Associate Director, HR

HR Associate Director

London (Hybrid)

Initial 3 months, with view to extend

Day rate negotioble DoE

Your New Role

Our client are seeking an experienced HR Associate Director to
provide strategic and operational HR leadership across the
Faculty. Working closely with senior academic and professional
services leaders, you will develop and deliver people strategies
that support the School's wider objectives, acting as a senior
and trusted HR partner on complex people matters, organisational
change, workforce planning, employee relations, academic career
processes and HR governance. You will lead and develop the
Faculty HR team, ensuring the delivery of a high–quality,
consistent and customer–focused HR service. The role has broad
responsibility for Faculty people activity, including recruitment
and onboarding, promotion and tenure, performance and reward,
workforce planning, professional development, employee relations,
HR policy, governance, financial planning and people data. You
will lead the development and delivery of the Faculty HR
strategy, provide expert advice to senior stakeholders and
identify opportunities to improve HR services, processes and
systems. You will also champion positive people practices,
collaboration, inclusion and organisational change, while
providing strategic oversight of recruitment, senior and academic
appointments, affiliate Faculty arrangements, induction and
onboarding. A key part of the role will be overseeing promotion,
tenure and academic review processes, ensuring these are fair,
consistent, transparent and aligned with School governance. You
will also lead Faculty performance management, salary review and
reward processes, support workforce planning and resource
forecasting, and use workforce and people data to inform
strategic decision–making.

Ensuring Your Success

Ideally, you will have significant senior–level HR experience,
with a strong track record of operating as a strategic HR partner
within a complex organisation. You will be confident advising
senior academic and professional services leaders on sensitive
and complex people matters, including employee relations cases
that may require external legal advice. Experience of
organisational change, workforce planning, recruitment, academic
career progression, promotion and tenure processes will be highly
desirable. You will have a strong understanding of HR governance,
employment legislation, policy and best practice, with the
ability to ensure processes are compliant, consistent and
effectively implemented. Strong leadership and people management
skills are essential, as you will lead, develop and provide
direction to the Faculty HR team while promoting continuous
improvement and strong stakeholder relationships. You will be
highly organised and commercially aware, with the ability to
oversee HR budgets, financial approvals, workforce costs and
resource allocation. Excellent communication, influencing and
relationship–building skills are essential, alongside the ability
to work collaboratively with senior leadership, central HR,
Finance, workforce planning, recruitment and talent teams,
academic committees and external professional advisers. A strong
understanding of HR data governance, reporting and the importance
of accurate and reliable people information will also be
important to your success in this position.

In Return

This is an excellent opportunity to take on a senior and
influential HR leadership position, providing strategic direction
across a Faculty and working closely with senior academic and
professional services leadership. You will have the opportunity
to shape people strategy, organisational effectiveness and HR
service delivery, while leading a dedicated Faculty HR team and
contributing to wider School priorities. The role offers
significant scope to influence recruitment, workforce planning,
academic career development, employee relations, reward,
governance and organisational change within a complex and
forward–thinking environment.