Head of People

Reporting directly to the CEO and serving as a key member of the Core Level 10 Senior Management Team, the Head of People will lead the people agenda that enables Embridge to grow with clarity, capability, and consistency. The role is responsible for ensuring a high-performing, engaged, and future-ready workforce through effective people strategies, leadership development, organisational design, and strong HR operations.

As a strategic business partner to the CEO, CFO and senior leaders, the Head of People will connect people priorities to business growth, employee retention, capability development, organisational performance, and delivery excellence. The role will lead the people aspects of organisational change, ensuring leaders and managers are equipped to communicate, implement, and embed change successfully while maintaining engagement and performance.

The successful candidate will ensure Embridge remains an employer of choice by driving employee engagement, strengthening performance and development practices, and building the capability required to support future business growth.

• Lead the development and delivery of the Embridge People Strategy, aligned to business objectives and growth plans.
• Partner with the CEO, CFO and senior leadership team to provide strategic advice and guidance on all people-related matters.
• Shape organisational design, workforce planning, future capability requirements, and succession planning.
• Drive initiatives that enhance employee engagement, wellbeing, and overall employee experience.
• Champion Embridge’s culture, values, behaviours and Employee Value Proposition.
• Lead organisational change and transformation activities, ensuring effective communication, stakeholder engagement and adoption of new ways of working.
• Strengthen performance management, career development and progression frameworks across the business.
• Develop leadership and management capability through coaching, learning, and development initiatives.
• Provide expert guidance on employee relations matters, employment legislation, policy development and HR best practice.
• Oversee all people operations, ensuring efficient, compliant and effective HR processes from recruitment through to exit.
• Create visibility of recurring people issues, including reward and benefits queries, escalating material retention, competitiveness and operational risks as appropriate.
• Own HR systems, people data, reporting capability and workforce analytics to support informed decision-making.
• Deliver regular people insights and reporting to the Board and Core Level 10 team.
• Lead, mentor and develop the HR Advisor while building the capability and structure of the wider People function as the organisation grows.
• Manage external HR providers and ensure the business remains compliant with employment legislation, governance and health and safety requirements.

Key skills and experience include:

• CIPD Level 5 qualification or equivalent professional experience.
• Proven experience leading a People or HR function within a growing organisation.
• Strong strategic thinking combined with the ability to deliver operational results.
• Expertise across employee engagement, employee relations, learning and development, and HR best practice.
• Significant experience partnering with senior leaders and influencing business decisions.
• Experience supporting organisational change, including stakeholder engagement, manager enablement, communication and adoption activities.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to use data and insights to drive decision-making.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building and influencing capabilities.
• Experience coaching managers and developing leadership capability.
• Strong understanding of UK employment legislation and HR governance practices.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for a commercially minded, values-led people leader who can combine strategic thinking with practical execution. You will be a trusted advisor to senior leaders, confident in challenging and influencing where needed, while building strong relationships across all levels of the organisation.

You will be passionate about creating an outstanding employee experience and developing high-performing teams. You will thrive in a growing business environment, bringing energy, resilience and a proactive approach to managing change and driving continuous improvement.

The ideal candidate will be:

• A collaborative and credible leader who inspires confidence and trust.
• Highly organised, pragmatic and solutions-focused.
• Comfortable balancing strategic priorities with day-to-day operational demands.
• Passionate about developing people, building capability and enabling business success.
• Aligned with Embridge’s values and committed to fostering a culture of engagement, accountability and continuous development