Regional Head of HR in London

The Regional Head of HR Role serves as a strategic business partner to both the regional team and schools. They are responsible for ensuring the effective delivery of seamless HR guidance and support across their region in alignment with local cultural and legal contexts. Reporting to the Regional MD, and working with the Group Head of People Operations, DCOO, DCLO and RLD, the Regional Head of HR will develop and deliver a regional people plan that is fully aligned with ISP’s School of Choice, global people strategy and regional priorities, driving business goals and supporting school leadership teams. This role supports workforce planning, talent development, performance management and organisational design to ensure optimal staff engagement, operational excellence and a focus on continual improvement.

As the Regional Head of HR, you will partner with the Regional leadership team and Principals/Heads of School to ensure HR activities support the region’s growth and operational priorities. You will provide insights on performance, talent management, skills gaps and development needs and succession planning to inform the region’s workforce planning and organisational design. You will leverage Workday to track key HR metrics such as employee turnover, engagement, cost per hire, and training hours, transforming this data into actionable insights to guide HR strategy decisions across the region. You will provide expert guidance on complex employee relations matters such as grievances and disciplinary actions, act as a trusted commercial and strategic HR advisor, and coach and influence senior leaders using a data‑led, pragmatic, and solutions‑focused HR approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Partnership with Regional and School Leaders
• Drive high proficiency across all system process and capability requirements, promote end‑users engagement with Workday and ensure that HR and line managers are capable across the whole employee lifecycle.
• Ensure all HR processes and activities comply with local employment laws and ISP Group policies and are reviewed and updated promptly to reflect changes in legislation and best practices across the region.
• Collaborate with the ISP Central team on compensation, benefits and HRIS processes.
• Lead continuous improvement of HR processes to enhance efficiency, consistency, compliance, and employee experience across the region.
• Lead regional HR projects and change initiatives, ensuring timely delivery and sustainable adoption.
• Ensure a comprehensive approach to safer recruitment across the region, fully aligned to ISP standards and underpinned by a commitment to upskilling own knowledge and sharing learning and initiatives with the region and schools.
• Uphold high recruitment standards that are rigorous, professional, and compliant with ISP guidelines and processes, thereby fostering a fair, transparent, and positive candidate experience at every stage of the hiring journey.
• Drive best practice in performance management across the region, ensuring the performance review process is consistently implemented, with a focus on goal‑setting, continuous feedback, and employee development.
• Champion employee engagement by leading survey feedback discussions, facilitating collaborative action planning, and promoting the sharing and celebration of local initiatives across the wider region and division.

Key Skills

• HR business partnering
• Commercial acumen
• People analytics
• Talent management
• Performance development
• Employee and labour relations
• Organisational design
• Change management
• Cultural awareness
• Diversity and Inclusion
• HR project management
• Coaching techniques
• Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)
• Reward recognition
• Employee engagement

ISP Principles

• Begin with our children and students. Our children and students are at the heart of what we do. Simply, their success is our success.
• Treat everyone with care and respect. We look after one another, embrace similarities and differences and promote the well‑being of self and others.
• Operate effectively. We focus relentlessly on the things that are most important and will make the most difference.
• Are financially responsible. We make financial choices carefully based on the needs of the children, students and our schools.
• Learn continuously. Getting better is what drives us.

ISP Commitment to Safeguarding Principles

ISP is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

ISP Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

ISP is committed to strengthening our inclusive culture by identifying, hiring, developing, and retaining high‑performing teammates regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender expression, age, disability status, neurodivergence, socio‑economic background or other demographic characteristics.