Head of People (Maternity Cover)

Location: Holborn, London (hybrid) 

Reporting to: CEO, working closely with the Executive Team 

Role Type: Full-time, fixed-term contract (maternity cover, approx. 12 months) 

About Us 

Avenir Collective. Building the future of beauty, personal care and lifestyle brands. 

We acquire and scale high-potential consumer brands, bringing together the capital, people and operating expertise to turn strong brands into enduring businesses. Our difference is that we are operators, actively managing our brands and providing the capabilities, infrastructure and expertise they need to scale, while preserving the product, purpose and consumer connection that make each brand special. 

We’re building a connected house of brands where great people, brands and ideas come together. If you’re excited by building businesses, solving problems and working with a collaborative, entrepreneurial team, we’d love to hear from you. 

Your role at a Glance 

As a Head of People (maternity cover) in our team, you will be leading the day-to-day people operation, owning the HR budget and guiding our small but talented People team, ensuring the business stays well supported across employee relations, reward, culture, payroll and people operations, by working in collaboration with the CEO, the Executive Team and managers across our UK, Netherlands and Australia teams.

This role is ideal for someone with strong UK employment law knowledge, international people experience and the confidence to work autonomously, who is excited to work in a fast-paced business with a talented team. Your work will directly impact every team across our growing, multi-entity house of beauty and personal care brands and contribute to shaping our success.

Location & Flexibility 

• Full-time, fixed-term contract (maternity cover) running approximately 12 months

• 40 hours per week, 9 am to 6 pm with a one-hour lunch

• This position is hybrid, with the expectation to go to the office 2 to 3 days per week

Key Responsibilities 

Leading the people function 

• Oversee the day-to-day running of the People function and manage its budget, spanning talent acquisition, HR systems, compensation, benefits, learning and development, culture, employee engagement and resource planning. 

• Own group-wide payroll and pensions, ensuring accurate and timely delivery alongside effective management of HiBob, benefits administration, HR policies and compliance across all entities. 

• Coordinate the People agenda across a multi-entity group, supporting teams in the UK, Netherlands and Australia, as well as international contractors, and ensuring People processes work effectively across different jurisdictions. 

• Lead and develop the People team, comprising a People Coordinator and Talent Partner, setting priorities, coaching team members and maintaining clear, consistent and up-to-date HR policies and practices. 

• Translate people data and business priorities into actionable recommendations, partnering with senior leaders on headcount planning, payroll costs, retention and organisational effectiveness. 

• Lead complex employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, performance and absence cases, ensuring fair, consistent outcomes and compliance with relevant employment legislation. Coordinate local legal advice where needed, including in Australia, the Netherlands and the US. 

Business partnering and support

• Advise and support the CEO, Executive Team and managers on HR matters, giving professional guidance and ensuring compliance across the organisation.

• Deliver people initiatives that support growth, organisational effectiveness and change.

Talent acquisition and resourcing

• Oversee the talent acquisition function and support our resourcing approach to attract and retain great people, advising hiring managers on selection and good hiring practice.

• Manage and support the internal Talent Partner, and support senior leadership hiring where needed.

Performance, talent and development

• Own performance development and talent management programmes.

• Support succession planning and leadership development, and build organisational capability through performance management, coaching and career development.

• Support leaders in building high-performing teams, and help deliver organisational design projects.

Culture, engagement and insight

• Nurture a culture that helps people perform against our business objectives, using data capture such as engagement surveys.

• Track key people metrics including engagement, retention, performance, diversity, hiring and compensation.

• Share people insights and recommendations with the Executive Team.

About the Ideal Candidate 

• A senior HR generalist (Head of People, People Manager or strong HR Manager) who has owned a broad people remit end to end, including budget and line-managing a small team.

• Experience operating across a multi-entity, international business, ideally UK plus EU, with APAC/Australia or global contractor exposure a strong plus.

• Strong, up-to-date UK employment law knowledge, with hands-on experience managing employee relations and performance matters.

• Confident owning payroll, pensions, benefits and the day-to-day of reward, and running clean, compliant people operations.

• Comfortable overseeing recruitment and partnering hiring managers, with experience running or guiding a talent acquisition function.

• Genuinely autonomous, comfortable taking the reins and holding the function with minimal oversight, in a fast-moving scale-up, consumer, retail or ecommerce setting.

• A credible communicator and trusted adviser who partners executives and managers, with solid organisational development and culture capability, and confidence using people data to inform decisions.

• CIPD qualified or equivalent experience, with a pragmatic, commercial and people-first approach.

Perks & Benefits 

(UK) 

• 30 days holiday + 8 UK bank holidays

• Pension contribution Scheme – 5% from you, 3% from us.

• Private Medical Insurance – Includes travel, vision & dental (Vitality)

• Work from Abroad – One month per year, anywhere in the world

• Bonus Scheme – Discretionary bonus, based on individual and company performance

• Mental Health Support – Free, confidential therapy via Spill

• Opportunity for International Travel – Our team members have been to New York, Vegas, Amsterdam… and Birmingham!

• Flexi-Fridays – Finish early one Friday per month

• Avenir Events – Quarterly meetups, celebrations & socials

• Vibrant Office – Runway East, Bloomsbury

Avenir Collective is proud to be a disability-committed employer registered in the UK. If you identify as having a disability and meet all of the criteria set out in the job description, we would like to support you through the interview stage. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment where all employees and applicants can flourish