Oakleaf Partnership
Head of People and Developement
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Head of People & Development
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.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
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.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
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.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London