HR Director in London

Publicis Groupe is one of the world’s largest communications holding companies, present in over 110 countries and employing about 100,000 professionals. The Groupe is positioned at every step of the value chain, from consulting to execution, combining marketing transformation and digital business transformation.

The HR Director/ Associate Talent Director for Publicis Health UK is responsible for leading the people agenda across the UK health practice. This role partners closely with senior practice and agency leadership to deliver a people strategy that supports growth, regulatory compliance and a strong, inclusive culture, while aligning with broader UK and Groupe people frameworks and teams. The role balances strategic leadership with hands‑on delivery, operating within a matrixed environment and supports multiple agency brands within the practice. This HR Director role/Associate Talent Director is a 12 month FTC Maternity Cover.

Key responsibilities:

• Act as a trusted people partner to Publicis Health CEO and the Senior Leadership Team.
• Translate practice and agency priorities into clear, practical people plans.
• Support organisational change, including restructures, integrations and growth initiatives within the health practice.
• Lead the delivery of the people strategy across Publicis Health UK, aligned to UK Groupe People priorities.
• Provide senior oversight and guidance on employee relations, including complex cases, restructures, redundancies and TUPE.
• Ensure compliance with employment legislation.
• Shape and sustain a strong, inclusive culture that reflects both Publicis values and the specific needs of health agencies.
• Coach and support senior leaders to build engaged, high‑performing teams.
• Drive engagement, wellbeing and retention initiatives across the practice.
• Oversee the accurate collection and analysis of key people metrics; extract actionable insights and translate them into compelling narratives and recommendations.
• Oversee talent management, succession planning and development for key roles within the health practice.
• Partner with L&D to deliver relevant learning and leadership programmes, particularly for regulated and specialist roles.
• Support early careers and career pathway development within health agencies.
• Champion DE&I across Publicis Health UK, ensuring inclusive hiring, development and progression practices.
• Work with Groupe Equity and Inclusion team to align and support UK initiatives and goals.
• Use people data and insight to inform decision‑making and highlight risks and opportunities.
• Provide clear, practical people insights to practice leadership.
• Partner with the internal Talent Acquisition team on organisational planning and critical hires.
• Support effective hiring strategies specific to the health and science talent market.
• Keep abreast of innovations and trends in the industry and within the HR space and contribute to our continuing evolution, e.g., use of AI.
• Lead and develop HR business partner and advisory support aligned to the health practice.
• Oversee people processes for the practice, partnering with the HR Operations team, including promotions, approvals and submissions, ensuring consistency and quality.
• Contribute to UK and Groupe people initiatives and projects where relevant.

Experience:

• Proven strategic experience working as partner to an MD or CEO and senior leadership roles.
• Experience with line management.
• Blend of HR best practice knowledge with innovative thinking, able to flexibly adapt to changing priorities.
• Strong relationship‑building skills across all levels.
• Adept at planning and executing organisation change programmes from end to end.
• Ability to work with Centres of Excellence in building and implementing people plan.
• Bring a deep‑rooted sense of fun and passion for fostering an engaging, empowering, and meaningful work environment for yourself and the client groups that you support.
• Proficiency in handling data, interpreting insights, and translating them into actionable strategies.
• Previous experience in similar industry preferred (Media, Production, Digital, Advertising, Tech) but not essential.

Publicis Groupe has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees, full details of which are shared when you join. This includes the classics like Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical, as well as Reflection Days, Shared Parental Leave, and spans other initiatives.

At Publicis Groupe, we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age, citizenship, relationship status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic. We are committed to providing a fair, accessible, and inclusive recruitment process.