Head of Talent & People - Maternity Cover

The Company

We’re Octopus Legacy: one of the fastest growing tech companies in the country, part of the UK’s most exciting and best-trusted group (you may have heard of some of our sister companies…) and we have a mission.

We’re on a path to scale, aiming to become a household name while transforming a long-established industry and helping our customers prepare for, and find support after, death.

But we can’t do it alone, and that’s why we’re assembling a team of top performers to build with us.

Ready to be part of something big?

We are looking for an experienced hands-on Head of Talent & People to join us on a 12-month maternity cover basis. This is a senior leadership role that partners directly with our Founder & CEO and acts as a trusted cultural and operational anchor across the business.

You’ll be responsible for keeping our Talent & People function running smoothly while supporting the leadership team through an exciting period of growth. That means balancing day-to-day delivery with steady guidance on the bigger picture - across recruitment, development, engagement, and culture.

We’re looking for someone seasoned but scrappy, who can bring clarity, calm and momentum, without over-engineering or reinventing. You’ll help us keep things moving fast, making smart decisions, and supporting a high-performing team in an AI-driven environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee recruitment across all functions, ensuring we hire the right people quickly and efficiently. Our move toward AI-driven hiring means speed, precision, and high performance are critical.
• Be the first point of contact for leadership and managers on all people matters. Provide clear, pragmatic guidance that gets things done.
• Support the M&A team on people integrations: team transitions, org design, communications, and early-stage culture alignment.
• Work with the CEO and leadership team to push people priorities forward - from team design to internal comms.
• Partner with Finance to drive headcount planning and workforce forecasting with functional leads, keeping hiring and resource plans realistic and on track - and adapt quickly as the goalposts shift.
• Own the employee lifecycle - onboarding, development, and exits - making sure everyone feels set up to perform at their best.
• Keep processes and policies light, efficient, and fit-for-purpose.
• Coach managers (new and experienced) to perform at a high level - practical, results-focused support, no hand-holding.
• Help maintain a high-performance culture: focus on outcomes, accountability, and keeping teams connected, energised, and aligned with our values.

Who Are You?

• An experienced Talent and People leader who has supported growing teams in startups or fast-scaling environments - you know how to navigate ambiguity and keep things running smoothly.
• You’re happy to get stuck into the day to day recruitment tasks, rolling up your sleeves to help your team when needed.
• Pragmatic, level-headed, and emotionally intelligent - you bring good judgement, calm, and clarity, even when things feel uncertain.
• Experienced advising founders and senior leaders, with the credibility to influence at all levels.
• Organised and proactive, but also adaptable - you’re resilient in the face of change, able to balance the day-to-day with longer-term priorities.

Our Mission

In 2016 Sam’s mum died suddenly in a car accident. The experience that followed was overwhelming - with mountains of paperwork, sitting on hold and navigating financial stress. All at a time when he needed the space to navigate grief.

Death is difficult enough, without everything else that comes with it. Octopus Legacy was created to make the experience of losing someone easier for those left behind - so that they can focus on what matters.

Since then we have helped over 700,000 people plan for death and find support after a loss and are now the second largest estate planner in the UK.

When people think about planning for death they think about wills, life insurance and funerals. These small but mighty acts make a huge difference to the people we love. But why stop there?

We take these cold processes and turn them into something more human. We help customers share more than just money. Encouraging them to leave voice notes, music, recipes. So they can shape a legacy that connects them with the people they love while they’re here. And after they’re gone.

Benefits:

• Octopus share incentive scheme.
• Hybrid working (London Bridge).
• Flexible holiday + extra day off for your Birthday.
• Work from anywhere in the world for up to 4 weeks per year.
• Vitality Health & Life Insurance. 
• Pension scheme.
• Enhanced parental leave.
• Free Will & LPAs + discounts on other Octopus services.
• Cycle to Work Scheme and access to the Electric Vehicle (EV) Salary Sacrifice Scheme.
• Octopus Giving: we match any charitable fundraising that you do up to £500. 
• Octopus Springboard: where we help our employees become fully-fledged entrepreneurs.
• Dog friendly office.
• Breakfast every day, snacks and wellness activities.

We know that to be truly innovative, we need to have a diverse team around us. That is why Octopus Legacy is committed to creating an inclusive environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.