Priorities and by the HSE Capital Plan 2025, HSE Workforce Resourcing Strategy and the HSE eHealth & ICT Capital Plan 2025.
In addition, the HSE will need to continue to make progress and further developments in many other key areas of service delivery, such as access to care, progression on national strategies, women’s health and maternity care, recovery and resilience planning, health and wellbeing, mental health services, older persons’ services, disability services, introduction of new drugs and the finance reform program, all while maintaining a focus and commitment to improvement of services for patients and service users and a reduction in waiting lists and improvements in Urgent and Emergency services performance.
There will be a need for the new CEO to provide strong leadership in continuing to develop an organisational culture that delivers for patients and service users and supports the implementation of the HSE 2025 – 2027 People Strategy, in line with Government health policy. It will also be necessary to prioritise examination of the structure, responsibilities, capacity, skills and experience at senior level within the organisation, in line with the importance of the organisation to the public and the Government of Ireland.
The new CEO will lead and shape the future of health and social care services in Ireland. A major programme of transformation is underway to take forward a range of programmes and initiatives central to Sláintecare. In addition to working with the DoH and DCED on embedding Regional Health Areas (RHAs), and reforms to tackle hospital and community waiting lists, programmes of change will focus on enhanced primary and community services designed to reduce our dependence on the current hospital-centric model of care, reform of home support and residential care in older persons’ services and on the reform of mental health and disability services. The new CEO will be responsible for delivery of Sláintecare.
About You:
The successful applicant will be a person with extensive transformational leadership skills, competencies and experience and a career history demonstrating experience that is relevant to the leadership of a large, complex, widely dispersed organisation with a range of diverse statutory functions in the health and social care sector.
The successful applicant will have a track record of being an effective communicator and have a proven track record of building and maintaining wide-ranging relationships with diverse stakeholders. The successful applicant will be a committed individual who is focused on the delivery of quality person-centered health and social care services.
Eligibility Criteria - Qualifications and/ or Experience
Candidates must have at the latest date of application, each of the following:
Relevant Experience
• Extensive experience at a senior leadership level in either health or social care delivery or other comparable and relevant business environment of equivalent complexity, as relevant to this role. Leadership & Change
• Significant strategic leadership experience with a proven track record of organisational management and organisational improvement in a distributed and highly complex organisation or other relevant and highly complex organisation, as relevant to this role;
• Demonstrable leadership of transformational change and reconfiguration in a large scale complex environments and a proven track record of implementing major system-wide reform(s);
• A proven ability to lead, manage, develop and ensure the performance achievement of an Senior Leadership Team and build a commitment to a shared vision;
• A proven record of large scale operational delivery Business & Financial Management
• Significant experience of strategic planning underpinned by an effective internal corporate governance framework and risk management system;
• A proven track record of managing large budgets effectively, with a commitment to value for money, quality, governance and accountability;
• A proven ability to collaborate and work effectively with external service delivery partners within well-structured governance relationships.
Health
A candidate for and any person holding the office must be fully competent and capable of undertaking the duties attached to the office and be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.
Character
Each candidate for and any person holding the office must be of good character
Skills, Competencies and/or Knowledge
Candidates must demonstrate:
Professional Knowledge & Experience
• A good thorough understanding of health and social care transformation agendas in Ireland or in other similar health systems, or the demonstrated capacity to quickly develop such an understanding.
• A record of success in communicating, influencing and engaging with partners and key stakeholders at the highest levels; building credibility with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders on a variety of complex and potentially controversial and sensitive issues;
Skills and Competencies Candidates must demonstrate:
• The ability to build increased trust in the health system; develop and enforce an enhanced system of accountability; and to show the way for a system-wide shift in organisational culture;
• Excellent problem solving and analytical skills, and the ability to exercise exceptional judgement in the face of conflicting pressures;
• The ability to navigate complex political environments and be comfortable with providing accountability in public;
• The ability to adapt, be flexible and to react in a calm and considered way in the event of a crisis. • Be a highly motivated individual, ambitious to deliver on demanding strategic development targets with high levels of resilience and strong personal and professional credibility.
The Closing Date for this competition is Thursday, 18th of September at 3pm.
We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under all nine grounds of the Employment Equality Act.
