Head of People/HR - 16mo maternity cover in Edinburgh

Description

About the role

We’re looking for somebody to lead our People Ops department for a 16-month maternity cover contract, starting in October 2026.

In this role, you’ll lead a team of five to develop and deliver the People strategy for our fast-growing, scaling company.

Headquartered in Edinburgh, we have a team of 170+ across the UK and US.

You’ll play a critical role sitting on the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and providing strategic direction for the People department.

You’ll ensure that we attract and retain top talent, and embed a culture of high performance.

We want people to consider their time at Dayshape the best part of their career and this role will be instrumental in shaping this.

What you’ll do

You’ll be overall responsible for these areas, able to deliver both directly and through the People team:

• Strategic Leadership
• Work as part of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to develop, communicate, and deliver on overall company strategy
• Develop and drive our People strategy
• Provide thought leadership, counsel, and support to the SLT, People team, and wider community of people leaders at Dayshape
• Talent Acquisition & Management
• Develop and execute innovative strategies to attract and hire top talent for our growing team
• Build and maintain a strong employer brand to attract and retain top talent in a highly competitive market
• Provide effective onboarding, training, and development programs to ensure new hires feel at home quickly and existing colleagues develop their careers
• Employee Engagement & Culture
• Cultivate a positive and inclusive company culture that aligns with our values and fosters employee growth and happiness
• Work with our People team to build upon our Investors in People (IIP) accreditation and improve our employee value proposition
• Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts across the organisation, supporting the DEI Board in their work
• Performance Management & Reward
• Build on our existing performance management processes to ensure clear expectations, regular feedback, and effective performance reviews.
• Support managers and leaders in addressing performance issues, driving a high-performance culture
• Conduct regular market analysis to ensure our offerings remain equitable
• Review our benefits offerings as part of overall remuneration and compensation strategy
• Compliance, Policies, and Employee Relations
• Ensure all People policies and procedures align with legal and regulatory requirements, regularly reviewing and updating these to reflect best practices and a progressive approach
• Handle employee visas and visa sponsorships, maintaining compliance with immigration laws and regulations
• Manage employee relations to ensure a positive and collaborative work environment
• Address and resolve employee issues effectively and in line with our policies and best practices, providing mediation and support to employees and managers
• Operational Excellence
• Manage People operations, including contract administration for employees and contractors, ensuring employee records are up to date, and providing employee payroll information to the Finance team
• Provide regular update reports to the SLT and Board to help with forward planning and decision making
• Manage supplier relationships and budgets, maximising the value they provide
• Manage multiple projects and ensure the People team is being utilised effectively to deliver the most impact

About you

To succeed in this role, you will be passionate about company culture, attracting and developing talent, driving exceptional performance, and will thrive in a fast-paced environment.

You will be both strategically minded and hands-on, able translate strategy into action and bring others on the journey with you to deliver excellence.

• Demonstrable experience in an HR/People leadership role, driving and delivering on People initiatives
• Experience managing HR/People Ops in a scaling software company
• Previous experience directly managing HR or People functions for global/overseas entities (ideally the US), including recruitment
• Experience developing and implementing successful talent acquisition and retention strategies
• Demonstrable experience of providing visible, inclusive, and collaborative leadership in the People and culture space
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills; able to connect with people individually and to communicate effectively company-wide with authenticity
• Highly adaptable; able to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, and able to figure out a path through new challenges and opportunities
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities
• A pragmatic approach, balancing the priorities of the organisation with the demands of our team
• Able to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion
• Strong knowledge of HR best practices and compliance regulations
• Bonus points if you have
• HR degree, CIPD, or similar relevant qualification
• What you’ll get
• Salary c. £65,000 - £70,000 (FTE, pro rata for 20-30 hours per week)
• At least £1,000 per year to spend on professional and personal development
• 33 days' holiday per year (including bank holidays), increasing by 1 day each year to a maximum of 40 days (FTE)
• Private healthcare
• Income protection and death in service cover
• Matched 5% auto-enrolment workplace pension scheme
• Access to wellbeing offerings, such as our Employee Assistance Programme and a dedicated counselling service
• Volunteering time – up to 20 hours a year to participate in volunteer work
• Regular All Hands meeting for inspiration and over-communication
• Time out of the working week for team socials each month, with a mix of in-person and virtual options: past events include hiking, family BBQs, board games and at-home cocktail classes!
• Genuinely nice, smart people to work with, who are excited about growing our company
• Working Details

This is a part-time role (22.5-30 hours per week), falling within our usual office hours of 09:00 - 17:30 from Monday to Friday.

We’re ideally looking for someone in/around Edinburgh, though we’re open to the possibility of this being a remote role (as long as you're in the UK).

We're making the most of hybrid working, so you won't need to come into the office everyday (unless you want to!).

About Dayshape

We’re Dayshape—an award-winning software scale-up with big ambitions and the momentum to match.

Trusted by Big Four and many other top professional services firms globally, our AI-powered resource management platform is helping organisations to achieve extraordinary results.

At Dayshape, our purpose is to improve people's working lives, and our culture is an important driving force in helping us to do just that.

We're a friendly, inclusive, and ambitious team—driven by our values and a shared commitment to success. If you’re ready to join a fast-growing, high-impact company that’s reimagining resource management, then let’s talk.

Join the team!

Equality of opportunity is more than just a responsibility: we believe it’s a huge advantage to welcome a variety of experiences and perspectives into the team.

Diversity is a great asset and, as such, we strongly encourage applications from any background, including those returning to work after a career break.

This is your opportunity to really influence how we get things done, and how to shape Dayshape’s culture and success through our next stage of growth.

We're doing well, but there's lots more to do in order to maintain the high bar and pace that we've set.

Everyone here is growing personally as the company grows, so if that sounds like something you’d like to be part of, we’d love to see your application.

Please note the successful candidate for this role will be subject to background checks and will have an opportunity to declare anything to us beforehand.