People Lead, EMEA - 12 Month FTC

As our People Lead for EMEA, you'll lead our regional people partnering team from London and act as the strategic and operational anchor for the people agenda across the region. You'll coach and develop a team of four, partner with our most senior leaders across EMEA, and set the standard for how partnering is delivered across every part of the employee lifecycle. This role reports to our Global Head of People Partnering (based in Australia) and works closely with our VP of People and Talent in the UK. It's a 12-month fixed-term contract, based in London with 3 days a week in our Old Street office.

Responsibilities

Lead and grow the team: coach and develop four direct reports across People Adviser and People Partner levels, setting clear objectives, allocating portfolios so the right support reaches the right leaders, and building the team's confidence in stakeholder management, casework and commercial judgement; Partner with senior leaders: act as the primary people partner to department and function heads across the region, while your team partners with their managers day to day; Deliver the EMEA partnering strategy: aligned with our global model, decide where the team focuses, how support is prioritised, and what great partnering looks like across the region; Own complex employee relations: be the escalation point for the most sensitive and high-risk cases across the team's portfolios, including matters spanning multiple EMEA jurisdictions, and hold overall accountability for HR compliance and employment law risk; Design and govern people programmes: own the design, calendar and governance of performance cycles, remuneration reviews, engagement initiatives and audits, with your team leading delivery within their portfolios; Turn insight into action: consolidate people data and case patterns into a business-wide narrative that shapes decisions on workforce planning, performance, reward and policy, and prioritise the improvement roadmap for our people systems and processes.

Requirements

Deep people partnering and HR advisory experience gained in a high-performance environment such as tech, a high-growth scale-up, or consulting; Experience managing and developing direct reports, ideally within a partnering or advisory team, with a genuine investment in growing the capability and confidence of others; Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and HR compliance, with the confidence to navigate employee relations across multiple jurisdictions, and a track record of guiding senior stakeholders through complex, sensitive matters; Confident using people data to identify trends, tell a clear story and shape recommendations; Strong programme and project management skills across the employee lifecycle, including performance cycles, remuneration reviews, audits and engagement programmes; Comfortable flexing between hands-on casework, team leadership and business-level strategy, with a calm, credible presence when things get complex or sensitive.

Nice to have

Experience with German, South African or other international employment frameworks; Experience leading a people team through rapid growth or organisational change.

Benefits

Annual development budget plus 3 days of professional development leave; Hybrid setup with 3 days a week in Old Street office; Private health insurance through Vitality, or opt for a monthly wellness allowance; 25 days of holiday; Enhanced parental leave; Work from anywhere 3 weeks out of the year; Vibrant office culture with regular socials, clubs, after-school sport and seasonal events; High ownership, continuous feedback and dedicated development support