Associate Director, HR in London

Our client is seeking an experienced HR Associate Director to provide strategic and operational HR leadership across the Faculty. Working closely with senior academic and professional services leaders, you will develop and deliver people strategies that support the School’s wider objectives, acting as a senior and trusted HR partner on complex people matters, organisational change, workforce planning, employee relations, academic career processes and HR governance.

You will lead and develop the Faculty HR team, ensuring the delivery of a high-quality, consistent and customer-focused HR service. The role has broad responsibility for Faculty people activity, including:

• Recruitment and onboarding
• Promotion and tenure
• Performance and reward
• Workforce planning
• Professional development
• Employee relations
• HR policy and governance
• Financial planning and people data

You will lead the development and delivery of the Faculty HR strategy, provide expert advice to senior stakeholders and identify opportunities to improve HR services, processes and systems. You will also champion positive people practices, collaboration, inclusion and organisational change, while providing strategic oversight of recruitment, senior and academic appointments, affiliate Faculty arrangements, induction and onboarding.

A key part of the role will be overseeing promotion, tenure and academic review processes, ensuring these are fair, consistent, transparent and aligned with School governance. You will also lead Faculty performance management, salary review and reward processes, support workforce planning and resource forecasting, and use workforce and people data to inform strategic decision-making.

Ensuring Your Success

Ideally, you will have significant senior-level HR experience, with a strong track record of operating as a strategic HR partner within a complex organisation. You will be confident advising senior academic and professional services leaders on sensitive and complex people matters, including employee relations cases that may require external legal advice. Experience of organisational change, workforce planning, recruitment, academic career progression, promotion and tenure processes will be highly desirable.

You will have a strong understanding of HR governance, employment legislation, policy and best practice, with the ability to ensure processes are compliant, consistent and effectively implemented. Strong leadership and people management skills are essential, as you will lead, develop and provide direction to the Faculty HR team while promoting continuous improvement and strong stakeholder relationships.

You will be highly organised and commercially aware, with the ability to oversee HR budgets, financial approvals, workforce costs and resource allocation. Excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills are essential, alongside the ability to work collaboratively with senior leadership, central HR, Finance, workforce planning, recruitment and talent teams, academic committees and external professional advisers. A strong understanding of HR data governance, reporting and the importance of accurate and reliable people information will also be important to your success in this position.

In Return

This is an excellent opportunity to take on a senior and influential HR leadership position, providing strategic direction across a Faculty and working closely with senior academic and professional services leadership. You will have the opportunity to shape people strategy, organisational effectiveness and HR service delivery, while leading a dedicated Faculty HR team and contributing to wider School priorities. The role offers significant scope to influence recruitment, workforce planning, academic career development, employee relations, reward, governance and organisational change within a complex and forward-thinking environment.