Associate Director - Professional People Managers in Leeds

At Grant Thornton we do things differently - looking to the future, driving ambitious growth and pioneering positive change in our industry. Providing audit, tax and advisory services, we empower clients through strategic insight, curiosity, and genuine partnership. And we empower our people with real opportunity, an inclusive culture and work life balance.

Professional People Managers sit at the heart of our firm’s culture and employee experience. They play a critical role in shaping consistency, accountability and high performance across the firm. This role exists to raise the bar: to professionalise people management at scale, to embed a high‑performance culture, and to ensure our people managers are skilled, confident and equipped to deliver what the firm needs now and in the future.

This is an opportunity to influence how people are led, supported and developed across all service lines — and to define what good looks like, clearly and consistently.

There are 20 Professional People Managers in this team who would report into this role: 14 in Audit, 3 in Tax, 2 in Advisory and 1 in CCS. The majority support our associate population (graduates and school leavers), during the early stages of their careers. These roles are known as Associate People Managers (APMs). They provide dedicated people management support to around 60–80 associates over a typical three-year period (five years for school leavers) until individuals qualify and transition into the standard people management model. APMs play a key role in ensuring associates are supported, performing well and meeting expectations. They do this through regular check-ins, oversight of feedback and performance. They proactively manage wellbeing concerns, absence, conduct, performance management and exam fails. They work closely with the business and alongside a wider support network, including Office Training Contacts, the Employee Relations team and Career Coaches, to deliver a joined-up experience for associates.

As Associate Director, the main focus of your remit will be to lead this population of people managers and, through them, strengthen engagement, retention and a high-performance culture across our trainee population.

We’re happy to talk flexible working and consider reduced hours and job shares; we’ll support you to balance your work and life.

A look into the role:

• Hold firmwide accountability for the Professional People Manager population, setting a clear vision, strategy and operating model that spans all service lines and teams.
• Define and embed what good looks like in professional people management – establishing clear expectations, standards and outcomes so that people experience high‑quality, consistent support regardless of business area.
• Lead and develop the Professional People Manager community, building capability, confidence and consistency through targeted upskilling, structured development and strong senior leadership.
• Drive a high‑performance culture by strengthening the quality of performance management, feedback, early intervention and accountability across the firm – ensuring issues are addressed fairly, confidently and at pace.
• Use insight, MI and themes from across the people manager population to identify improvement opportunities – translating this into tangible action.
• Lead change at pace, evolving existing models, resetting expectations where required, embedding improvements that simplify ways of working while maintaining high levels of quality, and introducing ownership of talent management.
• Partner closely with senior leaders, influencing at a senior level and ensuring people management priorities are aligned to the firm’s people strategy and future workforce needs.
• Ensure professional people management is delivered effectively so that there is less reliance on fee earners, allowing their time to be invested in high-value activity such as meaningful career conversations and development support.

Knowing you’re right for us:

Joining us in this role, you will bring significant senior experience leading people‑focused functions at scale, with a strong track record of driving high performance through others.

It would be great if you had some of the following skills, but don’t worry if you don’t tick every box – we’ll support you to develop along the way:

• Strong people leadership experience with the ability to lead, coach and performance manage a large team.
• Experience leading and transforming people management capability at scale, across multiple teams or business areas.
• Strong track record of driving a high‑performance culture, including upskilling managers and embedding accountability.
• Confidence managing high volume operational activity with robust governance and prioritisation.
• Experience setting and enforcing clear standards – confident in resetting expectations, challenging inconsistency and holding others to account.
• Ability to handle sensitive issues with strong personal judgement in complex scenarios.
• Excellent stakeholder management with the ability to influence and operate credibly at senior level.
• Comfortable working with ambiguity, complexity and change, and able to turn strategic intent into practical, embedded ways of working.

Knowing we’re right for you:

Embracing uniqueness, the culture at Grant Thornton thrives on the contributions of all our people, we never settle for what is easy, we look beyond to deliver the right thing, for everyone. Building an inclusive culture, where we value difference and respect our colleagues helps our people to perform at the best of their ability and realise their potential.

Our open and accessible culture means you’ll interact with leaders who are interested in you and everything you bring to our firm. The things that set you apart, we value them. That’s why we give you the freedom to bring your whole self to work and pursue your passions inside and outside of work.

Beyond the job:

Life is more than work. The things you do, and the people you’re with outside of work matter, that’s why we’re happy to look at flexible working options for all our roles, and we’ll always do our best to keep your work and life in balance.

The impact you can make here will go far beyond your day job. From secondments, to fundraising for local charities, or investing in entrepreneurs in the developing world, you’ll be giving back to society. It’s that drive to do the right thing that runs through our every move, grounded in our firm’s values – purposefully driven, actively curious and candid but kind.

We’re looking for people who want to contribute, spark fresh ideas and go beyond expectations. People who want to be able to proudly do what’s right, for the firm, our clients, our people and themselves. It’s how it should be.