Head of People 12-month maternity cover
Posted Today by Oakleaf Partnership
£100,000 Per year
Undetermined
Remote
London
Summary: The Head of People role is a 12-month maternity cover position within a fast-growing, global technology services organization. This senior leadership role involves strategic business partnering, employee relations, and overseeing a small People team to support organizational growth and employee experience. The position requires a hands-on approach while maintaining a strategic focus, acting as a deputy to the Chief People Officer. The role is remote-first but requires occasional travel to London and Dublin.
Key Responsibilities:
- Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, supporting decision-making across organisational design, workforce planning, and performance.
- Regularly participate in senior leadership meetings, providing insightful, data-driven people input and influencing key business outcomes.
- Oversee complex and high-risk ER cases, ensuring consistency, compliance, and a pragmatic, commercially focused approach.
- Step in as a trusted second-in-command, supporting across strategic priorities and deputising where required.
Key Skills:
- Proven experience operating at Head of People / Senior People Business Partner level within a fast-paced, preferably tech or services environment.
- Strong business partnering and advisory capability, with demonstrable impact at senior leadership level.
- Deep expertise in Employee Relations, including complex case management.
- Experience leading and developing high-performing People teams.
- Background working in an organisation of a similar scale (~500 employees).
- Comfortable working in a remote-first, global organisation.
- Commercially astute, pragmatic, and confident influencing stakeholders at all levels.
- Able to balance strategic thinking with operational delivery.
Salary (Rate): £100000 per annum
City: London
Country: UK
Working Arrangements: remote
IR35 Status: undetermined
Seniority Level: Senior
Industry: Other
Head of People (12-Month Maternity Cover)
Location: Remote-first (UK-based)
Travel: Monthly to London | Bi-monthly to Dublin (expenses paid)
Salary: Up to £100,000 + benefits
About the Role
We’re partnering with a fast-growing, global, remote-first technology services organisation (~500 employees) to appoint an experienced Head of People on a 12-month maternity cover. This is a high-impact, senior leadership role, acting as a true number two to the Chief People Officer.
You’ll play a critical role in shaping and delivering the people strategy across a distributed workforce, with a strong emphasis on business partnering, senior advisory, organisational effectiveness, and employee relations (ER).
Leading a small but capable People team, you’ll be hands-on where needed while maintaining a strategic lens – ensuring the People function continues to support growth, performance, and a high-quality employee experience across multiple regions.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic Business Partnering
Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, supporting decision-making across organisational design, workforce planning, and performance. - Executive & Senior Leadership Collaboration
Regularly participate in senior leadership meetings, providing insightful, data-driven people input and influencing key business outcomes. - Employee Relations (ER) Leadership
Oversee complex and high-risk ER cases, ensuring consistency, compliance, and a pragmatic, commercially focused approach. - Act as Deputy to the CPO
Step in as a trusted second-in-command, supporting across strategic priorities and deputising where required.
About You
- Proven experience operating at Head of People / Senior People Business Partner level within a fast-paced, preferably tech or services environment
- Strong business partnering and advisory capability, with demonstrable impact at senior leadership level
- Deep expertise in Employee Relations, including complex case management
- Experience leading and developing high-performing People teams
- Background working in an organisation of a similar scale (~500 employees)
- Comfortable working in a remote-first, global organisation
- Commercially astute, pragmatic, and confident influencing stakeholders at all levels
- Able to balance strategic thinking with operational delivery
