Head of People

BLOND; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Birthday day off (paid)

Education days: two paid days off per年

Friendly office dog

Annual Christmas ski trip

Team socials and events

Job summary

BLOND in London is seeking a Head of People to lead our growing people function. You will shape scalable career pathways, manage recruitment, onboarding, employee relations and policy frameworks while partnering with leadership to preserve our inclusive, ambitious culture.

The role is based in our London studio with a hybrid working pattern (one day remote per week). You will drive wellbeing, learning, and HR operations as we scale from ~30 to 60+ heads.

Qualifications

• Minimum five years of generalist HR or people operations experience.
• Proven experience in a creative studio, design consultancy or fast-scaling agency.
• Excellent knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead the people and culture function across the studio.
• Build bespoke career development pathways and review frameworks.
• Oversee end-to-end talent acquisition and onboarding experiences.
• Forecast team capacity with the Operations Director against the pipeline.
• Manage employee relations, wellbeing and compliance initiatives.
• Maintain HR policies, contracts and the studio handbook per UK law.
• Oversee benefits, pension schemes and healthcare administration.
• Champion culture, learning programmes and team rituals.
• Manage HR software and maintain accurate employee records.

Skills

HR Generalist

People Operations

Talent Acquisition

UK Employment Law

Employee Relations

Onboarding

Policy Drafting

Stakeholder Communication

Education

CIPD Level 5

Job description

So we stay curious about culture. We ask deeper questions. We think long and hard before picking up a pencil. We chase down simple solutions to complex problems. Our big ideas survive contact with reality. We are a London-based studio of designers, strategists and engineers. We create meaningful brands, products, spaces and experiences for the world’s leading companies and most exciting startups. And we deliver them with meticulous attention to detail. Because we care as much as you do.

That’s why Red Dot has ranked us the No.1 design studio in Europe and the Americas five years running 2022–2026.

We are BLOND. We make things better.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a head of people to support our growing team.

BLOND is a studio of 30 curious minds, backed for rapid expansion. Every person here is different, so we build individual career paths for each of them. We respect their time. And we foster an environment where people love coming to work.

You will lead our people function. You will build scalable systems that support our team as we grow. You will oversee talent acquisition, retention, wellbeing and compliance. And you will partner closely with our operations director and creative director to keep our culture healthy, inclusive and ambitious.

This is a permanent, full-time position based in our London studio.

Duties

• Lead the people and culture function across the studio.
• Build, iterate and manage bespoke career development pathways and review frameworks.
• Manage end-to-end talent acquisition.
• Source candidates, coordinate interviews and design inspiring onboarding experiences.
• Partner with the Operations Director to forecast team capacity against the commercial pipeline, utilising our resource management software.
• Serve as the primary, trusted point of contact for employee relations, pastoral support and team feedback.
• Maintain and update HR policies, employment contracts and our studio handbook in line with UK employment law.
• Oversee studio benefits, compensation benchmarks, pension schemes and healthcare administration.
• Champion studio culture, wellness initiatives, learning programmes and team social rituals.
• Manage our HR software, track people metrics and maintain accurate employee records.

Skills & Attributes (Required)

• Full right to work in the UK.
• Minimum five years of generalist HR or people operations experience.
• Proven experience within a creative studio, design consultancy or fast-scaling agency environment.
• Demonstrated experience supporting a team through rapid headcount growth (e.g. scaling from 30 to 60+).
• Strong, up-to-date knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• A natural problem-solver.
• You are equally comfortable shaping people strategy and handling daily HR administration.
• High emotional intelligence, discretion and empathy.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Detail-oriented approach to contract drafting, compliance and records management.
• Low-ego, human-centric approach aligned with our studio values.
• CIPD qualified (Level 5 or equivalent practical experience).

Skills & Attributes (Beneficial)

• Experience designing structured performance review cycles and salary benchmarking frameworks.
• Direct experience recruiting industrial design, engineering and digital strategy talent.
• Experience managing international relocation, visa processing, or UK sponsorship licenses should studio needs evolve.

There’s more to life than design. We live and breathe our jobs. But we have lives outside the studio too. Because well-rested, curious minds do better work.

• Competitive salary based on experience.
• Birthday day off (paid).
• Education days: two paid days off per year for lectures, mentoring and tutoring.
• Friendly office dog.
• Annual Christmas ski trip (company performance-dependent).
• Other team socials and events.

FAQ

• The position is based in our London office. You can work from home one day per week. We do not offer remote working from abroad. You must be in our London studio at least four days a week.
• We welcome overseas applicants.