Head of HR - Cambridge - CB21 6GP

About us Dardan have a wealth of experience in delivering smart security solutions that go beyond safeguarding buildings, property, and staff. We combine the best in technology, mobile services, physical guarding, and consultancy.

Our mission is to be ethical, authentic, agile, and smart. We do our best and then do a little bit more, every time.

The Opportunity: We are seeking a highly experienced and credible Head of HR to lead our HR team and overall people strategy. This is a senior, influential role requiring strong leadership, sound judgement, and the ability to balance operational priorities with a focus on people and best practice. The successful candidate will become a key figure of the Senior Leadership Team and provide logical HR expertise to safeguard the business, ensuring all people policies, procedures, and practices remain fully compliant with employment legislation and industry standards. You will operate with autonomy and confidence, managing multiple workstreams, sometimes under pressure while remaining focused on delivering service excellence and cultural alignment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic HR Leadership: Deliver best-practice HR solutions that support structural, cultural, behavioural, and capability change using a pragmatic, commercial approach. Provide insight and reporting to senior leadership and the Board to support effective decision-making. Build strong, collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders and clients.
• People Compliance & Risk: Ensure full compliance with employment legislation, HR best practice, and company policies. Lead on organisational change programmes including restructures, redundancies, and TUPE. Maintain accountability for SIA compliance, BS7858 vetting standards, right-to-work documentation, and employment law risk.
• Employee Relations: Lead on complex, sensitive, or high-risk employee relations cases. Oversee ACAS Early Conciliation and potential Employment Tribunal matters. Guide and support senior managers through performance, misconduct, absence, and capability processes.
• Leadership & Engagement: Lead, motivate, and develop the HR team, ensuring professional development aligned with the CIPD Profession Map. Foster a positive, values-led culture focused on service, people, and engagement. Drive employee engagement initiatives, surveys, and action planning.
• Recruitment, Talent & Development: Maintain accountability for recruitment, onboarding, vetting, and workforce planning. Lead the development and delivery of HR management training programmes.
• Management Information & Projects: Enhance HR data, reporting, and MI to identify trends and risks (ER, diversity, absence, recruitment metrics). Lead and contribute to HR projects aligned with business strategy and audit requirements.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• A seasoned HR professional with significant senior leadership experience.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and regulated environments.
• Calm, resilient, and decisive, with the ability to manage complexity.
• Influential communicator with the gravitas to operate at senior level.
• CIPD qualified (or equivalent).
• TUPE experience (desirable).
• Passionate about creating an exceptional people experience.
• Experience working in the professional service sector (security, facilities management, etc.) (desirable).

We are Dardan, a people-focused, privately owned specialist security company. We choose our employees carefully and value them greatly. We know that our people are our greatest asset and as such we invest in their development. A career with us means joining an ACS Pacesetter & a company listed on Infologue’s “One to Watch”.

Diversity, Inclusion and Equality: At Dardan, we are committed to building a workforce of talented, intuitive, and ethical professionals. We do this through attracting and retaining a diverse group of people and encourage an inclusive environment for us and our clients. We hire the best people available and have a continuously evolving culture where everybody is celebrated and respected, which we believe is critical for fostering innovation and collaboration. We recognise the strength in growing a workforce that encourages different ideas in line with our shared values.