Director, People & Leader Advisory - UKI

We are looking for an experienced, forward-thinking HR leader to head our UKI People & Leader Advisory team, based in London. This role leads a team of 6 HR professionals at Manager and Senior Manager level and is responsible for delivering high-quality, compliant, business-focused HR advisory support across the UK and Ireland.

This is a key leadership role combining people leadership, operational excellence, strategic HR expertise, and transformation leadership. You will lead the evolution of our advisory model—challenging established ways of working, redesigning workflows, and embedding technology and AI-enabled solutions to make HR support simpler, faster, more consistent, and more scalable.

You will oversee Tier 2 advisory delivery for UKI, act as a senior advisor on complex people and organizational matters, and partner closely with HR, Legal, Rewards, Compliance, and business leaders. Its primary focus is on leading an effective advisory operation, enabling leaders, driving organizational change, and transforming how HR services are delivered.

Broader European HR experience is an advantage, as is the ability to bring regional perspective, leading practices, and a scalable mindset to the UKI environment.

About the Role

As our Director of People and Leader Advisory for the UKI, you will:

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of 6 HR professionals at Manager and Senior Manager level, building a high-performing, collaborative, customer-focused, and change-ready team. This team is supporting the business on complex people matters, performance management, and employee relations through case management.
• Set the strategic direction for UKI People & Leader Advisory, ensuring the team delivers a consistent, high-quality, commercially minded, and compliant service.
• Lead the continued transformation of the HR advisory model across UKI, simplifying processes and challenging the status quo to improve the employee, manager, and HR experience.
• Identify opportunities to redesign workflows, eliminate unnecessary complexity, clarify ownership, and create more scalable and effective ways of working.
• Lead AI enablement within HR advisory workflows, identifying practical opportunities to use AI, automation, knowledge tools, and digital solutions to improve speed, quality, insight, and service delivery.
• Build team capability and confidence in using AI-enabled tools responsibly and effectively, while maintaining appropriate judgment, confidentiality, governance, and compliance.
• Lead change management for new technologies, processes, service models, and ways of working—ensuring strong adoption across the advisory team and key business stakeholders.
• Oversee day-to-day Tier 2 HR advisory delivery across the UK and Ireland, including case quality, documentation standards, service levels, knowledge management, and continuous improvement.
• Act as a senior advisor and escalation point for complex, sensitive, and high-impact people matters, bringing sound judgment and a balanced approach to business, employee, and risk considerations.
• Provide oversight and guidance on employee and manager matters, including performance, conduct, policy interpretation, investigations, conflict resolution, and employment exits.
• Enable managers through clear guidance, practical toolkits, coaching, and training on performance management, employee conversations, and people processes.
• Support cyclical people processes, including performance management, compensation consultation, and workforce planning, in partnership with Rewards, HR leadership, and business stakeholders.
• Partner with HR, Legal, Compliance, Rewards, and business leaders to ensure an integrated and effective approach to people and organizational priorities.
• Provide local HR advisory support for mergers, acquisitions, integrations, and other significant business transformation initiatives.
• Partner with site and business leadership on engagement, employee listening, organizational health, and follow-up actions.
• Coordinate people-related support during crisis events or workplace disruptions, working closely with Health & Safety, Security, Facilities, Legal, and Communications.
• Use data, case trends, stakeholder feedback, and operational insights to identify risks, anticipate needs, and continuously improve processes, tools, and knowledge resources.
• Bring external perspective and leading practices to evolve the UKI advisory model, with an eye toward alignment and scalability across Europe where appropriate.

About You

To be our Director of People & Leader Advisory for the UKI, you will likely have:

• 8+ years of progressive HR experience, including significant experience in HR advisory, HR operations, people leadership, organizational change, and manager consultation.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing experienced HR professionals, including Managers and Senior Managers.
• A strong track record of leading transformational change, improving operating models, and helping teams successfully adopt new tools, processes, and ways of working.
• A genuine interest in AI, automation, and digital innovation, with the ability to identify and translate opportunities into practical workflow improvements.
• Experience redesigning HR processes and service delivery models to improve efficiency, quality, consistency, and user experience.
• A mindset that consistently challenges the status quo, seeks simplification, and brings curiosity, pragmatism, and creativity to solving complex problems.
• Strong knowledge of UK and Ireland employment law and HR practices.
• Experience managing complex and sensitive people matters, with the judgment to balance business needs, employee experience, fairness, and compliance.
• Strong business acumen, communication, stakeholder management, influencing, and policy interpretation skills.
• Experience using case management systems, HR technology, reporting, and data to manage operations and drive improvement.
• The ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, evolving environment, shifting between strategic transformation and operational leadership as needed.
• A collaborative, inclusive leadership style that builds trust, develops capability, and creates accountability.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in a shared services, center of excellence, regional advisory, or matrixed HR operating model.
• Broader European HR experience, including exposure to multiple European employment environments, regional transformation initiatives, or cross-border stakeholder management.
• Experience implementing or scaling AI-enabled, automated, or digital HR solutions.
• Experience supporting compensation consultation, job architecture, workforce planning, or workforce transformation programs.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, integrations, or significant organizational change in a complex organization.
• Familiarity with employee representative processes or collective consultation requirements, where applicable.
• Experience developing HR knowledge management, self-service, manager enablement, or service-delivery capabilities.

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