Head of HR Operations

Head of HR Operations wanted by a market-leading leisure and hospitality business.

Our client, a well-established hospitality, retail and leisure group with around 50 sites across the UK, is seeking an experienced Head of HR, Senior HR Manager or Senior HRBP to support the HR Director during an exciting period of expansion. This is initially a contract role, with a high possibility of it becoming permanent in the spring.

This is an important role, joining the business at a time of significant change with a number of critical people projects already underway. We are looking for someone who is comfortable operating at pace and who combines strategic thinking with a genuinely hands-on approach. This is not a role for someone who wants to manage from a distance. You will need to roll up your sleeves and get involved in the day-to-day, while also creating the capacity to step back, identify priorities and keep focus on the longer-term people agenda.

Reporting to the People and Culture Director, the Interim Senior HR Manager / Head of People Operations will lead and oversee People Operations across the business, ensuring effective, consistent and commercially focused delivery across the employee lifecycle. This includes HR policies and processes, systems, governance, compliance, reporting and employee relations.

A key priority will be making sure the business is prepared for upcoming changes to employment legislation, turning new requirements into practical, compliant and consistent policies, processes and ways of working across the organisation.

Working closely with operational leaders and the wider People team, you will lead on employee relations and strengthen operational people practices across the business. You will ensure employee matters are managed fairly, pragmatically and consistently, while managing legal, commercial and reputational risk and maintaining a positive employee experience.

Alongside this, you will support the People and Culture Director on significant business change initiatives, including organisational change, restructuring, acquisitions and integration, taking ownership of agreed workstreams and moving projects at pace from planning through to implementation.

There is a lot to deliver in a relatively short period, supported by a small but established People team, so we are looking for someone who can quickly understand the business, set priorities and make an immediate impact.

Skills and experience

• Significant generalist HR experience at Senior HR Manager, Head of HR or equivalent level within a multi-site organisation.
• Ideally, experience in hospitality, leisure, retail or multi-site operations.
• Commercial understanding of how a successful multi-site business operates and its key drivers.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Proven ability to deliver consistently in a fast-moving, highly pressurised environment.
• Highly analytical with strong attention to detail.
• Demonstrable experience managing complex employee relations and organisational change, including restructures, consultation and redundancy.
• Experience supporting HR projects, business integrations or acquisitions would be an advantage.
• Confidence working with senior leaders and giving pragmatic, commercially focused challenge and advice.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.

What's on offer

• Generous salary + bonus
• Hybrid role (2 days a week from home)
• The chance to join a well-established, dynamic business
• Variety and autonomy

If this exciting role is for you, please apply via the link below or contact Ian Gerstein via LinkedIn or email for more information.

Benefits

• Company pension
• Employee discount
• Free parking
• On-site parking