Head, HR

The Head of Human Resources provides strategic leadership for the DPH's people agenda, ensuring workforce capability, culture and organisational effectiveness support the hospice's mission, service priorities and long-term sustainability.

As a member of the Executive Team, the role partners with the CEO and senior leaders on workforce strategy, organisational planning, talent, culture, total rewards, employee experience, transformation and HR governance. The role also provides strategic advice to the Board / Governing Council on workforce and people matters.

Responsibilities

1. Workforce strategy and organisational planning

• Lead strategic workforce planning and workforce optimisation in partnership with the CEO, senior leaders and Finance.
• Align workforce capability, productivity and costs with organisational priorities and service needs.
• Provide workforce insights and recommendations to support organisation-wide decision making.

2. Executive leadership and governance

• Contribute to Executive Team strategy, governance and enterprise effectiveness.
• Advise the CEO, senior leaders and Board / Governing Council on people strategy, workforce risks, culture and leadership succession.
• Ensure sound HR governance, employment practices and compliance with legislation and regulatory requirements.

3. Talent and organisational capability

• Lead an integrated talent strategy covering talent acquisition, succession planning, leadership development, learning and retention.
• Strengthen leadership pipelines, career pathways, competency frameworks and organisational capability.
• Drive a culture of performance, continuous learning and accountability.

4. Culture, employee experience and change

• Shape a culture aligned with the hospice's values of compassion, dignity and excellence.
• Lead employee engagement, wellbeing and workforce experience initiatives.
• Provide strategic leadership for organisation change management, restructuring, workforce redesign and transformation.

5. Total rewards, analytics and HR transformation

• Lead total rewards, job evaluation and remuneration frameworks, balancing market competitiveness, internal equity and financial sustainability.
• Develop workforce analytics and executive dashboards to support evidence-based decision making.
• Drive HR digital transformation, process improvement and appropriate use of technology and AI to enhance HR effectiveness.

6. Employee relations and HR leadership

• Provide strategic oversight of employee relations and workforce risks.
• Lead the HR function and build a high performing HR team across HR Business Partnering, Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, Compensation, HR Operations and Organisational Development.
• Ensure HR delivers a consistent, effective and employee focused service.

Job requirements

• Degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology, Organisational Development or a related discipline.

• Professional HR qualification or relevant postgraduate qualification would be an advantage.

• 12 to 15 years of progressive HR experience, with at least 5 years in a senior HR leadership role.

• Proven experience leading the HR function or significant HR portfolios in a medium to large organisation.

• Strong track record in strategic workforce planning, organisational development, talent management, employee relations and total rewards.

• Experience partnering with CEOs, Executive Teams and senior stakeholders on organisation wide people matters.

• Experience leading organisational change, transformation and HR digitalisation.

• Professional HR qualifications, or relevant degrees and disciplines that would add value to this role. Healthcare, social service, community care or nonprofit experience would be an advantage.