Interim Director of People Services

We are seeking an Interim Director of People Services to provide executive-level leadership during a significant period of strategic, organisational and governance change. The successful candidate will lead the people agenda, drive workforce planning, culture and EDI initiatives, and provide expert ER/IR leadership, helping position the organisation for the successful delivery of its new corporate strategy.

Our client is a large, highly respected public sector organisation entering an exciting period of strategic evolution. With a new organisational strategy due to launch and a number of significant governance and transformation initiatives underway, they are seeking an experienced Interim HR Director to provide executive-level leadership during a critical phase of change. This is a unique opportunity to join a purpose-driven organisation with a strong reputation and make a lasting impact on its people agenda, culture and future direction.

Reporting to the Executive Team, the Interim Director of People Services will provide strategic leadership across the full employee life‑cycle, ensuring the People function is positioned to support both immediate operational priorities and longer‑term organisational ambitions. Key responsibilities include:

• Providing visible and credible leadership of the HR function.
• Leading the development and delivery of the People Strategy aligned to organisational objectives.
• Supporting the implementation of a new organisational strategy and wider transformation agenda.
• Delivering strategic workforce planning to ensure future organisational capability.
• Leading complex employee relations and industrial relations activity within a unionised environment.
• Building and maintaining effective partnerships with Trade Unions and key stakeholders.
• Driving organisational development, leadership capability and culture change initiatives.
• Leading the organisation's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy and associated programmes.
• Supporting governance reform and organisational change activity.
• Ensuring robust people governance, compliance and risk management frameworks are in place.

The successful candidate will be an experienced Interim Director of People Services with a proven track record of operating at Executive level within complex organisations. You will possess:

• Previous experience as an HR Director, Executive Director of People or equivalent.
• Strong employee relations and industrial relations expertise, ideally within unionised environments.
• Demonstrable experience of leading large-scale organisational transformation and change programmes.
• Significant experience in strategic workforce planning and organisational design.
• A track record of developing and embedding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategies.
• Experience supporting organisations through governance and structural change.
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence at Board, Executive and senior leadership level.
• The credibility, resilience and pragmatism required to operate effectively in a high-profile interim appointment.
• Experience working at HR Director / Interim Director of People Services in a Public Sector and Government, Not‑For‑Profit or Charity sector is essential.

Job Offer:

• Six-month interim assignment.
• Competitive day rate in line with market rates.
• Inside IR35 engagement.
• Hybrid working model.
• Opportunity to lead a high-profile people agenda during a significant period of transformation.
• Immediate start available.
• Executive‑level stakeholder exposure and impact.
• Location: Cheshire and Manchester.