Director, UK People & Culture

The Director, UK People & Culture leads the HR team in IRC UK, managing HR service delivery, compliance, and continuous improvement. The role fosters a positive, inclusive workplace culture aligned with IRC values and supports strategic HR initiatives within a complex matrix environment.

Responsibilities

• Assume collective accountability for the effective delivery of IRC UK’s Strategic Plan as a member of the UK Senior Management Team.
• Advise and partner with Executive Director and SMT members on UK application of IRC’s Global P&C strategy and lead on strengthening organisational culture.
• Support talent dialogues, performance conversations, and career development planning for IRC UK staff.
• Partner on workforce planning, including staff reductions or scale-up, organisational design, ensuring compliance with policy and minimising risk.
• Translate data and metrics into actionable items aligned with IRC UK’s strategy.
• Lead, supervise, and develop the UK P&C team, ensuring quality and effectiveness.
• Manage end-to-end HR service delivery across the employee lifecycle including recruitment, onboarding, contracts, payroll coordination, benefits, performance and leave management, offboarding, and HR information systems.
• Provide leadership on UK employment law and regulation to the UK HR team.
• Provide HR partnership to the Refugee, Asylum and Integration UK Director and team.
• Advise supervisors on disciplinary actions, coordinating with Global Employee Relations and Legal as needed.
• Responsible for P&C reporting for the UK Board of Trustees and People & Culture Committee, including Gender Pay Gap and Ethnicity Pay Gap reports.
• Support organisational restructure requirements including staff consultation and redundancy processes.
• Track UK P&C objectives and contribute HR input to proposal design and grant review processes.
• Lead delivery of staff engagement surveys, analyse data and propose leadership actions.
• Promote employee experience, engagement, inclusion, and oversee integration of IRC's Values and People Manager Standards.
• Implement safeguarding standards and ensure visibility of IRC Way and reporting channels.
• Advocate for Employee Wellbeing, Engagement, and Safeguarding priorities and role model leadership standards.
• Accountable for delivery of P&C elements of IRC UK's Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan.
• Maintain relationship with UK Trade Union representatives and lead negotiations and consultations via Joint Negotiating Committee.
• Develop and manage union engagement and communication plans.

Requirements

• CIPD qualified with significant HR leadership experience across the full P&C spectrum, including complex UK processes such as restructures, TUPE, and employee relations.
• Strong interpersonal and analytical skills, with proven ability to operate effectively in a complex, global matrix organisation.
• Solution-oriented, positive, ‘can do’ attitude.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, with experience of advising and influencing senior leaders.
• Experience of working with Trade Unions, including leading on consultations and negotiations.
• People management experience.
• High level of confidentiality, tact, service orientation, and intercultural communication skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and complex, multi-stakeholder projects independently, with willingness to take on significant responsibility.
• Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

Skills

• CIPD Qualification
• HR Leadership
• UK Employment Law
• Employee Relations
• TUPE Processes
• Restructuring Management
• Trade Union Negotiations
• Consultation Management
• People Management
• Inter-Cultural Communication
• HR Services Execution
• Compliance Management
• Project Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Analytical Skills
• Confidentiality Management

Languages

English