Director of People

Citizens Advice offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. Through our national network of charities, we give people the knowledge and the confidence they need to find their way forward – whoever they are, and whatever their problem.

Do you want to work for an organisation that makes a difference, every single day, to people from all walks of life? The people that turn to Citizens Advice need help overcoming an obstacle in their lives – from debt to evictions to trouble at work – and you can be key to them getting the support they need in the quickest, easiest, and most effective way.

At Citizens Advice, our people are at the heart of everything we do. Our colleagues and volunteers work every day to help people find a way forward, and we are committed to creating an organisation where everyone can contribute, thrive and make a difference.

As our senior people leader, you will play a pivotal role in shaping Citizens Advice as an effective, responsible and inclusive employer. Working closely with the Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer, Executive Team and senior leaders, you’ll ensure People considerations are central to organisational decision-making and that our people strategy supports our long-term priorities.

You’ll lead a broad portfolio spanning workforce planning, talent acquisition, volunteering, employee relations, employment law, reward, people operations, people systems, safeguarding, data and governance. You’ll champion high-quality, user-centred and evidence-informed services that support colleagues, volunteers and leaders throughout their relationship with Citizens Advice.

As a trusted strategic adviser, you will guide the organisation through workforce challenges and change, ensuring employment matters are managed fairly, lawfully and effectively. You’ll lead our relationships with the trade union, provide assurance to the Trustee People Committee, chair the Joint Management and Union Committee and the Health & Safety Committee, and help us navigate complex employment and organisational risks.

You’ll play a key role in the continued development of our service-wide People and Culture Programme, including shaping a shared strategy that responds to the most important workforce challenges across our network of 200+ local Citizens Advice organisations. This role will involve regular travel to the London office, alongside visits to local offices, national charity hubs in Birmingham, Cardiff, and Leeds, and key stakeholder events.

What you’ll bring:

• Strategic leadership: The ability to develop and deliver workforce strategies that anticipate future needs, enable organisational change and support sustainable performance.
• People and employment expertise: Strong knowledge of employee relations, employment law, organisational change and the development of effective people policies, systems and services.
• Influence and partnership: The confidence to advise executive leaders, build trusted relationships with trade unions and work constructively across organisational boundaries.
• Inclusive leadership: A commitment to fairness, equity, belonging and creating an environment where colleagues and volunteers can do their best work.
• Evidence-led decision-making: The ability to use workforce insight, data and professional judgement to identify risks, inform decisions and drive continuous improvement.
• Governance and accountability: Experience of managing complex workforce risks, providing assurance and ensuring employment responsibilities are fulfilled effectively.

You’ll combine strategic vision with a practical, solutions-focused mindset, enabling leaders to manage their responsibilities confidently while ensuring our people services remain efficient, compliant and responsive to workforce needs.

Our People Department provides the expertise, leadership and services that enable Citizens Advice to attract, support and develop its workforce, manage employment responsibilities and create the conditions for colleagues and volunteers to flourish.

Bringing together specialist expertise in people services, operations, reward, employment law, volunteering and safeguarding, the department works to strengthen organisational resilience and deliver a positive employment experience.

You’ll work closely with Strategic People Partners and collaborate with our Directors of Organisational Design & Development, Equity & Belonging and Strategy to create an integrated approach to workforce strategy, organisational capability and inclusion. Through this partnership, you’ll help ensure our people priorities are aligned and delivered consistently across our three directorates.

Please apply with your CV and cover letter detailing how you meet the essential criteria in the personal spec in the role profile. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is of strategic importance within the organisation and recognised as integral to all we do as a service.

Central to pursuing our EDI mission is building diverse and inclusive teams in which everyone has a sense of belonging. We believe inclusion is a social justice issue - a principle that underpins our all EDI work. To that end, we particularly welcome applications from people we would like to see better represented in our organisation and sector - people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people.

We’re a flexible employer, so this role may suit anyone who’d prefer a flexible arrangement to help their work/life balance, many of our colleagues spend most of their time working remotely. Whilst we prefer a blended approach between a local office, if one is near you, and home we’re open to being flexible on location.

The National Citizens Advice operates from offices in England and Wales, with 4 regional offices based in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Leeds, therefore all successful applicants must be based within England or Wales.

Please be aware that Citizens Advice is not a sponsoring organisation. Therefore the successful applicant must already possess the right to work in the UK or be able to secure the right to work in the UK independently.

We have been awarded the top charity in Third sectors' employer index, where it's recognised that Citizens Advice is an organization that not only prioritises the people we serve but also values the wellbeing of its employees.

Citizens Advice seeks to redeploy internal staff who are at risk or under notice of redundancy and will prioritise them in the recruitment process where necessary. If you have been confirmed as at risk or under notice of redundancy please ensure you indicate this in the at-risk box in your application.

Please note, in the event of a high number of applications, we reserve the right to close the application early. This vacancy closes at 23.59 on the closing date.