Head of Leadership Development, Talent and Performance

Boots UK; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail company is seeking a Head of Leadership Development, Talent and Performance to drive strategic talent initiatives. This role involves shaping leadership strategies, performance management, and embedding inclusive cultures across the organization. The ideal candidate has significant experience in senior HR roles and a proven track record in leadership development and stakeholder management. The position offers a permanent contract based in Nottingham, along with various employee benefits.

Benefits

Boots Retirement Savings Plan

Discretionary annual bonus

Generous employee discounts

Enhanced parental leave

Flexible benefits scheme

24/7 counselling support

Qualifications

• Significant experience in senior People/HR roles.
• Demonstrated success in building talent frameworks.
• Expertise in leadership development programmes.

Responsibilities

• Shape and embed a leadership and talent strategy.
• Lead on leadership capability and performance.
• Define and maintain critical roles aligned to priorities.

Skills

Leadership development

Performance management

Stakeholder management

People analytics

Inclusive culture

Job description

Overview

Contract: Permanent

Location: Nottingham Support Office

Closing date: 24th September 2025

Recruitment Partner: [e-mail]

About the role

Reporting into the Organisation Effectiveness Director, this role sits at the heart of enabling performance, strengthening capability and building future leadership for our 51,000 colleagues across retail, pharmacy and support functions. It delivers impact through clear performance frameworks and talent strategies that set colleagues and leaders up for success.

Boots is operating in a rapidly and constantly evolving world. Over the next three years we have exciting transformation plans, and ultimately the success of these will be defined by the people who channel it. This is an exciting new role where we are looking for somebody who will understand our strategy as well as the changes the retail sector is currently experiencing. The Head of Leadership Development, Talent and Performance will respond to these changes with a further thinking Talent agenda. We are looking for someone who is highly commercial, strategic and a change agent. The postholder will be ready to build a people capability and performance plan that will connect the commercial agenda and the customer to colleagues.

Key responsibilities

• Shape and embed a Boots-wide leadership and talent strategy with clear short, medium and long-term priorities aligned to commercial goals and workforce needs
• Lead on all aspects of leadership capability and performance
• Lead the Capability and Performance Boots' people strategy; one that permeates and influences the entire business and fully aligns colleagues around a customer experience that is fit for the digital age
• Define success profiles and behavioural frameworks to underpin leadership recruitment, development and succession, reflecting our values and “Leading the Boots Way.”
• Define and maintain a clear view of business-critical roles across all functions, ensuring they are aligned to strategic priorities and risk assessed
• Build future-fit workforce and succession plans across critical roles, actively assessing and reducing leadership risk
• Define and govern a business-wide performance management approach aligned to strategic priorities and role expectations
• Embed regular review cycles, using insights to continuously improve performance differentiation and the colleague experience
• Define and implement talent and succession frameworks to identify, develop and deploy high-potential talent across leadership and specialist pathways
• Partner with HRBPs and senior leaders to deliver the annual talent review and calibration cycle, using structured data and insights
• Strengthen internal talent pipelines to improve mobility, knowledge sharing and retention of critical skills

What you'll need to have

• Significant experience in senior People/HR roles, with a strong track record in leadership development, performance management and succession planning
• Demonstrated success in building and embedding talent frameworks that identify, develop, and retain high-performing leaders at all levels
• Deep expertise in designing and delivering leadership development programmes, from aspiring leaders through to Executive and Board level
• Strong background in reinventing performance management approaches to enable high performance, colleague engagement, and alignment with business strategy
• Proven ability to shape and embed inclusive, high-performance cultures, using leadership, talent and performance strategies to drive lasting organisational impact
• Highly skilled in leveraging people analytics and performance insights to shape strategy, track progress, and inform evidence-based decisions
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the credibility and gravitas to engage, influence and challenge at Executive and Board level
• Extensive experience navigating complex, fast-paced organisations and matrixed environments with competing priorities

Our benefits

• Boots Retirement Savings Plan
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Generous employee discounts
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption leave pay and gift card for anyone expecting or adopting a child
• Flexible benefits scheme including option to buy additional holiday, discounted gym membership, life assurance, activity passes and much more.
• Access to free, 24/7 counselling and support through TELUS Health, our Employee Assistance Programme.

We have a great range of benefits in addition to the above that offer flexibility to suit you - find out more at boots.jobs/rewards. Exclusions may apply, eligible roles only. Please note, any salary estimates given on third-party sites are not provided or endorsed by Boots and may not be accurate.

Why Boots

At Boots, we foster a working environment where consideration and inclusivity help everyone to be themselves and reach their full potential. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, passionate about embracing the diversity of our colleagues and providing a positive and inclusive working environment for all. As the heart of everything we do at Boots, with you, we change for the better.

Boots is a Ban the Box employer and will consider the suitability of applicants with criminal convictions on a case-by-case basis.