People Operations Lead

The King's Academy; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

The King’s Academy is seeking an experienced Head of People Operations to oversee the day-to-day HR services across our 15 academies, ensuring timely, accurate and consistent support across the employee lifecycle.

You will lead and develop the People Operations team, manage workloads, and embed new processes in line with Trust policies, delivering improvements in service delivery and stakeholder satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Experience leading operational HR processes.
• Experience with recruitment, onboarding and employee lifecycle.
• CIPD Level 5 or equivalent preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day delivery of HR services across the academies.
• Lead and develop the People Operations team and manage workloads.
• Build strong relationships with school leaders, managers and central colleagues.
• Implement and embed new HR processes, improving service delivery.
• Translate strategic direction into practical action and ensure timely delivery.

Skills

People leadership

Stakeholder management

Operational HR

Education

CIPD Level 5 or equivalent

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in delivering a high-quality People Operations service across our 15 academies. Working closely with the Head of People Operations, you will lead the day-to-day delivery of HR services, ensuring that school leaders, managers and colleagues receive timely, accurate and consistent support across the employee lifecycle.

You will lead and develop the People Operations team, managing workloads, supporting colleagues and ensuring that processes are delivered effectively and in line with Trust policies and procedures. You will also build strong working relationships with key stakeholders across our academies, acting as a key point of contact for operational People matters and helping schools navigate recruitment, onboarding, contractual changes and other employment processes.

Working under the direction of the Head of People Operations, you will take ownership of implementing and embedding new processes, improving service delivery and ensuring consistent ways of working across the Trust. You will be confident using your professional judgement to resolve operational issues, support colleagues and identify opportunities to improve how we work.

This role would suit someone who enjoys combining hands‑on operational delivery with team leadership and process improvement. You will need to be comfortable working autonomously, translating broad direction into practical action and taking responsibility for ensuring that plans are delivered effectively.

As our People Operations function continues to develop, you will play an important role in building a responsive, efficient and scalable service that meets the needs of our academies and supports the Trust's wider People priorities.

You will be an experienced HR professional with a strong understanding of operational HR processes and the employee lifecycle. You will bring excellent organisational skills, sound professional judgement and a practical, solutions‑focused approach to delivering a high-quality service.

You will have experience of leading or supervising colleagues, managing competing priorities and ensuring that work is completed accurately and within agreed timescales. You will be confident supporting and developing a team, allocating workloads effectively and providing guidance on more complex operational matters.

You will also have experience of reviewing, developing or implementing HR processes, with the ability to identify problems, find practical solutions and embed improvements. You will be comfortable working with HR and recruitment systems, maintaining accurate records and using data to monitor service delivery.

Strong communication and relationship‑building skills are essential. You will be able to work collaboratively with Headteachers, school leaders, managers, People Partners and central colleagues, providing clear guidance and building trust through a responsive and professional approach.

Above all, you will be someone who can work independently, take ownership and turn direction into action without needing detailed instruction. You will combine attention to detail with the confidence to make decisions, resolve issues and recognise when matters need to be escalated.

A relevant HR qualification, ideally CIPD Level 5 or equivalent experience, is expected. Experience within education, a Multi Academy Trust or the public sector would be advantageous, as would knowledge of education sector terms and conditions.

You will share our commitment to safeguarding, equality, inclusion and continuous improvement, alongside our values of Honesty, Faith and Courage.