Group Head Of People & Culture At The People Practice

Our client, a financial services institution, is looking to hire an experienced and commercially minded Group Head of People & Culture to lead its people and culture operations.

This role is responsible for ensuring that the Group has the people, leadership, culture, and organisational structure needed to deliver its ambitions.

This is a strategic leadership role with a strong focus on talent, performance, organisational effectiveness, leadership development, employee experience, and culture. The successful candidate will work closely with the Group leadership team and business leaders to ensure people\'s decisions are closely aligned with business priorities.

Responsibilities

People Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and lead the Group-wide people strategy in line with the organisation's business objectives and growth plans.
• Partner with the Group leadership team and business heads on workforce planning, organisational structure, talent, and people-related decisions.
• Provide informed advice on people matters, balancing business needs with a strong employee experience.
• Build scalable people practices that support the Group as it grows across businesses and markets.

Talent & Organisational Development

• Lead the Group's approach to attracting, developing, retaining, and engaging high-performing talent.
• Build strong talent pipelines for critical and leadership positions.
• Develop succession planning and leadership development programmes for key roles.
• Identify capability gaps and work with business leaders to address them.
• Support the development of a high-performance culture where people understand what is expected of them and have the opportunity to grow.

Culture & Employee Experience

• Shape and strengthen the Group's culture, ensuring its values are reflected in how people work, lead, and make decisions.
• Lead initiatives that improve employee engagement, collaboration, and the overall employee experience.
• Ensure the organisation maintains a strong culture as it grows and evolves.
• Act as a trusted sounding board for leaders and employees on sensitive people and culture matters.

Performance & Reward

• Oversee the Group's performance management approach, ensuring it supports accountability, development, and business performance.
• Lead the development and review of compensation, benefits, and reward practices to attract and retain strong talent.
• Ensure reward practices remain competitive, equitable, and aligned with business and market realities.

HR Operations, Policies & Governance

• Provide oversight of core HR operations, policies, and employee lifecycle processes across the Group.
• Ensure people\'s practices are consistent, fit for purpose, and compliant with applicable employment requirements.
• Strengthen HR systems, processes, and reporting to improve the quality of people data and decision-making.
• Establish meaningful people metrics and use them to identify trends, measure progress, and inform leadership decisions.

Change & Organisational Effectiveness

• Lead people-related aspects of organisational change, restructuring, and business transformation.
• Support leaders through periods of growth, change, and organisational development.
• Review structures, roles, and ways of working to ensure the organisation remains effective and fit for purpose.

Must have skills

• Excellent communication, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.

Qualifications

• Degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organisational Psychology, or a related field. Professional HR certification is required, a relevant postgraduate qualification is an added advantage.
• Significant experience in a senior HR/People leadership role, ideally within financial services, investment management, professional services, or another high-performance environment.
• Strong understanding of talent management, organisational development, performance management, reward, employee relations, and HR operations.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with senior executives and business leaders on strategic people matters.
• Strong commercial understanding and the ability to connect people strategy to business performance.
• A practical, solutions-focused approach with the ability to balance strategic thinking with execution.