Head of People Operations

NG Bailey Group; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 63,000 - 77,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company car / car allowance

Pension with employer contribution

Hybrid working

Job summary

NG Bailey Group, a leading engineering and services business in the UK, is seeking a senior Head of People Operations for its Engineering division. You will shape the People agenda, support leaders, and ensure outstanding lifecycle support across the organisation.

The role is centred in Leeds with a hybrid working model, and offers up to £70,000 plus car or car allowance, reflecting seniority and experience. A CIPD Level 7 qualification is preferred.

Qualifications

• Leads People Operations team and partners with senior leaders.
• Uses data and insights to drive decisions and continuous improvement.
• Strong UK employment law and ER expertise required.

Responsibilities

• Lead a high performing People Operations team.
• Act as trusted partner to senior leaders across the business.
• Oversee complex employee relations matters and people challenges.
• Drive data-informed decision making across the employee lifecycle.
• Collaborate with Reward, Talent Acquisition and Development teams.

Skills

People leadership

Stakeholder management

HR analytics

UK employment law

Change management

Coaching and development

CIPD Level 7

Education

CIPD Level 7 qualification

Chartered CIPD membership or working towards it

Job description

Full time, permanent

Salary: Up to £70,000 depending on experience plus car / allowance

Lead People. Shape Culture. Drive operational excellence

At NG Bailey, people are at the heart of everything we do. We're looking for an experienced and commercially minded Head of People Operations to lead the delivery of our People agenda across our Engineering division, ensuring colleagues and leaders receive outstanding support throughout the employee lifecycle.

Leeds – Hybrid

Full time, permanent

Salary: Up to £70,000 depending on experience plus car / allowance

Lead People. Shape Culture. Drive operational excellence

At NG Bailey, people are at the heart of everything we do. We're looking for an experienced and commercially minded Head of People Operations to lead the delivery of our People agenda across our Engineering division, ensuring colleagues and leaders receive outstanding support throughout the employee lifecycle.

This is a senior leadership role for someone who thrives on building high performing teams; influencing stakeholders, solving people challenges, and turning strategy into practical, impactful outcomes.

What You’ll Be Doing

You’ll lead a team of People professionals, partnering closely with business leaders to deliver a consistent, compliant and high-quality people service. You'll use insight and data to identify opportunities, manage risk and drive continuous improvement across the colleague experience.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Leading and developing a high performing People Operations team.
• Acting as the trusted people parter to senior leaders.
• Overseeing complex employee relations matters and people challenges.
• Use people insights and data to inform decision making.
• Driving continuous improvement across people processes and ways of working.
• Work collaboratively with specialist People teams including Reward, Talent Acquisition, and Development to deliver a seamless and consistent people service.

About you:

You’ll be an experienced People leader with a track record of delivering operational excellence in a complex organisation.

We are looking for someone who has:

• Significant experience leading People Operations, HR Services or HR Business Partnering teams.
• Strong UK employment law and employee relations expertise.
• Experience partnering with senior leaders and influencing decision making.
• A pragmatic, solutions focused approach to problem solving.
• Strong analytical skills and confidence using people data and metrics to drive decision-making.
• Experience leading, coaching and developing teams through change and growth.
• CIPD Level 7 qualification (or equivalent experience) and Chartered CIPD membership or be working towards it.

Experience within a multi-site, matrixed or fast-paced environment would be advantageous.

Why join us?

This is an opportunity to play a key role in shaping how we support our people, leaders, and business performance. You’ll have the autonomy to influence strategy, the back of a strong People function, and the opportunity to make a lasting impact across the organisation.

Benefits

We're always evolving our benefits to ensure we're attracting and retaining great people. Some of what you can expect includes:

• Company car / car allowance
• Pension with a leading provider and up to 8% employer contribution
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Personal Wellbeing and Volunteer Days
• Private Medical Insurance
• Salary sacrifice car scheme (Hybrid/Electric Vehicle)
• Free 24/7 365 Employee Assistance Program to support mental health and well-being (including counselling sessions and legal advice
• Flexible benefits to suit from Dental Insurance, Gym Memberships, Give as You Earn, Travel Insurance, Tax Free Bikes

Next Steps:

As a business, we’re on a journey to build on our culture where everyone is included, treated fairly and with respect. This starts with recruitment and how we bring people into the organisation.

We’ll do our best to outline the recruitment process to you ahead of time with plenty of notice. If you require any accommodations to participate in the application or interview process, please let us know and we will work with you to ensure your needs are met.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and awarded Gold Standard in the Armed Forces Covenant.

About Us:

We are one of the leading independent engineering and services businesses in the UK. Founded in 1921, with a turnover of £500m and 3000 employees, we are proud of our history of developing great people through our investment in training.

Working across a variety of sectors within the building and infrastructure industry, our innovative, responsible and forward-thinking approach allows us to work on fantastic ground-breaking projects, providing solutions using the latest tools and technologies.

Progression is something we value, and we will make sure that when you join us you have a clearly defined development path, supported by regular reviews, training and ongoing support to enable you to be the best you can be.