HR Director

Dentsu is at the cutting edge of the industry, producing new ways of working and generating growth through the power of technology and creativity. For over 120 years, innovation has been a core tenet of dentsu’s offering – exploring new ways to reach, engage and nurture relationships with audiences. Innovation is a key priority for brands, but few have the tools and systems in place to make it happen. They need a partner like dentsu. Through innovation, we ensure the impact our clients need to drive growth in their business, while also generating a positive effect on the industry, society, and the world.

Innovation at dentsu is always in pursuit of an outcome, meaning we are always focused on the end impact that we’ll have for a client and their communities. For some businesses this might be hard return on marketing investment or increasing revenues, but for others it may be driving behavioural change, building positive culture or connecting disparate communities.

The Human Resources Director for Dentsu Creative and UK Functions will play a critical role in overseeing HR strategies and operations across the creative business and core UK functional areas, including Marketing, Operations, and Finance. This role ensures HR strategies are aligned with business objectives, acting as a strategic partner to business leaders to support organisational effectiveness, talent development, employee engagement, and cultural alignment.

Operating across the UK and partnering closely with the Chief People Officer and leaders within Dentsu Creative and UK Functions, the HR Director will work collaboratively with regional teams and Centres of Excellence (COEs) to deliver a consistent and business-relevant approach in areas such as talent acquisition, learning and development, compensation and benefits, and employee relations. The successful candidate will play a key role in building strong relationships across the business, acting as the connective thread between teams and driving impactful people initiatives that enable business success.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement HR strategies aligned with the organisation's business objectives and functional needs.
• Partner with leaders to lead the change agenda (structural and cultural).
• Lead talent acquisition, development, and retention strategies to ensure a high-performing and diverse workforce, champion the identification, development and mobilising high potentials individuals in the function.
• Champion and execute leadership development programs and succession planning.
• Designing interventions to support a coaching culture, enhancing the capability of the leadership teams to deliver feedback and support the career development of their teams in line with Performance Development.
• Facilitate organisational design and change management initiatives to optimise functional efficiency and effectiveness.
• Operating as a change agent, coach and conscience to the leadership teams.
• Working with the outputs of Global Check-in to maximise employee engagement.
• Utilise HR metrics and analytics to inform decision-making and report on HR performance.
• Prepare reports for executive leadership on key HR initiatives and outcomes.
• Lead and develop the HR team supporting the creative and functional areas.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and professional growth within the HR team.
• Highly collaborative able to work and influence effectively across global, regional, and multi-discipline teams / cultures and in global matrixed teams.
• First class communication skills (verbal and non-verbal) able to judge the political and other people aspects of a situation, and tailor messages and approach to bring people along.
• Acts as a trusted advisor to business leaders, translating their priorities into actionable strategy.

Qualifications + Skills

• Proven experience in strategic HR planning, talent management, and organizational development.
• Strong HR expertise in business partnering with senior leaders, change management, development of high performing organisations and organisation design.
• An individual with strong business acumen who sees the opportunity to drive change.
• Intellectual agility, good quality judgement and collaborative skills working across different cultures including stakeholders in Japan.
• Organisation awareness and know-how to navigate complex matrix environment.
• Strong understanding of employment law and compliance requirements.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to build relationships and influence at all levels of the organization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience in change management and driving HR initiatives in a complex, dynamic environment.

What we offer

This is a 12 month Fixed Term Contract. The team is based in our London office but operates under flexible working arrangements. As well as a competitive salary, you’ll enjoy a benefits package that you can tailor to your needs.

Inclusion and Diversity

Our diverse and inclusive culture enables our employees to bring their whole selves to work and be proud of doing so. For us, this is the foundation for great innovation which, in turn, generates better outcomes for our people, partners and communities. This is why we encourage applications from people with disabilities, and of all ages, nationalities, backgrounds and cultures. We are happy to discuss flexible and agile approaches to working for all our roles – we can’t promise we will be able to offer you everything you want or need but we do promise to discuss it with you openly and honestly. If you have any reasonable adjustment needs arising from a disability or medical condition to fully participate in the recruitment process, please discuss this with our recruitment teams.