MARK Education Trust is seeking to appoint an experienced, strategic and forward-thinking Head of HR with a strong track record of delivering organisation-wide impact, driving workforce efficiencies, and leading successful organisational change. This is a key trust-wide leadership role, shaping and steering our people strategy across all schools and central functions.
Working closely with the Executive Headteacher/CEO, CFO, the trust Executive Team and our Headteachers, you will lead a proactive, professional and highly efficient HR service aligned to our mission, vision and values. You will ensure the trust's HR strategy supports long-term sustainability, delivers value for money, and strengthens our culture of high performance and staff wellbeing.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategic HR Leadership
- Lead the development and delivery of a trust-wide people strategy that strengthens organisational capability, culture and performance.
- Drive workforce planning, analysing staffing structures, demographic data, and future needs to ensure the trust remains sustainable and financially efficient.
- Lead strategic HR initiatives that support organisational development, talent management, leadership capacity building and succession planning.
- Act as the senior HR advisor to the CEO, Executive Team and Headteachers, ensuring people implications are fully considered in trust-wide planning and decision-making.
Organisational Change and Workforce Efficiency
- Lead and manage organisational change projects, including restructures, staffing redesign, TUPE processes and transformation programmes.
- Ensure change management processes are fair, legally compliant and aligned with trust values.
- Identify and implement opportunities for workforce efficiencies, improved deployment of staff and strengthened financial stewardship of staffing budgets.
- Support leaders to communicate, implement and embed change in a way that maintains morale, clarity and operational continuity.
Leadership of HR Operations
- Oversee the delivery of a high-quality, consistent HR service across all schools and central functions.
- Ensure efficient and compliant recruitment processes that attract, select and retain high-quality staff, aligned with safer recruitment expectations.
- Ensure HR systems, data and reporting processes are robust, accurate and support strategic analysis and planning.
- Oversee high-quality induction, onboarding and probation processes to strengthen early staff experience and retention.
Employee Relations and People Management
- Provide senior leadership to complex and sensitive ER casework, ensuring resolution is fair, timely and legally compliant.
- Build capability and confidence in leaders to manage people effectively, consistently and in line with trust values.
- Quality-assure the application of HR policy across schools to ensure fairness, alignment and compliance.
Policy, Governance and Compliance
- Lead the development, review and implementation of trust-wide HR policies that reflect best practice and enable effective and consistent leadership.
- Ensure full compliance with employment law, safeguarding requirements, safer recruitment, GDPR and equality legislation.
- Provide strategic oversight of staff wellbeing, workload and culture, ensuring HR policies support a positive and healthy working environment.
Professional Leadership and Trust Wide Influence
- Build strong, open and effective working relationships with leaders across all schools.
- Provide training, coaching and guidance on HR leadership, organisational change, policy implementation and people management.
- Represent the trust at external networks, professional forums or regulatory interactions where HR expertise is required.
- Travel between trust schools as needed (mileage reimbursed in line with trust policy).
ESSENTIAL CRITERIA
Qualifications & Knowledge
- CIPD Level 7 (or equivalent)
- Strong expert knowledge of employment law, HR compliance and safer recruitment
- Understanding of safeguarding, GDPR and equality legislation
- Strong understanding of organisational change, workforce planning and HR-driven financial efficiencies
Experience
- Significant experience leading complex HR casework at senior level
- Proven experience delivering or leading organisational change (e.g., restructures, staffing redesign, workforce efficiency projects)
- Experience advising senior leaders and influencing strategic decision-making
- Experience improving HR systems, processes or structures to deliver efficiency and value for money
- Experience overseeing recruitment and safer-recruitment compliant pre-employment processes
- Experience drafting, reviewing and embedding HR policies across multiple schools or sites
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
- Flexible Working
- Staff Recognition
- Pension Schemes
- Generous Annual Leave
- Wellbeing Support
- Staff Voice
- Discounts
- Free on-site parking
NB: we advise applying promptly for this post as we reserve the right to close and interview early if sufficient suitable applications have been received.
