Senior HR Business Partner / Head of HR 12 Month FTC | £60,000–£65,000 | Hampshire/Surrey boarder | Hybrid

We’re partnering with a highly purpose-led, values-driven consumer brand to recruit a Senior HR Business Partner / Head of HR for a 12-month maternity cover.

This is the senior People role within the brand, reporting directly to the Managing Director and partnering closely with the wider leadership team. While there are no direct reports, you’ll work alongside and draw support from a broader centralised People function covering HR operations, reward, payroll and learning.

This is not a traditional, process-led HR role. The business has a very clear identity, strong culture and genuine sense of purpose, and they’re looking for someone who will actively contribute to that.

You’ll need to be commercially credible, highly engaging and confident operating with senior leaders, while also bringing creativity, curiosity and fresh thinking to the People agenda.

The role You’ll act as the lead People partner for the business, with responsibility across:

Partnering directly with the Managing Director and senior leadership team
Leading the People agenda and translating business priorities into practical people initiatives
Coaching and challenging commercial Heads of Department
Driving culture, engagement, EVP and employee experience
Supporting workforce planning, recruitment and talent strategy
Leading organisational change and supporting wider group initiatives
Partnering with Learning to shape leadership and manager development
Helping develop a culture of continuous learning, feedback and improvement
Leading and advising on more complex employee relations matters where required
Supporting international colleagues and People matters across a small number of overseas locations
Championing inclusion, sustainability and purpose-led initiatives
Using insight and people data to identify opportunities for improvement
Acting as a visible, approachable and highly credible People leader across the organisation

What they’re looking for Culture and approach are just as important as technical HR capability.

You’ll ideally have:

Strong HR Business Partnering or Head of HR experience within a recognised consumer, lifestyle, hospitality, travel, retail, media or other brand-led environment
Experience working somewhere with a strong, clearly defined culture, mission and values
Evidence that you have personally helped shape, embed or evolve organisational culture
A genuine interest in purpose-led business, sustainability and responsible business practices
Strong experience partnering directly with senior executives and commercially focused leaders
The confidence and communication style to influence senior stakeholders and hold your own with big personalities
A creative mindset and examples of approaching People challenges in ways that go beyond traditional HR solutions
Strong generalist HR capability, including change, talent, culture, engagement and employee relations
Experience implementing strategic People initiatives rather than purely advising on them
Confidence operating independently as the senior People representative within a business
A continual-improvement mindset and a natural curiosity around how things could be done differently or better

International experience Previous international HR exposure is strongly preferred.

You don’t necessarily need extensive global HR experience, but experience supporting colleagues, leaders or People matters across international locations would be highly advantageous and could significantly strengthen your application.

The person This role will particularly suit someone who is:

Purpose and values driven
People centric but commercially minded
Creative and comfortable challenging conventional thinking
Naturally engaging and confident
Comfortable being visible across the business
Able to build relationships very quickly
Pragmatic rather than overly policy-led
Energised by change, ideas and continuous improvement

The leadership team will be particularly interested in examples where you’ve brought innovative or outside-the-box thinking to areas such as learning, culture, engagement, leadership development or employee experience.

The details Salary: £60,000–£65,000
Contract: 12-month FTC
Location: Hampshire
Hybrid: 2 days per week in the office
Bonus: None
Start: Ideally immediately available or on short notice

The current Head of HR goes on maternity leave shortly, so candidates who can start quickly are strongly preferred. However, the business would consider waiting up to one month for an exceptional candidate with the right cultural fit and experience.

The interview process is expected to involve 2–3 stages with senior leadership and the wider group People team.

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