Head of Leadership and Colleague Experience

Lincolnshire Co-op; Lincoln; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

34 days annual leave

Private medical insurance

Employer pension contribution

Colleague discount

Annual discretionary bonus

Wellbeing support

Job summary

Lincolnshire Co-op is seeking a Head of Leadership and Colleague Experience to shape leadership capability, talent strategies and colleague engagement across the Society. You will translate insights into actions that improve performance and culture.

You'll lead development pathways, build internal talent pipelines and partner with senior leaders to drive organisational capability. This senior role requires strategic thinking and strong stakeholder management.

Qualifications

• Proven track record turning people strategies into practical, measurable outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Shape the Society's leadership, talent and performance strategy to support future business priorities.
• Design leadership development pathways that build capability at every level of the organisation.
• Create a colleague experience and engagement strategy to strengthen attraction, retention and belonging.
• Use engagement data, talent insights and feedback to drive measurable improvements.
• Embed inclusion into leadership, talent and colleague lifecycle activity for equitable experiences.
• Develop practical tools and frameworks enabling managers to lead performance, development and career conversations.
• Build strong talent pipelines and succession plans to support long-term success.
• Partner with senior leaders to influence thinking and strengthen organisational capability.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team delivering strategic impact and operational support.

Job description

About the role:

What if your next role didn't just support people development, but shaped the future leadership and capability of an entire organisation?

At Lincolnshire Co-op, we're building something bigger than jobs. We're developing great leaders, creating meaningful careers and ensuring our colleagues have the skills, support and opportunities they need to thrive.

That's where you come in.

Ready to shape the experience, capability and future potential of almost 3,000 colleagues?

As our Head of Leadership and Colleague Experience, you'll lead the Society's approach to leadership development, talent management, performance, learning and colleague engagement, ensuring we have the capability, culture and leadership needed to deliver our ambitions.

You'll create practical frameworks, development pathways and colleague experience strategies that strengthen leadership capability, build internal talent pipelines and help colleagues perform at their best. Using insight, data and feedback, you'll turn strategy into meaningful action that improves engagement, inclusion and organisational performance.

In this role, you will:

• Shape the Society's leadership, talent and performance strategy to support future business priorities.
• Design leadership development pathways that build capability at every level of the organisation.
• Create a compelling colleague experience and engagement strategy that strengthens attraction, retention and belonging.
• Use colleague feedback, engagement data and talent insights to drive measurable improvements.
• Embed inclusion into leadership, talent and colleague lifecycle activity, ensuring equitable experiences for all colleagues.
• Develop practical tools and frameworks that enable managers to lead effective performance, development and career conversations.
• Build strong talent pipelines and succession plans to support long-term organisational success.
• Partner with senior leaders to influence thinking, challenge constructively and strengthen organisational capability.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team that delivers both strategic impact and outstanding operational support.

You won't be doing this in isolation. You'll work closely with our Executive Team, People colleagues and leaders across the Society to create an environment where people can grow, perform and build fulfilling careers.

If you're passionate about leadership, talent, learning and creating exceptional colleague experiences, we'd love to hear from you.

Want to know more? You can download and review the job description which is available on this page.

INDHP

About You

You may already be operating in a Head of role, or you could be ready to take the next step into a broader strategic leadership position.

Either way, you'll have a track record of turning people strategies into practical, measurable outcomes that improve capability, engagement and performance across an organisation.

You'll probably recognise yourself in this if:

• You've led leadership, learning, talent or colleague experience initiatives within a complex, multi-site organisation.
• You can balance strategic thinking with operational delivery, bringing ideas to life and ensuring they create lasting impact.
• You're an experienced senior stakeholder manager, able to influence, challenge and coach leaders at all levels.
• You use data, insight and colleague feedback to shape decisions and drive continuous improvement.
• You're passionate about creating inclusive, high-performing cultures where colleagues can thrive and reach their potential.
• You've designed and implemented leadership development programmes, talent frameworks or succession planning approaches.
• You have experience driving colleague engagement and translating insight into meaningful organisational change.
• You're comfortable facilitating leadership conversations in a workshop environment and presenting strategic recommendations in the boardroom.
• You're motivated by helping organisations build the leadership capability and culture needed to achieve their ambitions.

Professional qualifications such as CIPD membership, coaching qualifications or psychometric accreditation would be advantageous. However, we're equally interested in hearing from candidates who can demonstrate significant relevant experience and impact.

Why this role matters:

This role sits at the heart of our Purpose Beyond Profit 2030 strategy.

As Head of Leadership and Colleague Experience, you'll help create the conditions for our colleagues, leaders and teams to perform at their best, ensuring we have the capability and culture needed to deliver for our members and communities.

You'll shape:

• How we develop leaders at every level of the Society.
• How we identify, nurture and retain future talent.
• How colleagues learn, grow and build fulfilling careers.
• How we create an engaging, inclusive and high-performing workplace.
• How people strategies contribute to the long-term success of the Society.

Ultimately, you'll play a key role in delivering our purpose: bringing together ideas, energy and resources to make life better in our communities.

What you’ll get in return

Alongside the opportunity to make a lasting impact across our organisation, you'll receive:

• 34 days annual leave, rising to 39 days with service (including bank holidays).
• Private medical insurance, underwritten by BUPA.
• A pension scheme with up to 12% employer contribution.
• Colleague discount across our family of businesses.
• Annual discretionary bonus linked to the achievement of objectives.
• Wellbeing support and opportunities to support local communities.

We're also proud to be an Investors in People Platinum employer, reflecting our long‑term commitment to developing our colleagues, building capability and creating an environment where people can thrive.

A final thought...

You’ve probably seen roles like this before.

But how many give you the space to truly shape the colleague experience across an entire organisation?

If you’re curious about what that could look like here... we’d love to talk.

About Us

From a single store in 1861 we have grown to be one of the most successful co-operatives in the UK. We’re proud to be able to offer a wide range of services from across our family of businesses. From Food Stores and Pharmacies to Post Offices and Support Services, we’re a growing society made up of over 220 outlets and nearly 3,000 colleagues.

We're owned by our members, the people of Lincolnshire and surrounding counties, and have been for more than 160 years! Communities are at the heart of everything we do and motivates us to deliver more than great customer service. We support them by sharing dividend with our members, investing in new and improved services, raising money for charity through our Community Champion scheme, supporting local schools and so much more!

We work together as a Society and are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is barrier free and as inclusive as possible for everyone. If you need any adjustments, would like us to do anything differently during the interview or would like to get in touch with us about anything else, please contact our Recruitment team on [phone], or alternatively you can email [e-mail].

We may choose to close our vacancies in the event that we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we encourage all candidates to apply as soon as possible.