Head of People and Culture

At Elizabeth Scarlett, we exist to create joy, inspire wonder, and protect wildlife - using art and design to connect people to nature, and to one another. By 2030, our goal is to have contributed over £2 million to wildlife conservation.

As our Head of People & Culture, you will join a team that leads with kindness, dreams big and takes action together. You will be a genuine partner to our management team - helping us build the capability, structure and culture we need to grow well, not just grow fast. You will own everything from how people experience their day-to-day at ES, to how they grow here, building a people function that feels as considered and purposeful as everything else we make.

Reporting to:
Associate Chief of Staff

Employment type:

Full Time

The Elizabeth Scarlett team is growing fast, and our people & culture needs an organised, supportive, uplifting leader who can help ensure we also build a brilliant working environment, united by our mission and culture. This is your chance to:

• Build the people & culture function from a strong, mission-oriented vision into a strategic engine that scales with the business.
• Be a partner to our management team, shaping how ES makes decisions about its people, not just supporting from the sidelines.
• Be the person who turns our mission into something every employee feels day to day, not just something we put in our marketing.
• Shape, from the ground up, how people join, grow and stay at Elizabeth Scarlett.

Drive People Relations

• Work alongside our existing HR Manager (contractor) to manage employee relations casework with care and consistency.
• Own and evolve our staff handbook, policies and HR processes, keeping us compliant, fair and aligned with our brand and business priorities as we scale.
• Be a trusted point of escalation for sensitive people matters, balancing kindness with clear boundaries.

Lead Recruitment and build our Employer Brand

• Own the end-to-end recruitment process - partnering with hiring managers on job descriptions, managing our Talent Acquisition Associate, and driving every hire through to a signed contract, with offers issued, negotiated, and executed without delay.
• Build a recruitment playbook that improves time-to-hire without compromising on quality of hire.
• Position ES as an employer of choice, building recruitment strategies that also grow a strong talent pool for future succession.
• Champion candidate experience as an extension of our brand and mission.

Build People Growth

• Design and deliver our L&D programme, including workshops that build real capability, not just tick boxes.
• Partner with team leads to build development paths for their people, running a rhythm that flows from weekly 1:1s through to formal reviews, not just a once-a-year form.
• Ensure every employee is supported with a clear development plan and next steps in their progression.
• Own our probation and performance review cycles end-to-end, from framework design to ensuring its delivery.
• Build progression framework and succession thinking so people can see a genuine future at ES, not just their next review.

Own People Experience

• Design and lead a people and culture strategy that brings our values to life day-to-day, not just on paper.
• Own our office spaces, making sure they’re fit for purpose and that people have the equipment and space to do their best work.
• Plan our internal events calendar - from team socials to the annual retreat and strategy days.
• Manage and improve our benefits offering, keeping it competitive, valued & collaborative.
• Connect the team to our conservation mission, so our impact feels real, not just something we read about.
• Use employee feedback and people data to…