Head of HR

St John’s College seeks to appoint an experienced Head of Human Resources to provide strategic and operational leadership of the College’s HR function. The role will ensure the delivery of a high-quality, efficient and compliant HR service that supports the College’s academic mission, operational priorities, and people strategy. The postholder will lead the implementation of the people strategy, embedding operational excellence, best practice and continuous improvement across all HR activities. The post-holder will act as a trusted advisor on academic and professional staff matters, ensuring a consistent and efficient approach to people management, policy development, organisational development, employee relations and change management. The position offers an exciting opportunity to develop and deliver an excellent operational HR service and support the achievement of the College’s overall strategic aims through the successful implementation of the people strategy.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE

St John’s College is one of the larger colleges in the University of Oxford. Founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas White, it is a long-established member of the thirty-eight colleges of Oxford University. Like all colleges, it is an independent, self-governing establishment, which functions both as an academic institution and as a social and residential centre for its members. The College has around 650 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The Fellowship includes approximately 100 academics, of which 60 are members of the College’s Governing Body that has overall responsibility for all aspects of the running the College. There are approximately 200 professional staff.

ABOUT THE POST

The Head of HR leads on all People related activities at the College and will be responsible for the implementation of our People Strategy which includes training and development, recruitment, enhancing performance, empowering and supporting people, and policy development. We are looking for an experienced HR professional who is equally happy and able to contribute on operational and strategic HR matters. The post holder will report to the Finance Bursar on operational matters, and to the Principal Bursar on strategic HR matters. There is a “dotted line” to the Senior Tutor for academic staff matters and the postholders will work closely with other senior members of the Bursary leadership team. The HR team includes an HR Advisor, a HR Officer and a HR apprentice so previous experience of leading and motivating a team is essential. We are looking for an individual with a pragmatic approach who is able to offer solution-oriented HR advice and show empathy and discretion in handling sensitive personnel matters and managing conflict situations. Previous experience in higher education is not essential, but it is important for the post holder to support the goals and ideals of the College’s role in fostering excellence in education and research in a vibrant and socially diverse community. Equality of opportunity and increasing the diversity of its staff profile are amongst the College’s aims, and the appointed person will need to show an interest in working with the President, the Fellow for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and other senior staff to champion and pursue new initiatives in this area. Experience of working with HR information systems is essential as the College is currently modernising its processes, and the post holder is expected to contribute to these developments.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Operational Excellence and Service Delivery: Ensure the effective, efficient, and compliant operation of all HR services, including recruitment, onboarding, employee relations, reward, payroll liaison, absence management, and leavers. Develop and continuously improve HR policies, processes, and systems to enhance service quality, consistency, user experience in line with changing employment legislation and best practice. Lead, manage and develop the HR team, ensuring clear objectives, high performance, and professional development. Monitor HR performance in the College, through KPIs, metrics, and reporting, using data to drive improvements and inform decision-making. Provision of written reports to the Domestic and Establishment Committee to advise on progress against the People Strategy, and other key HR initiatives and performance indicators. Ensure robust governance, risk management, and compliance with employment law, and College policies.
• Strategy: Lead on the implementation of the People Strategy in support of the overall College strategy. Ensure a customer-focused HR service culture that balances strategic impact with operational delivery.
• Advice and Support: Provide day-to-day HR advice to managers and ensure that staff management practices are applied consistently, and that any change programmes are effectively managed. Advise and coach managers in disciplinary, grievances and harassment cases, on capability procedures and in dealing with performance issues. Support and coach line managers on absence management, ill health or other staff welfare matters; manage referrals to occupational health services in consultation with line managers, advice on reasonable adjustments and ill health retirement.
• Staff Engagement: Work with the President and Principal Bursar to enhance staff engagement mechanisms. Lead on our Investors in People action plan to ensure continuous improvement. Lead on reward and recognition policies and schemes across College.
• Learning and Development: Work with managers on staff development, identify training needs, and skills gaps within the College and lead on improvements in training record management. Arrange for College-wide training to be delivered in-house or externally. Oversee and further enhance the staff appraisal process.
• Recruitment: Manage the end-to-end recruitment process for all academic and professional staff, ensuring efficient pre-employment administration and dealing with Certificates of Sponsorships and tier 2 visas. Work with internal and external stakeholders to further develop inclusive recruitment processes and opportunities. Develop and implement a consistent induction and onboarding process for all staff in liaison with managers and College Officers including an effective oversight of probation periods.
• Systems Development and Processes: Lead on the identification of future enhancements to the HR Database, reporting and related people processes. Manage receipt and processing of HR data and HR archives in line with GDPR and College data protection policies.

The above list is not exhaustive and the Head of HR is expected to carry out such other duties as the College may from time-to-time request, commensurate with the grade and responsibilities of the post. The list of duties may be varied without changing the essential character of the post according to the needs of the College.

PERSON SPECIFICATION AND CRITERIA

Essential: Recognised qualification in HR management (preferably CIPD level 7), or equivalent professional experience of working as a general HR professional. Up-to-date knowledge of employment law and ACAS codes of practice. Practical experience of advising on people management and the ability to handle complex people issues with diplomacy and discretion. Understanding of handling sensitive personal data within the requirements of GDPR and data protection legislation. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including confidence and gravitas to chair interview panels, investigations, disciplinary meetings and advise senior stakeholders. Strong leadership and people management skills, with experience of building high-performing teams. Empathy and good listening skills. Strong administrative skills with attention to detail, and ability to prioritise workload. Good digital skills and understanding of utilising systems to their best effect (including Microsoft packages, HR databases and systems).

Desirable: Mediation experience or conflict management skills. Previous experience in delivering enhancements to HR information or e-recruitment systems.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Salary: The salary will be in the range of £60k-£70k per annum depending on experience, inclusive of the Oxford Weighting Allowance (currently £1,730 per annum).

Hours of work: This is a full-time post at 35 hours per week. Normal hours of work are 8:30am – 4:30pm, with one unpaid hour for lunch. Some flexibility will be required according to the needs of the College. The College has a hybrid working policy which allows for one day to be worked from home in term-time, and two days outside of term-time.

Holidays: Annual leave entitlement is 30 working days, including five days which are to be taken during the Christmas break when there is a fixed closure period, plus 8 statutory bank holidays. Bank holidays that fall within term-time may need to be worked. If this is the case, a day of paid holiday in lieu of each such day worked will be given. The holiday year begins on 1 January and ends on 31 December.

Pension: The post is pensionable under the contributable Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

Meals: The post holder is entitled to free lunches in Hall and up to two lunches per week in the Senior Common Room on days they are working at the College site (except when the kitchens are closed).

Probationary and notice periods: The appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a 6-months probationary period, during which the notice period will be one month on either side. Once the appointment has been confirmed, the notice period on either side will be three months. The appointment is subject to the provision of an original document verifying the applicant’s right to work in the UK.

APPOINTMENT PROCEDURE

Applications consisting of a covering letter explaining your suitability for the post and a full CV should be sent by email via the button below. Please provide the names, addresses and telephone number of two referees. Referees should be people who have direct experience of your work through working closely with you for a considerable period, and at least one of them should be your formal line manager in your most recent job. References will not be taken up before the interview stage. Deadline for applications is noon on Monday 23 February 2026. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. First Stage interviews will be held on Wednesday 25th February and Thursday 26th February. Second Stage interviews will be held Monday 2 March.

Data protection: All data supplied by applicants will be used only for the purposes of determining their suitability for the post, and will be held in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act, General Data Protection Legislation and the College’s Data Protection Policy and recruitment monitoring process.

Equality of Opportunity: St John’s College is committed to providing equality of opportunity and avoiding unlawful discrimination. The policy and practice of the College requires that all staff are afforded equal opportunities within employment and that entry into employment with the College and progression within employment will be determined only by personal merit and the application of criteria which are related to the duties of each particular post and the relevant salary structure. In all cases, ability to perform the job will be the primary consideration. Subject to statutory provisions, no applicant or member of staff will be treated less favourably than another because of his or her sex, marital status, sexual orientation, racial group, age or disability.