Chief People Officer (interim)

Role title: Interim Chief People Officer

Client: UK University

Duration: 6 months

Location: East Midlands

Working pattern: Hybrid

Start: Immediate start required

Overview

The University client is seeking an experienced Interim Chief People Officer to provide strategic leadership to its People & Culture agenda during a significant period of organisational change and transformation. Reporting to the Vice Chancellor, the postholder will be a key member of the University Executive Group, working closely with the Board of Governors, senior leaders, recognised trade unions, and colleagues across the institution. The postholder will also be a key member of the University’s Transformation Programme Board and will play a significant executive role in shaping and delivering its people, workforce, leadership, and cultural dimensions. They will need to bring pace, sound judgement, credibility, and a constructive, values‑led approach in a complex and evolving environment.

Initial Priorities

The interim postholder will provide strategic leadership to the People & Culture function and work closely with the Vice Chancellor, Executive Team, and Assistant Directors to support the delivery of the University’s wider transformation agenda.

• Working with the Vice Chancellor and Executive Team to ensure that the people, leadership, culture, and workforce implications of the University’s transformation agenda are understood and effectively addressed.
• Supporting the development and delivery of a modern, strategic People & Culture agenda, including workforce planning, organisational design, leadership capability, staff engagement, performance development and management, and cultural change.
• Overseeing significant operational priorities across the People & Culture function and providing visible and inclusive leadership to the People & Culture function, including support, and mentoring for the Assistant Directors responsible for Organisational Development, Wellbeing and EDI, and Operational HR.
• Supporting the review and development of the People & Culture operating model, structures, systems, and processes to ensure these are well aligned to the University’s future needs and priorities.
• Providing strategic oversight of the modernisation of People systems and processes, including preparation for the implementation of a future integrated system.
• Maintaining constructive, credible, and effective relationships with recognised trade unions, staff representatives, and colleagues across the University.
• Providing strategic leadership for equality, diversity, and inclusion, including delivery of the Race Equality Charter action plan and the University’s wider commitments to improving the experience, inclusion and accessibility of disabled colleagues.
• Ensuring that change is delivered with appropriate attention to colleague engagement, wellbeing, fairness, legal compliance, and organisational risk.

Candidate Requirement

We are seeking an experienced executive-level People leader, likely to have operated as a Chief People Officer, HR Director or equivalent, with a strong record of leading complex organisational and workforce change. Higher Education experience is highly desirable but not essential. We are open to candidates from other complex, values-led, unionised, and regulated environments who can demonstrate the judgement, adaptability and leadership required to operate successfully within a university context.

The successful candidate will bring:

• A demonstrable track record of leading significant organisational change, workforce transformation, cultural development, and organisational design.
• Experience of supporting organisations through financial, operational and workforce challenges.
• Experience of strategic workforce planning, restructuring, service redesign, leadership development, and colleague engagement.
• Confidence and credibility at Executive and Board level, with the ability to establish trusted relationships quickly.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, including experience of working constructively with trade unions and staff representatives.
• Sound judgement in managing complex employee relations, employment policy, legal and regulatory change.
• The ability to lead, support and develop an established senior People & Culture leadership team.
• Commercial and strategic judgement, alongside sufficient operational depth to engage effectively with delivery issues.
• Resilience, pragmatism and the ability to bring clarity and calm to ambiguity, competing priorities and sensitive issues.
• A values-led approach, with a clear commitment to inclusion, fairness, colleague engagement, and wellbeing.

For more information, please contact Stephen Hoban - stephen.hoban@veredus.co.uk