Head of People Partnering and OD

We are working with a renowned fashion retail brand looking to bring in a new Head of Business Partnering and Organisation Design. This role is based in Central London 2 days a week with some travel to other sights once or twice per month.

We are looking to appoint a dynamic, relationship centric and dedicated individual to lead our People Partnering and Organisational Development support, reporting to the People Director.

The role will have full oversight of Retail, Distribution and Support Centres. The candidate will be primarily based from our London offices in (minimum 2 days per week) but with frequent (a minimum of monthly) travel to each of our support centres, along with regular Store visits.

The successful candidate will act as a significant and pivotal leader and SME in the areas of Business Partnering, Organisation Design, Change Management, with extensive knowledge and experience of Employee Relations.

It will be a significant and broad reaching member of the People Leadership team operating at senior level within the organisation, leading the strategy and action to create and drive a commercially centric, high performance and inclusive values led organisation & culture.

The role will chiefly work with our senior leadership community of Directors and Heads of Department whilst engaging with colleagues across the business.

The Head of People Partnering and OD will deputise for the People Director in their absence and there will likely be future opportunities to move up to Director level from this role.

Key Accountabilities

People Planning:

A key contributor to the People Strategy; sharing knowledge and insight from the business to help plan and prioritise key initiatives
The role will work closely with the People Programme Manager to define, review, and track strategic projects and progress to plans
Will act as central role to summarising and reporting on people progress
In conjunction with Head of Talent Acquisition will create and implement a talent and manpower planning process, including EDI talent strategies


Team Development:

Leading and coaching the Business Partners to make sound, commercial decisions
Personal development and coaching of the BPs
Coordinating activity across the BP population to ensure clear and concise ways of working and consistent, effective execution of strategic initiatives
Challenge the team to keep connected to the external world and new solutions and trends
Creating a culture of knowledge sharing across the BP team- internally and externally


Business Partnering

Being the escalation point for any key issues or cases across the business (disciplinary, grievance, appeals, performance management, change)- providing accurate and knowledgeable guidance, supporting to resolve effectively.
Where appropriate the role will act as a point of investigation or appeal for senior level or more substantial disciplinary cases that may arise
Working closely with Employee Relations to identify trends to shape people plans and to take corrective action quickly where needed


It would be advantageous if this person has experience in working in a matrix environment and particularly within the retail sector.

This role comes with a strong base salary and bonus potential.