Head of People Operations

Our client is one of the world’s leading luxury travel brands.

They're seeking an experienced Head of HR (Maternity Cover) to lead the People function during a period of maternity leave. Reporting into the VP of HR, this individual will lead the People/HR function from an operational perspective, including overall responsibility for managing and developing the People/HR team.

The role has responsibility across the UK and European territories and therefore requires experience of supporting businesses in Spain, Italy and the Nordics. With HR Business Partners and a HR Assistant reporting into this position, the successful candidate will act as the senior People partner across the UK and European business. They will provide line management to the UK HR team and serve as a key point of escalation for both the HR team and business leaders. The role will oversee all aspects of people operations, including recruitment, talent development, employee relations, compliance, culture, engagement and wellbeing.

In addition to strong HR expertise, they 're looking for someone with commercial acumen who understands financial principles, risk and reward and how to leverage technology, HR systems and data to drive business outcomes. Above all, this needs a credible and business-savvy leader who can balance people priorities with organisational objectives while providing stability and continuity during this maternity cover period.

Responsibilities:

• Talent Acquisition and Retention – lead and innovate recruitment, onboarding and talent retention processes to attract top talent and keep them
• Employee Engagement and Culture – drive initiatives to enhance employee engagement
• Performance Management – work as part of the wider global HR team to oversee the design and implementation of performance management processes that are current and useful
• Learning & Development - working within the business to improve and develop the existing sales training plans. Establish and execute training plans to deliver management and leadership training cross the business as well as other softer skills training to cultivate leadership and career progression.
• HR Operations and systems – ensure smooth operations including payroll, benefits, HRIS management and compliance. Experience of Workday HRIS and Payroll would be extremely advantageous.
• HR Metrics & Reporting – build and continuously develop HR metrics to monitor the health of the organisation and to make-data driven decisions to improve processes and employee experience.
• Compliance & Risk Management – ensure full compliance with locate employment regulations in the UK and Europe (Spain, Italy and the Nordics).
• Org Design & Change Management – partner with leadership and HR Business Partners on org design, workforce planning to improve operation efficiency
• Management – provide clear direction, objectives and priorities for the team
• Project & Process Improvement - drive continuous improvement initiatives across all HR processes, ensuring services are efficient, accessible and aligned with best practice. Lead change management activities associated with People initiatives, ensuring successful adoption and engagement across the business.

Experience :

• Experience with Workday would be advantageous
• European HR experience, specifically Spain and Italy
• Experience with Sales teams preferred
• CIPD qualification a nice to have but certainly not a deal breaker
• Travel industry experience a nice to have