A highly respected health and social care leader, John has over 16 years of experience at the forefront of the social care sector on a local and national level.

As chief operating officer at one of Scotland’s largest and most diverse social care charities, John provided leadership to support the best of care to vulnerable people, families and communities to fulfil their potential and lead the best of lives.

Graduating from Robert Gordon University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Public Policy and Management, specialising in Human Resource Management, John started his career within the Human Resources and Training department at Royal Mail. John held human resource manager roles in the private sector before joining a social care charity in 2007.

Following a programme of modernisation to secure the charity’s future, John was promoted to the position of chief operating officer / deputy chief executive in 2011. He instigated and led transformational projects to develop, design and deliver high quality financially sustainable services that met evolving needs. As a pivotal member of the executive team, John provided hands-on leadership and guidance to the organisation as it successfully navigated the extreme challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, looking after the welfare and health of staff and the most vulnerable members of the community.

John was a founding director and finance convenor of the Granite Care Consortium that transformed the delivery of Care at Home service delivery in Aberdeen.

John is a fellow of both Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Continuing with his commitment to personal development, John recently graduated from Robert Gordon University having completed the MBA (Master in Business Administration) programme with Distinction and receiving the Dean of School Award for academic excellence, having based his Dissertation on sustainable approaches to social care for the 21st Century and beyond.

John said: “I feel extremely privileged and honoured to be offered this opportunity to lead the highly regarded and respected Hillcrest Futures. I have been extremely impressed by the calibre and commitment of everyone at Hillcrest to deliver the highest quality of health and social care solutions to help people across Scotland live better lives. I am looking forward to seeing first-hand the incredible work that takes place in our services and meet all involved.”

Angela Linton, Hillcrest chief executive, added: “I am delighted that John is joining Hillcrest as the Director of Hillcrest Futures and part of the Executive Leadership Team.  John brings with him a wealth of experience in the Care and Support sector at a senior level.  John will be going through his induction over the next few weeks and will be out and about visiting as many services as possible,”