Chief Business Officer (CBO)

Important dates

Closing date: Sunday, 20th September 2026
Interviews :  Week commencing 5th October 2026

Hours

Full-time. Harmless operates a 4-day working-week model with full-time staff working 32 hours per week.

Salary

£40,307 per annum, pro rata, rising to £41,516 per annum, pro rata, on successful completion of a probationary period.

Job Description

MAIN PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE JOB  

• As Harmless expands its position as a national centre of excellence for self-harm and suicide prevention, the Chief Business Officer (CBO) will join the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to drive corporate growth, expand market reach, and oversee high-level strategic partnerships and business operations.
• As a senior executive reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the CBO bridges high-level strategy and day-to-day commercial execution.
• Drive long-term growth and profitability for Harmless CIC through strategic partnerships, new markets, and client relationships.
• Sitting as an executive peer alongside specialist leads—the Chief Academy Officer, Chief Clinical Officer, Chief Service User Care & Experience Officer, and Chief HR Officer—the COO takes direct operational ownership of  Business Development, Strategic Partnerships, Strategic Planning, Brand Positioning and Financial and Operational Oversight.

 
Position in the organisation:  Senior Leadership Team (SLT) 
 
Reports to  Chief Executive Officer (CEO) 
 

DUTIES AND KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Strategic Finance Management

• Financial Oversight: Provide primary executive oversight of overall budgeting, forecasting, resource allocation, cash flow management, and long-term financial modelling in direct partnership with the Finance Manager.
• Pricing & Contract Modelling: Establish pricing structures, cost models, and profit and margin targets for public sector tenders, NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) contracts, local authority SLAs, and corporate partnerships.
• Compliance & Governance: Safeguard financial governance, risk matrices, annual audits, and statutory reporting within the Community Interest Company (CIC) framework.

2. Brand Positioning, Marketing & Business Growth

• Brand Advancement: Lead national marketing, PR, and communications strategies to strengthen brand recognition for Harmless CIC and its specialised delivery arms (The Tomorrow Project and Fearless).
• Business Growth: Identify and secure diverse, multi-stream funding across public sector commissioning, corporate patrons, charitable foundations, and commercial trading.
• Cross-Departmental Commercialisation: To work alongside clinical, training, education and other areas of business to achieve commercial aims and objectives.
• Lead Generation and Client Acquisition : Identifying and qualifying potential high-value clients. Pitching products or services to prospective buyers and stakeholders.
• Market Research and Analysis: Researching sector trends, competitor activity, and new geographic or product markets. Identifying opportunities and growth potential. 

3. Operations, Facilities & Infrastructure

• Business Operations: Direct non-clinical central functions, including IT infrastructure, facilities, administrative workflows, and business support teams.
• Systems Optimisation: Modernise internal tools, data systems, and CRMs to eliminate operational friction and improve cross-departmental coordination.
• Multi-Site Facilities: Oversee property management, health & safety compliance, and physical logistics across central headquarters and regional operations.

4. Senior Leadership Integration

• SLT Integration: Act as an active, collaborative member of the executive team, embedding commercial discipline and operational clarity into organisational decision-making.
• CEO Operational Partner: Translate the CEO’s strategic vision into sustainable business infrastructure and actionable operational plans.
• Values-Led Leadership: Champion an empathetic, trauma-informed, and compassionate leadership approach that reflects Harmless’s core user-led ethos.

Person Specification

Skills, knowledge, and experience 

• Executive Leadership: Proven track record in a senior business or operational leadership role (Essential)
• Specialism: Knowledge and Experience of working within a social enterprise, CIC, non-profit, or healthcare provider. (Desirable)
• Financial: Extensive experience overseeing complex budgets, financial compliance, and contract negotiations. (Essential)
• Marketing & Growth Vision: Successful background in brand positioning, public sector bidding/tendering, and driving top-line revenue growth across multi-faceted organisations. (Essential)
• Process & Systems Mindset: Strong understanding of IT systems, facilities management, business process optimisation, and data-informed decision-making. (Essential)
• Values Alignment: Deep commitment to trauma-informed care, empathy, equity, and user-led mental health initiatives. (Essential)
• Organisational: An alignment with Harmless CIC values, ethos, and standards, including a proven commitment to continuous improvement. (Essential) 
• Resilience: The ability to identify and respond to an ever- changing external environment that puts us in the best possible position to achieve our aims and objectives. (Essential)
• Forward thinking: The ability to identify and maximise opportunities and strengths to the benefit of our stakeholders both in the short term, medium-term and long-term. (Essential). And an ability to identify and respond to disruptions, challenges, and threats from an ever-changing internal and external environment. (Essential)
• Building Relationships: A history of building effective relationships and maintaining key stakeholder engagement up to senior level and policy level. (Essential)
• Business knowledge: A thorough understanding of Harmless CIC, including its commitment to the communities it serves. (Desirable) 

Benefits

Harmless CIC values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. We’re committed to developing talent and supporting colleagues to have great careers. To support that, some of the benefits we offer include:

• Flexible working arrangements. 
• Four-day working week as standard for all full-time staff, with an equivalent pro rata salary for part-time staff.
• 24 days annual leave plus bank holidays, pro rata, on entry, increasing up to 28 days plus bank holidays, pro rata. *
• Occupational sick pay up to 24 standard working days per annum * 
• Employer pension contribution up to 8%. *
• Other staff reward and recognition initiatives operate throughout the year. 
• Access to Harmless’ CPD-accredited specialist training
• Access to Harmless’ annual CPD-accredited national self harm and suicide prevention conferences. 
• Other outstanding CPD opportunities, including an opportunity to develop areas of special interest around self harm, suicide prevention and suicide bereavement. 

  *These benefits are linked to our employee loyalty programme and gradually increase based on the number of years of continuous employment. More information is available on request.

About us

Harmless is a Community Interest Company – CIC for short. This is a company with social aims, so we operate like a charity but with a great dedication to sustainability. 

 

That means that whilst we seek grant and charitable funding, we also operate a business (our Academy department) which generates income. All the money we raise then goes straight back into the operation to fund vital and life-saving services.

 
We have different pathways in our service, and different staff working across these pathways, and these also operate in different localities.

 
Harmless is the registered Company responsible for managing and overseeing a variety of projects and initiatives, including: The Tomorrow Project, The Academy at Harmless and Fearless.