Head of People Services in Leeds

The PureGym Group is a top-10 global gym business with over 700 total sites and 2.5 million members across 6 countries. Our mission is to bring high quality, affordable fitness to everyone, everywhere, ensuring customer centricity is woven into the breadth of our product. We champion diversity and are committed to providing a workplace where everyone feels free to be. We’re proud to be recognised as a Top Institute Employer, reflecting our commitment to excellence in employee experience and workplace culture.

We offer:

• Free nationwide gym membership for you + 1
• Hybrid working
• A truly flexible working culture
• Personal private healthcare, including digital GP
• Life insurance x4
• Company pension contribution
• 25 days annual leave, plus 1 personal day
• Option to purchase additional holiday (up to 5 days)
• Great learning & development resources
• Enhanced maternity pay, paternity and adoption leave

The Role

Location: Leeds (minimum 3 days in the office)
Type: Full Time
Contract type: 12 Month FTC
Application: We are looking for someone to start mid-March, so please apply as soon as possible.

We are looking for a Head of People Services to lead the design, delivery and continuous improvement of all people-related operational services across all markets in our business (UK, DK, CH, USA). This role ensures that employees and managers receive a seamless, efficient, standardised, high-quality experience throughout the employee lifecycle. This is a Hybrid working role. This will be based in our Leeds office for a minimum of 3 days a week.

Key Responsibilities will include:

• Leadership
  • Develop and implement a People Services strategy aligned with the People team ‘Plan on a Page’.
  • Lead, coach, and develop the People Services team across HR operations, onboarding, change management, offboarding and HR project support activity.
  • Act as an advocate of service excellence, continuous improvement, and data‑driven decision‑making.
• People Operations & Service Delivery
  • Oversee the delivery of consistent, efficient, standardised and compliant HR services across the employee lifecycle in all our markets (UK, DK, CH and USA).
  • Ensure processes are standardised, scalable, and well‑documented.
  • Drive the adoption of self‑service tools and digital solutions to enhance employee experience.
• Employee Experience
  • Design and maintain a high‑quality standardised employee experience from onboarding to offboarding.
  • Monitor service performance through SLAs, feedback mechanisms, and employee insights.
• Systems, Data & Compliance
  • Oversee HR systems across all markets, ensuring data accuracy, security, and effective reporting.
  • Use analytics to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
  • Ensure compliance with employment legislation, internal policies, and audit requirements.
• Collaboration & Stakeholder Management
  • Work closely with People Directors/Heads of People, People Business Partners, Talent Acquisition & Recruitment, L&D, and Senior Leaders to ensure joined‑up people practices.
  • Act as a trusted advisor on operational HR matters.
  • Build strong relationships with external partners such as payroll providers and technology suppliers.
• Value Add Projects
  • HR systems: Deliver HR system optimisation across all markets.
  • Role architecture project: Implement a role architecture tool across the Group, with particular focus on DK pay transparency readiness.
  • Group wide contract and documentation review: Lead a review of contracts and documentation to ensure standardisation, legal compliance and alignment to brand identity.
  • MI reporting: Deliver high quality MI reporting providing accurate and timely insights to key stakeholders.

The Person

We are looking for an ambitious individual with strong HR acumen who can hit the ground running, identify areas of opportunity, communicate this effectively to stakeholders and drive real value for PureGym. The following core attributes are essential:

• Strong understanding of HR processes, employment law, and best‑practice service delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams through change and drive operational excellence.
• Expertise in HR systems, data management, and process optimisation.
• Strong communication, influencing, and stakeholder‑management skills.
• Experience or exposure to implementing new HR technology or leading service delivery models.
• Experience in multi‑site and/or international environments.
• Preferred experience of leading HR operations or shared services in a complex organisation.

Required experience / qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in a HR / People role, preferably within a shared service/service delivery environment.
• Experience of working with multiple HR systems, preferably across international markets.
• Highly proficient in Excel.
• Experience of working with different stakeholders across a multi-market / multi-location organisation.

PureGym is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. Our company mantra is ‘Everybody Welcome’ and we are dedicated to promoting a diverse and inclusive place to work. From a hiring standpoint, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to ensuring that our PureGym colleagues reflect the diversity of the nation as well as our millions of gym members we serve. Join us on our mission is to bring high quality, affordable fitness to everyone, everywhere.

Please note: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the advert may be withdrawn at any time.