Senior People and Culture Lead; Maternity Cover

Senior People and Culture Lead (12-month Maternity Cover)

We are looking for one exceptional Senior People & Culture Lead to join us at a pivotal time. This opportunity is offered as a 12‑month maternity cover, making it ideal for an experienced People & Culture professional who enjoys stepping into complex environments, making an immediate impact, and delivering meaningful change. You will work closely with our Regional Directors.

• Act as a strategic partner to Regional Directors, building trusted relationships and ensuring people strategies directly support operational and service delivery goals.
• Develop and deliver tailored people plans for each region, aligned with organisational strategy, KPIs, and local priorities.
• Embed organisational change ensuring that recent transformation programmes are sustained, capability is built, and managers feel confident in leading new ways of working.
• Coach and support managers to strengthen leadership capability, particularly in areas such as absence management, performance management, and employee engagement.
• Create clear links between people data and business outcomes, helping leaders understand how areas such as absence, agency usage, and retention influence service performance.

Your role will include:

• Deliver attractive remuneration: £55,000 – £60,000 with group pension.
• Provide private medical insurance and access to specialists for physical and mental health support.
• Access to My Reward Hub for discounts and cashback offers.
• Earn wages as you earn them to help cover emergencies.
• Receive mental and physical wellbeing support, including coaching and counselling.
• Access eLearning, bespoke career pathways and further development opportunities.
• Work in a culture that encourages innovation with at least £100,000 of ring fenced funding yearly.
• Gain the pride of working for an organisation with high clinical and quality standards.

We want a candidate who brings credibility, pragmatism and a hands‑on approach to building capability and embedding change.

• Experienced Senior HR Business Partner / OD leader with a proven track record of partnering with senior stakeholders.
• CIPD Level 7 qualified (or equivalent). Strong knowledge of employment legislation, organisational development, and workforce planning.
• Skilled in embedding change and sustaining transformations through capability building and cultural alignment.
• High confidence in building manager and leadership capability (absence, performance, engagement, succession).
• Proficient in using people data and insights to influence decision‑making and link people practices to service KPIs.
• Strong communicator and influencer, able to build trust quickly with Regional Directors and senior managers.
• Comfortable with regular national travel and maintaining a visible presence across services.
• Commercially astute, balancing organisational goals, colleague wellbeing and service user needs.
• Values‑driven leader championing inclusion, wellbeing and engagement.
• Resilient and adaptable, thriving in complex and changing environments.

We change lives by transforming health and care. Established in 2006, we are one of the UK’s leading independent providers of community health and care services. We transform services with a focus on experience, efficiency and improved outcomes. We support communities across England, directly helping more than half a million people each year.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from a broad, diverse range of people who want to join our team. We are a Disability Confidence Committed company, providing facilities, adjustments and technical solutions for inclusivity.

To find out more about HCRG Care Group, please visit our website.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975. A submission to the Disclosure and Barring Service is required to check for any previous criminal convictions.