Executive Director of People

A rare opportunity to shape the future of a high-performing college.

We're looking for an exceptional leader to help take Kirklees College to the next step.

As the college's new Executive Director of People & Culture, you will join the Executive Team and work directly alongside the Chief Executive Officer, Governors and senior leaders to shape organisational culture, leadership excellence, workforce transformation and strategic direction across a college employing over 1000 colleagues.

If you are motivated by pace, impact and the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy, we would love to hear from you.

Why This Role?

The foundations are already strong.

The challenge is not fixing culture.

The challenge is asking:

"What next?"

How do we develop the next generation of leaders?

How do we modernise our people function?

How do we create a workforce that is future-ready?

How do we harness technology and AI to improve productivity, wellbeing and organisational performance?

How do we ensure our people strategy continues to support one of the most ambitious colleges in the sector?

As Executive Director of People & Culture, you will help answer these questions.

Your Impact

You will provide strategic leadership across:

• People & Culture
• Payroll
• Learning & Development
• Health & Safety (desirable)

Leading a team of approximately 19 colleagues, you will be responsible for creating an environment where people thrive, leaders succeed and organisational performance flourishes.

Key priorities include:

Contributing as an Executive Leader

You will be an active member of the Executive Team, contributing far beyond your own portfolio to the wider success, governance and strategic direction of the College.

Developing Leaders

You will coach and develop the College's talented wider college leadership team, helping individuals realise their full potential while creating sustainable succession pathways for the future.

Developing the performance of Employee Relations

You will provide expert guidance on employee relations matters, supporting leaders on quality through complex cases, strengthening union relationships and ensuring high standards of professional practice.

Delivering Strategic Change

From workforce planning and organisational development, you will lead significant projects that will influence the College for years to come.

Driving Innovation

We believe AI will fundamentally reshape leadership and organisational effectiveness. You will play a key role in helping leaders understand and harness emerging technologies to improve productivity, decision-making and employee experience.

Kirklees College is looking for a strategic people leader who combines technical expertise with emotional intelligence, commercial awareness and a genuine passion for developing others.

You will bring:

• Executive or senior-level People leadership experience within a large, complex organisation.
• Experience operating within unionised and regulated environments.
• Significant expertise in employee relations, organisational development and culture change.
• A successful track record of leading transformational programmes and delivering measurable results.
• The ability to influence senior stakeholders, governors and executive colleagues.
• Strong coaching and leadership development capability.
• Experience using data, digital technologies and AI-enabled tools to drive organisational performance.
• CIPD Level 7 qualification and Chartered Membership.

Most importantly, you will be someone who listens first, learns quickly and builds trust through authenticity, credibility and action.

This is an opportunity to join a College with ambition, momentum and purpose.

You will find:

· A highly engaged workforce.

• A supportive but high-performing culture.
• Strong and collaborative Executive Team colleagues.
• Meaningful opportunities to influence organisational strategy.
• Significant scope to shape the future of People & Culture.
• A leadership team committed to innovation, development and continuous improvement.

You'll join an organisation that is ambitious about its future, proud of its culture and committed to changing lives through education.

At Kirklees College, our culture is one of our greatest strengths.

Our staff engagement sits at 93%. Nearly all colleagues tell us they understand and live our values. We have built a supportive, ambitious and people-centred organisation where expectations are high, achievements are celebrated and everyone is encouraged to grow.