Head of Partner Development

BDO UK; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

BDO UK is seeking a Head of Partner Development to lead the design, delivery and continuous improvement of our partner pipeline, leadership development and succession efforts across the firm.

You will lead an experienced team, partner with Directors and Partners, and drive strategic development initiatives that align with BDO’s growth and culture. The role emphasizes data-driven decisions, collaboration and measurable impact.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent professional qualification.
• Extensive experience leading talent, leadership development or OD in a large/complex organisation.
• Strong understanding of leadership development, talent mapping, leadership assessment and career progression frameworks.
• Experience designing leadership programmes for senior leaders, Directors or Partners.
• Strong commercial acumen with data interpretation and translating insights into solutions.
• Experience using talent data, diagnostics and evaluation methodologies.
• Experience facilitating development programmes with senior stakeholder groups.
• Accredited coaching qualification desirable.
• Psychometric instruments desirable.
• Strong project and programme management skills.
• Experience influencing senior leaders and executive stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills at senior levels.
• Experience leading organisational change and embedding new approaches.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and delivery of leadership programmes and assessment frameworks for Partners and senior leaders.
• Oversee talent mapping, succession planning and career progression initiatives.
• Collaborate with People, Culture and Purpose Leadership teams to align with firm strategy.
• Manage a skilled team and build credibility with Partners and Directors.
• Translate data and insights into practical development interventions across the firm.

Skills

Leadership development

Talent mapping

Leadership assessment

Stakeholder mgmt

Coaching

Change management

Communication

Project management

Analytical thinking

Education

Degree or equivalent professional qualification

Job description

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world.

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain’s economic engine – ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited and high growth businesses that fuel the economy - and directly advise the owners and management teams that lead them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

Our greatest asset is our people, so our HR team focus on ensuring we are all reaching our potential. They use their specialist expertise to help us attract great talent, enable our employees to succeed and inspire a unified culture of development across our firm. By playing a role in the recruitment and management of our people, they help change lives and influence the future of BDO. Join a driven and passionate team where you can be yourself, while also helping your colleagues to achieve their ambitions.

We’ll help you succeed

Leading organisations trust us because of the quality of our advice. That quality grows from a thorough understanding of their business, and that understanding comes from working closely with them and building long-lasting relationships.

You’ll be someone who is both comfortable working pro-actively and managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with senior managers, directors, and BDO’s partners to help businesses effectively. You’ll be encouraged to identify and draw attention to opportunities for enhancing our delivery and providing additional services to organisations we work with.

The Head of Partner Development plays a key leadership role within BDO's firmwide Talent and Leadership function, owning the firm’s design, delivery and continuous improvement of the Partner pipeline development and assessment proposition. Working closely with the Director of Talent and Leadership, this role is responsible for ensuring BDO has a clear, consistent and future-focused approach to developing current and future Partners, strengthening leadership capability and supporting the firm's growth ambitions.

You will be someone who is equally comfortable shaping strategic direction and leading operational delivery, leading an experienced Senior team to work proactively whilst building strong relationships with Partners, Directors and senior stakeholders across the firm.

You will lead the development and execution of programmes, frameworks and interventions that support Partner performance, leadership effectiveness, and career progression, ensuring activity is aligned to BDO's strategy, culture, people priorities and future capability requirements. You will have a digital mindset and be able to incorporate new technologies into our thinking.

The role partners closely with the People Culture and Purpose Leadership Team, business stream leaders, central learning and performance, and inclusion and belonging teams to identify current and future leadership needs and translate these into practical, evidence-based solutions.

You will lead a specialist team of experts focused on Partner and leadership development and assessment, creating a high-performing, commercially minded and collaborative environment that delivers measurable impact across the firm. You will ensure that resources in the wider Learning and Talent team are appropriately used and resources managed.

Technical Knowledge

• Degree or equivalent professional qualification.
• Significant experience leading talent, leadership development, organisational development or people development activity within a large and complex organisation, ideally within professional services, financial services or a partnership environment.
• Strong understanding of Partner and leadership development, talent mapping, leadership assessment and career progression frameworks.
• Experience designing and delivering leadership programmes for senior leaders, Directors, Partners or equivalent executive populations.
• Strong commercial acumen, with the ability to interpret data, understand business priorities and translate insight into practical solutions.
• Experience using talent and leadership data, diagnostics and evaluation methodologies to inform decision making and measure impact.
• Experience facilitating development programmes and working with senior stakeholder groups.
• Accredited coaching qualification desirable.
• Qualified in one or more psychometric instruments desirable.
• Strong project and programme management skills.
• Significant experience influencing senior leaders, Partners and Executive stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills, demonstrating the ability to influence, challenge and build credibility at the most senior levels.
• Experience leading organisational change and embedding new approaches, behaviours and ways of working.

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

We’re in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs.

Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value for the companies we work with and satisfying experiences for our colleagues, so we’ve invested in state-of-the‑art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy.

Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in you. Across the UK thousands of unique minds continue to come together to help companies we work with to achieve their ambitions

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.