Job Title
Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Reporting To
Head of Health Operations
Direct Reports
Medical Director – Hybrid Health, Medical Director – Digital Health
Contract Type
Full-time, Permanent
Location
Remote
Date
September 2026
Organisation Context
We are a rapidly scaling hybrid healthcare provider operating both an online telehealth platform and a network of three newly launched physical GP clinics. Our mission is to deliver accessible, high-quality medical care through both digital and in-person channels. Following recent structural growth, we are seeking an experienced Chief Medical Officer to assume enterprise-wide clinical leadership, governance, and strategic oversight across the full dual-channel model.
Role Purpose
The Chief Medical Officer holds ultimate accountability for clinical safety, governance, and quality across the organisation. The CMO is the clinical peer of the Head of Health Operations, co-driving enterprise strategy while ensuring all medical activity — whether delivered digitally or in-person — meets the highest standards of patient safety, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence.
Key Responsibilities
1. Clinical Governance & Safety
- Clinical Standards Ownership: Establish, mandate, and continuously review clinical protocols, treatment pathways, and safety frameworks applicable to both telehealth and physical clinic environments.
- Incident & Risk Management: Act as the responsible person for all serious clinical incidents, near misses, and patient safety events. Support root cause analysis and oversee implementation of remedial action plans with our Medical Director team.
- Regulatory Compliance: Serve as the primary liaison with the Medical Council, HIQA, HSE, and all relevant healthcare regulatory bodies to guarantee full and current compliance across all service lines.
- Medical Indemnity Oversight: Maintain awareness of indemnity obligations across the clinical workforce; escalate and manage high-risk legal or medico-legal exposures in conjunction with legal counsel.
2. Medical Complaints Escalation
- Complaints Authority: Hold executive accountability for all formal medical complaints escalated by Medical Directors through either channel, ensuring responses meet required timelines.
3. Doctor Query Management
- Senior Clinical Escalation Point: Act as the ultimate escalation for clinical queries from the doctor cohort that cannot be resolved at Tier 1 or Tier 2 level — particularly complex, rare, or multi-system presentations.
- Clinical Decision Support: Provide senior medical guidance on ambiguous or high-risk cases, balancing clinical best practice with the realities of remote or time-pressured consultation.
4. Complex Patient Query Management
- High-Risk Patient Oversight: Provide clinical input on complex, multi-morbid, or medically vulnerable patients flagged by the Medical Director team — including patients with mental health crises, chronic disease exacerbations, or safeguarding concerns.
- Medico-Legal Patient Cases: Lead the clinical response where patient care has legal implications — including subject access requests, coroner inquiries, or litigation.
5. New Service Review & Clinical Feasibility
- Clinical Sign-off: Review and formally approve all proposed new service lines, clinical products, or care pathways before launch.
- Feasibility Assessment: Evaluate clinical safety, regulatory permissibility, workforce readiness, and evidence base for proposed services.
- Market & Regulatory Horizon Scanning: Stay abreast of evolving healthcare regulations, NICE/NCEC guidance, and market developments to proactively identify opportunities and risks for the service portfolio.
6. People Leadership & Clinical Culture
- Performance Framework: Oversee performance management of the senior clinical leadership tier (Medical Directors).
- Culture & Wellbeing: Champion a culture of psychological safety, openness to clinical learning, and zero tolerance for unsafe practice.
7. Board, Executive & External Representation
- External Clinical Voice: Represent the organisation externally with regulators, healthcare commissioners, media, and clinical stakeholders.
- Strategic Co-Leadership: Act as clinical co-owner of the organisational strategy alongside the Head of Health Operations, ensuring commercial ambitions remain grounded in patient safety.
Person Specification
Essential
- Qualifications: Primary medical degree (MB BCh BAO or equivalent). Full registration with the Irish Medical Council.
- Clinical Experience: Minimum 10 years post-graduate clinical experience, with significant time in General Practice. Breadth across multi-morbidity and complex case management.
- Leadership Experience: Demonstrable track record in a senior clinical leadership or medical management role, including direct line management of doctors.
- Governance & Complaints: Hands-on experience managing clinical complaints, conducting or overseeing root cause analyses, and engaging with regulatory bodies.
- Telehealth Familiarity & Advocacy: Practical experience of digital health delivery or strong demonstrable understanding of the clinical governance challenges specific to remote consultation.
Desirable
- Service Development: Experience designing and launching new clinical services or care pathways.
- Postgraduate qualification: Qualification in management, healthcare leadership, or clinical governance desirable.
