Chief People Officer in City of London

Chief People Officer

We are partnering with a high-growth, international regulated financial institution to appoint a Chief People Officer. This is a senior global leadership role with responsibility for defining and executing the People strategy as the organisation moves into its next phase of growth and maturity.

The successful individual will operate as a trusted adviser to executive management, the Board and senior leadership, while leading a broad international People function. The mandate combines strategic leadership with the ability to ensure that the organisation's People infrastructure, governance and operating model continue to evolve and scale effectively.

This is particularly well suited to an established Head of HR, Chief People Officer, HR Director or equivalent from Financial Services, FinTech, Technology or another sophisticated international organisation.

Experience within a scale-up or high-growth environment would be highly relevant, although candidates from larger corporates who can bring greater structure, governance and maturity while retaining an agile approach are equally attractive.

The Role:

As Chief People Officer, you will own the global People agenda and work closely with executive management and the Board across organisational strategy, leadership, talent, culture, workforce planning and reward.

Key responsibilities:

• Define and execute the global People strategy, aligning organisational capability with the firm's commercial strategy, growth ambitions and risk appetite.
• Act as a senior adviser to executive management, the Board and business leadership on organisation design, leadership, talent, culture and workforce matters.
• Lead strategic workforce planning, succession planning and talent management, supporting continued international expansion and the development of the organisation across multiple jurisdictions.
• Oversee the complete employee lifecycle, including talent acquisition, onboarding, performance management, leadership development, engagement, mobility and offboarding.
• Own the firm's remuneration and benefits strategy, including salary review, incentive frameworks and associated governance.
• Ensure People policies, processes and governance meet the standards expected within an international regulated environment, working closely with Risk, Compliance, Legal and Finance.
• Continue to develop the People operating model, systems, data and processes to create a scalable, well-controlled infrastructure capable of supporting further growth.
• Lead organisational change and complex employee matters, while helping develop a high-performance culture with clear leadership accountability.
• Support wider strategic initiatives including international expansion, transformation, restructuring and potential M&A or integration activity.

The Candidate:

We are looking for an experienced People leader who combines strategic credibility with the ability to operate effectively in a dynamic and evolving business.

• Significant senior HR/People leadership experience with responsibility for a broad, international agenda.
• Experience operating at Head of HR, HR Director, CPO or equivalent level, with the credibility to advise CEOs, executive leadership teams and Boards.
• A background within Financial Services, FinTech, Technology or another complex international business. Experience within a regulated organisation would be particularly valuable.
• Experience leading organisations through growth, transformation and organisational change, ideally across multiple countries or legal entities.
• Broad expertise spanning organisation design, talent, performance, reward, employee relations, leadership development and People operations.
• Strong understanding of governance and risk, together with the judgement required to operate successfully within a regulated environment.
• Experience building scalable People processes and infrastructure rather than simply operating an established model.
• The ability to move comfortably between strategic Board-level discussions and the practical realities of running a global People function.
• A visible, credible leadership style and the confidence to challenge senior stakeholders constructively when required.

The organisation has grown rapidly and is continuing to mature. As such, we are interested in leaders who have helped build and professionalise a People function within a scale-up, as well as individuals from larger international organisations who understand what good looks like and can introduce appropriate structure without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.

This is a genuine MD-level global leadership opportunity, offering significant influence over the continued development of an international financial institution and its leadership, culture and organisational model.

If this sounds like you, please get in touch to arrange a confidential discussion barry.whyte@trevosepartners.com