Head of People & Communications

🔒 Confidential Employer
Posted 19 March 2026
LOCATION
Reading
TYPE
Full-time
LEVEL
Mid-Senior level
CATEGORY
Human Resources
This employer holds a UK Home Office sponsor license — sponsorship for this specific role is at the employer’s discretion

SKILLS

HR Leadership People Transformation Internal Communications Engagement Strategies Organisational Culture Leadership Development

FULL DESCRIPTION

Head of People & Communications - GGS 15

Shape the culture. Enable performance. Lead the people strategy that powers [Employer hidden — view at passion-project.co.uk].

The Head of People & Communications plays a pivotal leadership role in shaping the culture, capability, and performance of [Employer hidden]. As a member of the Extended Leadership Team, you will lead the organisation’s People, Culture and Engagement agenda, setting the strategic direction for people and communications and leading the overall function ensuring the business has the right people, leadership, and environment to deliver for customers and shareholders.

This role sits at the heart of organisational transformation. You’ll partner closely with senior leaders to challenge thinking, strengthen leadership capability, and embed a culture that supports high performance, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Why this role matters:

People and culture are fundamental to [Employer hidden]’s success. This role ensures the organisation has the leadership, capability, and environment needed to deliver today while preparing for tomorrow. This is a hybrid role with a minimum of 3 days per week in our Central Reading office.

What you’ll be here to do:

You’ll lead the strategic and operational delivery of [Employer hidden]’s people agenda, ensuring the right people, leadership and culture are in place. You’ll:

People & Culture Strategy

  • Set the strategic direction for People, Engagement, and communications across [Employer hidden] aligned to the overall business strategy, designing and delivering the people & engagement agenda.
  • Shape and embed a strong and inclusive organisational culture built around [Employer hidden]’s behaviours.
  • Ensure the employee experience supports engagement, performance, and long-term organisational health.

Leadership Partnership

  • Act as a trusted business partner to the Extended Leadership Team, helping leaders navigate organisational challenges and opportunities.
  • Challenge and support senior stakeholders to develop their teams and deliver results within agreed headcount.
  • Coach and develop senior leaders to strengthen leadership capability across the organisation.

Organisational Design & Transformation

  • Lead complex organisational design and development, ensuring structures, roles and capabilities support the evolving needs of the business.
  • Work with the Change Centre of Excellence to ensure people considerations are fully integrated into change initiatives.

Talent, Capability & Reward

  • Create and embed talent management, resourcing, and development strategies, identifying and developing future leaders and critical skills and capabilities.
  • Design reward frameworks that attract, motivate, and retain high-performing talent and work with remuneration committee to gain support and buy in.
  • Build leadership and management capability to support a high-performing organisation.

Operational Excellence

  • Lead and develop the overall People & Communications function, setting clear direction and ensuring alignment with organisational priorities.
  • Oversee complex employee relations matters while proactively managing organisational risk.
  • Use market insight, digital tools, and data to continuously improve the HR service and move toward a more manager-led people model.

Key challenges you’ll tackle:

  • Driving cultural and organisational transformation across [Employer hidden] and its wider ecosystem.
  • Leading complex organisational design and enabling new ways of working.
  • Embedding new behaviours and leadership expectations across the organisation.
  • Creating strategies and services that deliver an exceptional employee experience.
  • Developing the leadership capability needed for [Employer hidden]’s future.
  • Leveraging digital technology, insight, and automation to modernise people services.

Who we’re looking for:

You’re a strategic HR leader with the credibility, influence, and commercial insight to operate at senior leadership level. You’ll have:

  • Significant HR leadership experience at senior level.
  • Proven track record of delivering people transformation in complex organisations.
  • Strong experience partnering with senior leadership teams.
  • Experience leading internal communications and engagement strategies.
  • A commercially minded approach to designing HR strategies that drive business performance.
  • Strong understanding of organisational culture, leadership, and engagement.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead teams, inspire people, and create high-performance environments.
  • Experience coaching and developing senior leaders.

If you also have the following, we’re especially interested in talking to you:

  • Experience working in a joint venture or partnership environment.
  • Background in infrastructure, asset-based, or operational organisations.
  • Experience driving continuous improvement and high-performance cultures.

You’ll be shaping not just strategy, but how people experience work at [Employer hidden]—building a culture where individuals, teams, and the organisation can perform at their very best.

To apply for this role please click the APPLY NOW button below. Please note that this will take you to our recruitment partner application page in a new browser window.

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