HR Director - Essex

Commercial, dynamic, energetic, creative, curious, pragmatic, influential, inspiring, kind.... do these words describe you? If yes, then this is a fantastic opportunity to join and collaborate with like-minded HR Director superstars in the People Puzzles community.

Where?

Our East of England team is now looking to add some more team members to join us to service clients around the Cambridge area, including Chelmsford, Colchester, Braintree, Bishop's Stortford, Haverhill, Harlow, Billericay and the surrounding areas.

Who are you?

A highly successful CPO/People/HR Director that loves to help businesses unlock their potential and drive through people solutions that change lives. You might be looking for an alternative to corporate life and are excited to work with SME businesses/entrepreneurial leaders?

Yes, you are technically (HR) astute, but notably you understand business and feel completely at home building and executing a business strategy to flow through to a People strategy.

You may want more control over your working life? Perhaps you have dipped your toe into the consulting world... and now you are looking to take the plunge? You love to collaborate and you are looking to join a network of like-minded, commercial People Directors who are there to support each other and ultimately SME business owners.

You enjoy building trusting relationships across all levels and are comfortable influencing at board level. You like your 'trusted advisor' status and have excellent stakeholder management skills. You tend to always exceed expectations and wow!

You are seeking to have a more flexible work-life balance with good earnings potential. You want to control how many days you work (with the earnings potential that matches it). You seek the autonomy and freedom to achieve results but with all the marketing and operational support expected from a thriving national company.

You thrive in a fast-paced environment and enjoy discovering innovative, commercially viable solutions while engaging everyone in the process. In essence, you are a catalyst for action, leveraging your intelligence, charisma, and vibrant energy to get things done.

And what about us?

We are a team of dedicated people experts and a prestigious, award-winning leader in the People Director space across the UK. Our mission is to deliver strategic HR services and transformative people solutions that truly make a difference in the lives of flourishing SMEs. With nearly 90 board-level Portfolio People Directors collaborating with over 200 clients, our impact is significant—and we’re excited to keep expanding!

Main Responsibilities:

• Lead the delivery of HR solutions to our client businesses assigned to you; business and strategic HR planning, culture change, business transformation, change management, leadership development, organisational design, D&I, wellbeing, L&D and Talent Management
• Full accountability for managing your portfolio of clients and working in partnership with the whole team to ensure a first-class HR service is provided
• Work with the Regional Director and our marketing team to support the process for attracting and gaining new clients

Skills & Experience:

• Proven experience inputting into the strategic direction of the business & partnering with the Board & Senior Executive team
• Ideally be CIPD (L7) qualified or equivalent
• A strong “people person” with a natural ability to lead teams and nurture and build relationships
• Credible and able to “connect” with and influence SME sector business owners
• Organised, dependable and progressive - you genuinely love and seek out new ways to work and embrace technology
• Commercial - you are a business person "who does HR". You see the big picture
• Pragmatic, you work strategically but are happy to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in
• A great listener, and even better at asking great questions, you’ll wake up every day and think “how do I add value and do something special for my clients today?”

We believe in “Team”. We attract individuals who can put their energies into being part of our team and fully embrace all aspects of working as part of our local and national teams.

You Too Could Change Your Work-life Like Alison

Meet the brilliant Alison who works in our East of England team.

"I pinch myself all the time and ask myself ‘is this too good to be true?’"

Network: you will have access to an amazing community of People Directors who are always ready to support each other. In addition to this, we have carefully chosen strategic national partnerships that enhance our services and provide support to our People Directors. It's a #win-win situation!

CPD: We provide year-round CPD offerings tailored to our team's feedback and the evolving business landscape, empowering them to create innovative solutions that add significant value to our SME clients. At People Puzzles, we always embrace the ethos of continuous learning and growth. #Still Learning.

We are proud of our culture. Our four core values "win/win, always passionate, still learning and be pragmatic" provide the foundation on which the culture is built. We seek individuals who are aligned with our culture and values.

We have a creative marketing team that is constantly brainstorming ideas to boost awareness and generate new opportunities. This allows you to focus on delivering exceptional results for your clients.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced business professional or consultant with the ability to deliver professional HR services to the SME sector around the East of England.

There is some scope for client work to be remote, although most client work is onsite so interested applicants will need to be within easy commute of all the areas listed above.

If you are shortlisted you will be required to complete a behavioural assessment and a background/identity check.