Head of People

Fussy; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Salary £80-90k

33 days annual leave

Wellhub fitness & wellbeing

Share options after probation

Work From Anywhere for up to 4 weeks

Job summary

Fussy is seeking a strategic Head of People to shape and deliver our People strategy while remaining hands-on in a fast-growing consumer business. Reporting to the COO, you’ll partner with the Leadership Team to drive culture, performance and organisational design as we scale beyond 70 people.

You’ll manage a small People team, own hiring strategy and governance, and lead initiatives on performance, progression and reward.

Qualifications

• Experience leading a People function in a fast-growing organisation.
• Strong knowledge of performance management, organisation design, employee relations, reward and talent development.
• Ability to advise, influence and challenge founders, executives and senior leaders.
• Excellent judgement balancing employee needs with legal risk and commercial priorities.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of 2 (Office Manager and Talent Acquisition Manager) and act as the senior People voice for ~70 staff.
• Translate business priorities into a practical People roadmap and guide workforce planning and succession.
• Own hiring strategy, onboarding, and governance to ensure a strong candidate experience.
• Oversee performance, progression, and reward strategies; drive development and career pathways.
• Coach leaders, build manager capability, and navigate change and difficult people decisions.
• Foster an inclusive, values-led, high-performance culture and ensure compliant People processes.

Skills

People leadership

Performance management

Organisation design

Employee relations

Reward and development

Influence at executive level

Change management

Job description

About Fussy

Hey good smelling! We’re Fussy…about everything in our mission to banish single-use plastic from your bathroom. Fussy are on a mission to banish single-use plastic from your bathroom. Having experienced exceptional growth over the past four years, we are looking for an experienced and commercially minded Head of People to help us build the organisation, leadership capability and culture required for our next stage of growth.

Reporting to our COO and partnering closely with the Leadership Team, you will shape and deliver Fussy’s People strategy while remaining hands‑on in the practical realities of running a growing business.

We are looking for someone strategic, opinionated and pragmatic who can identify what the business needs, challenge constructively and then work collaboratively with the team to make it happen

What You’ll Do

As Head of People, you’ll manage a team of 2 with our Office Manager and Talent Acquisition Manager. You will be the senior people voice in a business of c.70 people (and rapidly growing!). You will be responsible for:

• People strategy and organisational planning: translate Fussy’s business priorities into a practical People roadmap and advise the leadership team on workforce planning, organisation design and succession.
• Talent and workforce planning: own our hiring strategy and workforce governance, ensuring roles are prioritised & delivered effectively and that recruitment & onboarding provide a strong experience.
• Performance, progression and reward: own and improve our approach to performance, feedback, career development, progression and reward, ensuring managers address both strong and underperformance effectively.
• Leadership and manager development: coach and challenge leaders, build manager capability and help managers navigate change, difficult conversations and complex people decisions.
• Employee experience and culture: use feedback and data to build an inclusive, values‑led and high‑performance culture where people understand what is expected of them.
• Employee relations and people operations: provide pragmatic advice on employee matters and ensure our policies, contracts, systems, payroll and People processes remain compliant and fit for growth.

Who You Are

Great comes in lots of different forms, and we’re really open to seeing candidates from a range of backgrounds. Given the nature of this role and what we’ll ask of you, we do believe that the following skills are needed to be able to deliver to a high standard:

• Experience leading a People function or working as a senior People partner in a fast‑growing organisation
• Strong knowledge of performance management, organisation design, employee relations, reward and talent development
• The confidence and credibility to advise, influence and constructively challenge founders, executives and senior leaders
• Excellent judgement, with the ability to balance employee needs, legal risk and commercial priorities
• A clear point of view, paired with a collaborative, pragmatic and low‑ego approach
• A strong bias towards action and a willingness to deliver important work a changing and ambiguous environment

Experience within a consumer or D2C business would be helpful, but it is not essential. More important is your ability to understand a fast‑moving business and build People practices that are appropriate for its size, culture and ambitions.

What we offer

• A chance to play a part in banishing single‑use plastic from the bathroom
• A salary of £80‑90,000 depending on experience
• Hybrid working with Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in our Old Street office
• 33 days annual leave including flexible bank holidays, plus your birthday off
• Our Wellhub fitness and wellbeing membership
• The ability to Work From Anywhere for up to 4 weeks per year
• Share options after probation - we grow, you grow

To help us manage the high volume of applications we receive, we use AI‑assisted screening as one part of our process — always applied thoughtfully and fairly. But rest assured, technology never has the final say: every candidate who moves forward is met with genuine human attention, care and connection, every step of the way.

Who we are

Fussy are on a mission to banish single‑use plastic from the bathroom by designing simple, effective and convenient personal care products that are backed by science not buzzwords. Our first product, a refillable deodorant is now the UK’s top rated natural deodorant and has blessed the armpits of everyone from Holly Willoughby to some very known Dragons’. We have put in place the foundations of a world‑class team of employees and advisors and this is a super exciting time to join as we are now looking to accelerate our growth into new products and territories. We as a brand have the responsibility, consumers have the power and it’s only together we can do this. Power to your pits!