Occupations and Terms of Reference › Staff development officer
Universal terms of reference · POS-168 · version 1.0 · status: draft · next review 2027-10-27
Staff development officer
To support the development of individual staff and teams, so that people grow in their roles and the organisation builds its future leaders.
Each part of this page links to the related trainings, competencies and policies. The links are the same for every facility, so an organisation can see at a glance what a role requires and what it is trained in.
Job description
Job summary. You support staff development. You help people plan their careers, design development programmes, coach managers, and track development against career ladders and competence levels.
Reports to: Training and education manager.
Leads or supervises: No direct reports.
What you do on a typical day
- Meet staff to agree development plans.
- Design and deliver development programmes.
- Coach managers on developing their teams.
- Track development against career ladders.
- Report development outcomes each year.
Working conditions and demands
- Development needs vary widely across staff.
- Confidential conversations about careers.
- Must keep focus on the organisation's needs as well.
What good looks like
- Staff have agreed development plans.
- Promotion pathways are used fairly.
- Managers coach their teams.
Place in the organogram
Reporting line, from the top: see the organogram on the Occupations page. The lines above and below this role are listed in section 3.
1. Golden rules
These rules apply in every setting.
- Public money and patient payments are handled with integrity and recorded fully.
- Staff are treated fairly, consistently and with respect.
- Confidential information about people and finances is protected at all times.
- Controls exist to prevent error and fraud, and are followed by everyone.
- Concerns about money or conduct are raised and investigated without reprisal.
- Decisions are recorded so that anyone can see why they were made.
- Every role has a clear procedure, and deviations are reported and corrected.
- Support teams are judged by how well they help clinical services deliver safe care.
2. Identification
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position code | POS-168 |
| ISCO-08 | 2423 (skill level 4) |
| ESCO | to map |
| Department | Human resources |
| Facility types | Hospital, Ambulatory, Transport, Medevac, Fitness, Aesthetic |
3. Reporting line and working relationships
Reports to: POS-166. Supervises: .
| Works with | Nature of the relationship |
|---|---|
| Training and education manager | Development programmes. |
| Competency assessor | Development plans from competence results. |
| HR manager | Career and promotion pathways. |
4. Key accountabilities
| Domain | Accountability | Evidence of delivery | Checked | Linked competencies | Linked trainings | Linked policies | Standards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Development plans | Agrees and reviews development plans with staff. | Plans in place for staff who want one | Annually | C-01 | T-08 | – | 2 |
| Programmes | Designs and delivers development programmes. | Programme evaluated after each cycle | Annually | C-01 · C-02 | T-08 | – | 2 |
| Career pathways | Explains and checks promotion pathways are used fairly. | Promotion decisions reviewed for fairness | Annually | C-03 | T-08 | POL-EQUAL | 2 |
5. Decision rights
| The post holder decides | Consults or escalates |
|---|---|
| Development options for individual staff | Promotion disputes (training and education manager and HR manager) |
| Content of development options within the programme | Development concerns that involve conduct (HR manager) |
6. Qualifications and experience
| ID | Qualification | Mandatory | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q-01 | Degree in human resources, education or psychology | No | Lifetime |
| Q-02 | Coaching or leadership development certificate | No | Lifetime |
| ID | Experience | Minimum years | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-01 | Staff development, coaching or training experience | 3 | Yes |
7. Training requirements
Recommended common practice. Each facility adapts the list to its national law. Essential items apply in every setting; recommended items apply where resources allow.
| ID | Training | Tier | When | Validity | Linked policies | Linked competencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-01 | Facility induction | essential | at_entry | Once | POL-WHISTLE · POL-EQUAL · POL-DATA | – |
| T-02 | Safeguarding adults | essential | periodic | Every 3 year(s) | POL-SAFEG | – |
| T-03 | Safeguarding children | essential | periodic | Every 3 year(s) | POL-SAFEG | – |
| T-04 | Data protection and confidentiality | essential | annual | Every 1 year(s) | POL-DATA | – |
| T-05 | Incident reporting and open disclosure | essential | periodic | Every 2 year(s) | POL-INC | – |
| T-06 | Governance, accountability and assurance | recommended | periodic | Every 3 year(s) | – | – |
| T-07 | Emergency and major incident command | essential | annual | Every 1 year(s) | POL-INC | – |
| T-08 | Speaking up, inclusion and equality leadership | essential | periodic | Every 2 year(s) | POL-WHISTLE · POL-EQUAL | C-01 · C-02 · C-03 |
8. Health, fitness and language
| ID | Requirement | Frequency | Tier | Minimum in low-resource settings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H-03 | Fitness-to-work assessment at entry and after serious illness or injury | Every 12 months | recommended | Fitness check at entry |
| Language | Level | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|
| Official language of the country of practice | professional | Yes |
| English | working | Yes |
9. Competencies by level
| ID | Competency | Foundation | Practitioner | Expert | Assessed by | Revalidate | Linked trainings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-01 | Development planning | Supports plan writing | Designs development plans | Designs the development system | Plan review | Every 12 months | T-08 |
| C-02 | Coaching and mentoring | Coaches basic skills | Coaches managers | Designs coaching programmes | Coaching review | Every 12 months | T-08 |
| C-03 | Career pathways and promotion | Explains career ladders | Advises on pathways | Designs career pathways | Pathway review | Every 12 months | T-08 |
10. Performance evaluation
- Probation: 6 months, with a sign-off review (recommended value).
- Appraisal: every 12 months against the competencies and indicators below.
| ID | Indicator | Target | Data source | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PI-01 | Staff with agreed development plans | set by facility | development records | Annually |
| PI-02 | Programmes evaluated | 100% | evaluation records | Annually |
| PI-03 | Promotion decisions reviewed for fairness | 100% | promotion review | Annually |
11. Career ladder and promotion
| Level | Role | Minimum experience to move on | Qualifications | Competency minimums | Trainings required | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive | Staff development officer | 3 years (recommended) | Q-01 | C-01 practitioner, C-02 practitioner | T-08 | Executive appointment and performance review |
12. Policies the post holder follows
Each policy is a standard template that the facility adopts and adapts. Templates are maintained centrally, so every facility works from the same version.
POL-SAFEG · Safeguarding adults and children
Purpose: Protect patients from abuse, neglect and harm, and make sure every concern is recognised and acted on.
Scope: All staff, volunteers and contractors.
Key rules:
Scope: All staff, volunteers and contractors.
Key rules:
- Recognise signs of abuse and neglect and record them factually.
- Report every concern to the designated safeguarding lead the same shift.
- Do not investigate alone.
- Share information only as the safeguarding procedure allows.
POL-DATA · Data protection and confidentiality
Purpose: Keep patient and staff information private, secure and used only for care and legal purposes.
Scope: All staff who access records or systems.
Key rules:
Scope: All staff who access records or systems.
Key rules:
- Access only the records needed for your work.
- Keep records secure; do not leave screens or paper unattended.
- Do not share information without a lawful basis.
- Report any breach to the data protection officer within 24 hours.
Linked trainings: T-10 · Review every 12 months · Template 0.1 (draft)
POL-WHISTLE · Speaking up (whistleblowing)
Purpose: Let staff raise patient safety or conduct concerns without fear of reprisal.
Scope: All staff.
Key rules:
Scope: All staff.
Key rules:
- Raise a concern with your line manager or the named speaking-up officer.
- If that route fails, escalate to the board or the national regulator.
- Retaliation against anyone who speaks up is a disciplinary offence.
- Concerns are recorded, investigated and the outcome given to the person raising them.
Linked trainings: T-01 · Review every 12 months · Template 0.1 (draft)
POL-EQUAL · Equality, diversity and inclusion
Purpose: Give every patient and colleague fair access, respectful treatment and reasonable adjustments.
Scope: All staff and patients.
Key rules:
Scope: All staff and patients.
Key rules:
- Treat every person with dignity regardless of background.
- Make reasonable adjustments, including interpreters, for language and disability.
- Report discrimination through the speaking-up route.
- Monitor access and outcomes by group.
Linked trainings: T-01 · Review every 24 months · Template 0.1 (draft)
POL-INC · Incident reporting and open disclosure
Purpose: Report and learn from incidents and near misses, and tell patients honestly when things go wrong.
Scope: All staff.
Key rules:
Scope: All staff.
Key rules:
- Report every incident and near miss the same shift.
- Give the patient and family an honest account and an apology where appropriate (open disclosure).
- Take immediate action to protect others.
- Learn: contribute to the review and follow the agreed actions.
13. Standards that name this role
14. Record history
| Date | Change | Approved by |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-27 | Draft record, batch 1 of the position build | Awaiting approval |