Head of People

Key responsibilities

The Head of People will partner with stakeholders to deliver the People Strategy, aligning it with the Corporate Strategy and strengthening recruitment, retention, and succession. They will support a values-led, tenant-centred culture, ensure excellent service delivery, and apply strong knowledge of employment law and best practice.

They will lead a high-performing People team, drive organisational development, and foster a psychologically safe, learning-focused culture. Enhancing feedback and performance frameworks the Head of People will also advise senior leaders, lead on equality, diversity, and inclusion, provide coaching, ensure values-aligned employee relations, deliver effective learning and development, build an analytics framework to guide workforce decisions, and manage pension and payroll contracts.

Our essentials

The ideal candidate aligns with our values and inspires others to embed them in daily work. They are confident, independent and strong at solving problems. They are comfortable with data and use insight to guide decisions. They are self-motivated, committed to Red Kite’s aims and the wider issues in social housing, and able to adapt to change.

They turn strategic goals into practical, people-focused solutions. They work well in a team and as a leader, and communicate clearly in writing and speech. They have strong interpersonal skills and can resolve differences. They produce clear, accurate reports that support improvement, and show attention to detail while also seeing the bigger picture.

Qualifications, skills and experience

The ideal candidate has senior-level experience leading high-performing HR teams in small to medium organisations, managing complex stakeholders, embedding cultural change, and delivering organisational development, transformation, and leadership programmes, with a degree and CIPD membership or significant relevant experience.

They are an effective, determined, enthusiastic, and committed professional who is trusted and respected, solution-focused, courageous yet approachable, supports others, communicates well, and genuinely cares about individuals and the success of the business.

Please note: We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high number of applications, so we advise you to submit an application as early as possible.

Location: Hybrid working - two days per week in the office in High Wycombe.

How to apply

Have a read of the job description and if you’re excited about this opportunity and would like to have an informal chat email Recruitment@redkitehousing.org.uk.  To apply take a look at our guidance notes and complete the application form and email it to Recruitment@redkitehousing.org.uk.  

35-hour week pilot

Since June 2024 we have been piloting a change to our normal full-time, 37-hour 5-day week. We are trialling a shorter 35-hour week (for the same pay as before) where staff work a full day Monday to Thursday, and finish the working week at 1pm every Friday. It’s just a pilot at this stage while we evaluate its impact on our staff, our tenants, and the service we provide, but if successful we will consider a permanent move to this way of working in 2026.