Head of People and Culture

We’re an award-winning charity running local learning centres in the heart of the communities where the young people we support live. Our centres provide a high-impact education programme which includes practical learning support, pastoral care, and motivational and confidence-building activities for young people aged 7-18. Our aim is to enable students from the least advantaged neighbourhoods to realise their ambitions and achieve their wonderful potential. 

As the UK’s leading university access organisation, our staff team is helping more than 50,000 young people each year at its 43 learning centres and extension projects across England and Scotland, and we plan to scale-up our provision to 50 centres over the coming years. 

Our talented staff are at the heart of the high-quality and impactful service that we provide to our students and you will be playing the leading role in supporting and developing our staff team of 260 employees. 

We are looking for an experienced HR professional to become our Head of People & Culture, to lead our HR function, to act as the charity’s organisational lead on its culture, and to sit on the charity’s Senior Leadership Team. You will also act as SLT lead for Diversity and Inclusion. 

The role at a glance

Contract  - Permanent. This role can be either full-time or part-time (0.8 FTE) - responsibilities will be adjusted proportionally for part-time candidates. 

Start date - As soon as possible, to be agreed with the candidate 

Working hours - 

09:00 to 17:30, Monday to Friday. However, we operate core working hours in Head Office so you can choose to start early and finish early (e.g. 8:00 to 16.30), or start later and finish later (e.g. 9.30 to 18:00). 

We are a delivery organisation providing frontline educational services for young people. Our Head Office team is based on the site of our North Kensington centre in West London. We are an organisation with team members at different stages of their career, including many in their first roles: we are committed to nurturing talent and providing a developmental culture for all. Our Head Office team works in-person 4 days per week (or 3 days for a 0.8 FTE staff member). 

The team 

You will be leading our current talented HR team of 6, supported by our SLT and SMT. You will work directly with our Chief Operating Officer (who will be your line manager) and you will line manage the Senior HR Manager, the HR Policy and Inclusion Manager, and the Senior Talent and Learning Manager. 

Salary 

£60,000 (inclusive of London contribution), pro rata for part-time candidates 

Location 

IntoUniversity Head Office, 95 Sirdar Road, London W11 4EQ 

Annual leave 

36 days (33 days leave inc. bank & public holidays + 3 closure days, two in December and one in July) + up to 5 days additional length of service entitlement (one day per year of service, up to 5) 

Staff benefits 

• Employer pension contributions of 6% (and up to 8% after two years)

• Year round ‘early finish’ Fridays at 4.30pm

• Summer working hours (finish at 1pm on Fridays for six weeks in the summer)

• Employee Assistance Programme including access to medical and legal support

• Life Assurance scheme with AIG including SmartHealth service with access to 24/7 online GP appointments

• Interest-free new starter loans of up to £1,000

• Cycle to Work Scheme and Travelcard Loan Scheme

• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay and sick pay allowances

• Staff in FOCUS – rewards, competitions and prizes

How to apply 

For details on how to apply, please visit our website for further information.

To make an application, please email the following to us by 10am on Friday 20th September.

• Your CV 

• A supporting statement that sets out why you think this opportunity is the right move for you and, with reference to the criteria set out on the previous slides, how your, talents, skills, experience and ethos make you the ideal candidate for this role. 

If you have questions about the role and would find it helpful to have an informal conversation with a member of our Senior Management Team in advance of your application, we’d be happy to arrange this - please contact us.

The selection process 

We will invite shortlisted candidates to attend a first-stage interview, when you’ll meet members of our senior team and also some members of the HR team. 

Successful candidates will then be invited to a second stage, including meeting other members of the team. 

This is a two-way process and there will be plenty of opportunity to find out more about the mission of the charity and our work, about the day-to-day role, about the teams you will be working with, and to explore how we are a cultural and professional fit for you at this stage in your career,