Head of People

Hybrid in London·Added today (last checked 23 Oct)

Sainsbury's (incl. Argos)

1356 open roles

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Our summary

Work mode: Hybrid, London
Experience: Senior level
Commute: Cycle to work and season ticket loan

Skills

Employee Relations

Requirements

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 65% of salary, depending on how we perform (in cash and shares).

Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday, and we provide private healthcare. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. You'll also receive a company car cash allowance unless you are going to travel 10,000 business miles in your role, then you'll be able to choose a car. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme.

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).

The role

Location

Hybrid - London Head Office and Home

About the team

Our People Division helps create the leadership, capability and culture needed to deliver sustainable business performance. In this high-profile partnering team, you will work across People, Corporate Affairs and Corporate Services, connecting divisional leaders with specialist People teams to turn business priorities into focused, practical people plans. It is an opportunity to influence at the heart of the organisation, helping senior leaders shape inclusive teams, strengthen capability and deliver change with a positive colleague experience.

More about the role

As Head of People Partnering, you will be the strategic people partner to the Chief People Officer, General Legal Counsel & Company Secretary, Corporate Affairs Director and their leadership teams. You will provide insight, constructive challenge and guidance across leadership, organisation, talent and culture, ensuring each area's priorities are supported by a clear people plan aligned with the wider People strategy.

Day-to-day, you will use people and business data to identify opportunities, coach senior leaders and shape interventions that improve performance and organisational effectiveness. You will lead the people aspects of transformation and organisation design, strengthen succession and development plans for critical roles, and ensure effective delivery of core people processes. Working through cross-functional teams and People Centres of Expertise, you will turn strategy into coordinated delivery while maintaining engagement and performance through change. You will also lead a People Partner at C4 level.

More about you

You are an experienced senior people partner who can connect commercial priorities with practical people outcomes. You build credible relationships with executive stakeholders, use evidence to challenge constructively and are comfortable navigating complex organisations where priorities can evolve quickly. You can move between strategic thinking and delivery, bringing clarity to ambiguous issues and creating alignment across leadership teams and specialist partners.

Your approach is inclusive, collaborative and outcomes-focused. You coach leaders to improve effectiveness, bring breadth across talent, leadership development, organisational design and employee relations, and use data to make clear recommendations. You understand how culture, capability, structure and colleague experience combine to enable sustainable performance.

Essential criteria

Demonstrable experience operating as a senior HR or People Business Partner/ Head of People within a complex commercial organisation.
Proven experience partnering with and influencing executive leadership stakeholders, including constructively challenging decisions.
Evidence of creating, owning and delivering people strategies/ strategic people plans linked to measurable business or organisational outcomes through cross-functional teams.
Demonstrable experience leading the people elements of organisational change, transformation or organisation design while maintaining colleague engagement and delivery.
CIPD Level 7, or an equivalent combination of senior people-partnering knowledge, skills and experience, together with evidence of using people and business data to inform recommendations.