We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded Head of People & Development to lead a high-performing HR function within a complex and evolving organisation.
This is a senior leadership role for an individual who combines strategic thinking with operational excellence and has a proven track record of delivering impactful people initiatives that drive organisational performance.
The Opportunity
Reporting into the People Director, you will lead and develop the People team, ensuring the delivery of a professional, proactive and business-focused HR service. You will work closely with senior stakeholders across the organisation to deliver people strategies, support organisational change, and strengthen leadership capability.
A key aspect of this role is acting as the senior lead for complex employee relations matters. We are looking for someone with significant experience managing high-risk and sensitive ER cases, providing expert advice, mitigating risk and ensuring compliance with employment legislation.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, coach and develop a team of HR professionals, creating a high-performance culture.
- Drive the delivery of people strategy and organisational priorities.
- Partner with senior leaders to align people initiatives with business objectives.
- Lead workforce planning, talent, succession and organisational development activities.
- Act as the escalation point for complex employee relations cases, including disciplinary, grievance, performance, absence management and organisational change matters.
- Ensure compliance with employment law, policies and governance requirements.
- Lead and support business transformation and change programmes.
- Utilise people data and analytics to inform decision-making and identify trends, risks and opportunities.
- Drive continuous improvement across HR processes, systems and service delivery.
About You
You will be an experienced HR leader with the credibility and confidence to influence at senior levels and challenge constructively where required.
You will bring:
- Significant senior-level HR leadership experience.
- Strong people management experience and a track record of building and developing successful HR teams.
- Extensive employee relations knowledge and hands-on experience handling complex and sensitive cases.
- Excellent understanding of UK employment law and HR best practice.
- Experience leading organisational change, transformation and culture initiatives.
- Strong commercial awareness and a pragmatic approach to problem-solving.
- Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Experience using people metrics and workforce data to support strategic decision-making.
- CIPD qualification (or equivalent) preferred.
