Interim Head of HR in Bristol

Interim Group Head of HR

Home based | Regular travel to UK, France and Germany

£75,000 + bonus | Interim, 6 months

About Clearway

Clearway is a pan-European security, safety and compliance group protecting people, property and assets across the UK, France, Germany and Austria. Established in 2016, we’ve grown to 500+ people, combining specialist security services with market-leading technology like mobile CCTV towers and remote monitoring. Recent acquisitions have expanded our European footprint fast, and we need an experienced pair of hands to hold HR together across the Group while that growth beds in.

The Role

This is a hands-on, six-month interim role for an HR leader who can hit the ground running. Reporting to the CEO, you’ll take direct operational ownership of HR from day one, keeping the day-to-day running smoothly, supporting managers through live people issues, and holding consistency across our UK, France and Germany teams.

It’s a delivery role first. You’ll be close to the detail, comfortable rolling your sleeves up, and able to stabilise and drive HR operations across a busy, multi-country business without a long runway to get up to speed.

Direct reports: HR apprentice (vacancy)

Dotted reporting line: 4 Regional HR Managers (UK, France, Germany)

Key Responsibilities

• Hold direct operational responsibility for HR within Group functions and one separate business entity, including seamless oversight of the whole employee lifecycle and hands-on guidance to managers on employee relations matters.
• Set the standard for HR practice across the Group, working with regional HR Managers on consistent approaches while ensuring country-specific legislation and cultural considerations are respected.
• Chair regular Group HR meetings, driving the agenda for shared learning, best practice, and the implementation of Group-wide HR processes.
• Contribute to the development of the Group HR strategy, and lead its implementation across the regional HR team.
• Hold the regional HR Managers accountable for accurate, timely reporting on HR metrics, consolidating this into Group-level insight for the CEO and C-suite.
• Sponsor and oversee Group-wide HR projects, coordinating regional HR Managers on delivery while accounting for local and cultural differences, in areas such as employee engagement and learning and development.
• Partner with the CEO and CFO on the design and delivery of annual salary and bonus processes.
• Own the development and delivery of the Global HR KPI dashboard.
• Provide HR advice and recommendations to the CEO and C-suite, leading the regional HR team to ensure advice is grounded in local context.
• Lead the Group’s approach to employee relations, ensuring consistency across regional teams.
• Lead the Group’s approach to recruitment, entrusting regional HR Managers to deliver and own the development of consistent global job description templates and selection processes.
• Implement a robust HR system that seamlessly integrates all entities and supports consistent reporting.
• Own Group HR communications, setting the tone and direction for how HR engages and informs the business across all locations.
• Demonstrate the values of Clearway on a day-to-day basis, acting as a role model across the business.
• Own the end-to-end administration and periodic review of UK employee benefits and pension arrangements, updating them as needed to remain competitive and compliant.

Attributes, Skills & Experience

• Proven experience leading an HR team across multiple sites or geographies.
• Strong, hands-on operational HR experience alongside team leadership capability.
• Strong UK and European employment law knowledge.
• Deep understanding of HR best practice and the ability to set standards others follow.
• Project sponsorship and management skills.
• Solid data analysis skills.
• International and cultural awareness and appreciation.
• High level of emotional intelligence, with the ability to lead, influence, and build trust across a geographically dispersed team and the wider business.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, confident operating with senior and c-suite stakeholders, but also able to communicate complex processes simply.
• Highly motivated and self-assured, driving their own performance and development, proactively keeping up to date with industry insights and developments.
• Thrives in navigating complexity and fast-paced environments, able to make judgement calls without full information whilst keeping stakeholders informed and reassured.
• CIPD Level 7 (or European equivalent) or studying towards this.
• Working level knowledge of French or German an advantage.

Location

This role would be home based with regular travel to company locations within the UK, France and Germany. Availability to work across different time zones.