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Latest Opportunity

Director – People and Culture

  • Type: Permanent
  • Location: UK, Oxfordshire
  • Reference: DP&C

Some organisations are good. A select few are extraordinary. This is an opportunity to join one of the most exciting and ambitious luxury businesses in the UK at a pivotal moment – where the foundations are firmly in place and the real work of building something truly exceptional is just beginning.

This is a rare opportunity to step into a people leadership role where the foundations are solid, the leadership is aligned and the real work of culture transformation is just beginning. The organisation is performing well and is now ready to build the habits, disciplines and environment that turn a good workplace into a genuinely exceptional one.

After a period of leadership change, the team now has settled and committed direction at the top, with an operational leader who understands the value of people work and will be a genuine partner to the right candidate. This is an opportunity to shape the next chapter from a position of stability and ambition.

You will lead a people team of circa 10, spanning people partnering, organisational development, talent acquisition, communications and engagement, and payroll and benefits. You will drive a multi-year culture transformation programme, embedding the right routines, disciplines and performance frameworks at every level of the organisation, not just at leadership. Above all, you will shift the people team from a reactive, compliance-led function to a proactive, commercially minded and culture-shaping force.

You will have built or meaningfully evolved a culture in a previous organisation. You understand that culture change is a system, not a collection of interventions, and you can demonstrate the tangible difference you have made. You are commercially minded, joining the dots between people outcomes and business performance rather than operating in an HR silo. You are assertive without being aggressive. You will hold your ground with senior stakeholders when it matters, while remaining genuinely collaborative and humble. You bring energy and ambition to your work and you are invested in what an organisation is building.

You do not need to come from a specific sector, but you do need to be a proven people leader with a genuine track record of making organisations better. What matters far more than sector background is your appetite for pace, your ability to operate with ambiguity and your track record of shifting culture in a complex, multi-layered organisation. Relevant experience will come from an environment where drive and pace coexist.

You will report directly to a Group People Director who is collaborative, visionary and genuinely invested in your development, and you will benefit from an engaged and people-centred leader who understands the connection between employee experience and commercial performance.

If you are a people leader who wants more than a seat at the table, who wants to leave a genuine mark on an organisation with the ambition, culture and momentum to become something iconic – we would love to hear from you.

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VANA HR Resourcing

Date Posted: 02/04/2026

Closing date: 02/05/2026

Client testimonials
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I have worked with jo on a number of appointments into my team. Each time I have been provided with a strong list of potential candidates. Jo really understands the needs of the client and is someone I would recommend to others

Paul Thomas, Reward Director