Guardian Jobs · 4 hours ago
Head of People
Greater Bend Area
Full-time
Hybrid
Director/ExecutiveEnglish National Opera (ENO) is one of the UK’s most distinctive cultural organisations, known for creating outstanding opera that is open to all. They are seeking an exceptional Head of People to lead the People & Culture function, focusing on enhancing employee experience and supporting organizational change.
Marketing & Advertising
Responsibilities
Lead the day‑to‑day delivery and credibility of our People Operations and People Partnering functions across the full employee lifecycle
Ensure responsive, inclusive and values‑driven recruitment, onboarding and employee experience practices
Drive the improvement, implementation and optimisation of People systems, data, workflows and reporting, enabling insight‑led decision‑making across the organisation
Oversee performance management, policy development, governance and compliance, ensuring clarity, fairness and alignment with best practice
Partner with leaders across ENO to support organisational change, workforce planning, reward processes and annual budgeting cycles
Build and develop the People team, setting clear expectations, nurturing capability and modelling a collaborative, calm and credible leadership style
Act as a trusted advisor to managers and colleagues, building strong relationships—internally and with recognised trade unions—to provide consistent and solutions‑focused guidance
Qualification
Required
Significant senior People/HR leadership experience, ideally gained in creative, multi-site or mission-driven environments
Hands-on expertise across people operations, including systems implementation, workflow improvement and robust people data management
Experience of people partnering across a broad client group and preferably at a multi-site organisation
Strong understanding of reward, benefits, payroll collation and cost management
Demonstrable experience in employee relations and industrial relations, with confidence navigating complex, sensitive or unionised contexts
A track record of supporting successful change projects and embedding best-practice approaches that strengthen culture and ways of working
CIPD Level 7 qualification (or equivalent), with up-to-date knowledge of UK employment law and HR governance
A values-led, inclusive and people-centred approach, with a genuine commitment to the role arts organisations play in society
Company
Guardian Jobs
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51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageCompany data provided by crunchbase