Strategic People Partner — Leadership, Talent & Change

RIVER ISLAND; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Staff discount 50%

Retail Trust benefits

Onsite gym

Onsite restaurant & cafe

Flexible working

Give as you earn scheme

Training and qualifications

Private pension

Healthcare option

Job summary

River Island is seeking a People Partner to partner with leaders across the business, delivering proactive, commercially focused people support that drives performance and employee experience.

You will act as a trusted advisor to leaders, shaping people priorities through data-led interventions, coaching, organisational change and talent development, while ensuring an inclusive and high-performing culture at River Island's West London head office.

Qualifications

• Strong commercial acumen aligned to business performance.
• Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building.
• Coaching and influencing leaders.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Diagnostic and problem-solving capability.
• Balance operational delivery with strategic thinking.
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills.
• Thrives in ambiguity and fast-paced environments.
• Analytical capability with attention to detail.
• Collaborative and solutions-focused approach.
• Resilient and calm under pressure.
• Passion for employee experience, inclusion, and leadership development.
• Experience in employee relations, organisational change, performance management, talent and engagement.
• Experience coaching and influencing leaders.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Partnering & Stakeholder Support: Build trusted relationships and provide commercially focused people partnering aligned to business priorities.
• Support leaders to drive performance, engagement, capability and team effectiveness.
• Leadership Coaching & Capability: Coach leaders to build high-performing and inclusive teams.
• Support a consistent and performance-led leadership culture across business areas.
• Talent & Succession Planning: Support talent identification, succession planning and development across allocated business areas.
• Contribute to building sustainable leadership and talent pipelines.
• Organisational Change & People Initiatives: Support delivery of organisational change initiatives and people priorities.
• Ensure change activity is delivered consistently with employee support and engagement.
• People Insights & Data: Use people data and insights to identify risks, trends and opportunities.
• Support evidence-based people interventions and decision making.
• Employee Relations & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with Employee Relations and Centres of Expertise to deliver joined-up people solutions.
• Contribute to People Team initiatives while promoting inclusion, wellbeing and positive employee experience.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Stakeholder management

Coaching & influencing

Communication skills

Analytical thinking

Organisational change

People data analysis

Leadership development

Resilience under pressure

Employee experience

Inclusion

Leadership coaching

Education

CIPD Level 5

Job description

River Island is seeking a People Partner to partner with leaders across the business, delivering proactive, commercially focused people support that drives performance and employee experience.

You will act as a trusted advisor to leaders, shaping people priorities through data-led interventions, coaching, organisational change and talent development, while ensuring an inclusive and high-performing culture at River Island's West London head office.