Lead, HR​/Recruitment, HR Manager

Brief You'll be an experienced People leader who combines strong operational judgement with a practical, collaborative and people-focused approach. You will be confident leading experienced People specialists, creating clarity and accountability, and improving how a People function works across Retail, Head Office, Distribution Centre and Contact Centre environments. You'll enjoy making things simpler and better. You will be comfortable balancing day-to-day delivery with change, systems, data and process improvement, while keeping colleague and stakeholder experience at the heart of decisions.

You'll build open and trusted relationships, coach others to succeed and bring energy, resilience and good judgement during a period of transformation

• Reporting to the Head of People & Culture, the People Operations Lead will provide day-to-day operational leadership across the People function, with responsibility for the People Business Partners and Recruitment Partner. The role will strengthen consistency, accountability and collaboration across the team.
• This is a 12-month fixed-term role with a clear transformation and delivery remit. It will maintain high-quality People support while leading process improvement, team capability and systems readiness

• Providing clear day-to-day leadership, direction and support across the People Business Partnering and Recruitment teams.
• Creating a joined-up operating rhythm across the People function, with clear priorities, ownership, standards and escalation routes.
• Coaching and developing team members to build confidence, commercial judgement, technical capability and readiness for future ways of working.
• Working with the L&D Manager on a structured People team development plan, ensuring learning is translated into stronger day-to-day delivery.
• Managing team capacity and priorities during peak periods, vacancies and business change so that service remains responsive and consistent.
• Building a collaborative, accountable and supportive team culture where colleagues share knowledge, challenge constructively and solve problems together.

• Supporting the People Business Partners to build solid, open and dynamic relationships with leaders across Retail, Head Office, Distribution Centre and Contact Centre.
• Acting as a senior escalation point for complex or sensitive People matters, ensuring advice is practical, commercial, legally informed and in line with our values.
• Increasing the capability of the People team and line managers to manage employee relations matters effectively through coaching, training and clear tools.
• Reviewing themes and patterns across People activity and employee relations, using insight to identify root causes and develop proactive solutions.
• Ensuring a consistent approach across business areas by bringing the relevant People specialists together and maintaining clear ownership.

• Leading the review, simplification and standardisation of core People processes across the employee lifecycle, including onboarding, changes, annual People activity and offboarding.
• Preparing the function for greater automation and effective use of People systems, reducing unnecessary manual administration and duplication.
• Establishing clear controls, service standards and documentation so delivery is accurate, efficient, compliant and easy to understand.
• Working with Group HR as the operational contact for relevant systems, policies, processes and reporting, identifying opportunities to align and collaborate.
• Ensuring colleague data is handled accurately and responsibly, and that People records, processes and reporting support good governance and decision-making.
• Constantly reviewing why and how we do things to make sure they are current, fit for purpose, proportionate and in line with our company values.

• Providing leadership and challenge to the recruitment and resourcing agenda, helping the Recruitment Partner align activity with business priorities, capability needs and succession plans.
• Supporting a consistent and engaging candidate, onboarding and colleague experience across all locations.
• Working with the People Business Partners and Recruitment Partner to improve workforce planning, talent pipelines and internal mobility.
• Using operational insight to help leaders understand…