Head of Human Resources
Salary: Market rate - Displayed salary is DOE
Location: Stockport, with regular travel across the Collection, Chester, Manchester, and Wigan
We are looking for a Head of Human Resources to join our growing Collection of social care companies. We are not just one company, but a Collection of Companies, each with its own personality, united by the ambition to be best in class. With over 400 employees today and plans to double our headcount in 2026, we are creating this role for the first time. This is a senior, hands-on leadership position for a Builder-Leader who enjoys creating clarity and governance without drowning people in bureaucracy.
You will join with a largely blank sheet of paper and a clear mandate to create a Great Place to Work at scale across a diverse and expanding group of businesses. This role is about designing the future of our people strategy rather than maintaining what already exists. You will have the opportunity to shape and influence the employee experience across a Collection of companies, each with its own culture and operating environment, while ensuring consistency, fairness, and excellence across the workforce.
As Head of HR, you will define the people framework for the Collection, working closely with senior leadership to balance strategy, culture, compliance, and commercial realities. You will design, embed, and evolve a culture where values are lived every day, create the foundations, systems, and behaviours that make people want to stay, grow, and perform at their best, and lead an inclusive agenda that strengthens performance and decision-making. Coaching and challenging senior leaders to build high-performing and engaged teams will also be central to your role.
You will oversee the full HR lifecycle across the Collection, including recruitment, reward, performance management, learning and development, and employee relations. You will design modern, scalable HR processes and systems that can grow with the organisation, using people data to inform decisions, manage risk, and enhance engagement while keeping HR delivery efficient, practical, and proportionate. You will provide confident guidance around UK Employment Law, TUPE, ACAS, and employee relations, with a particular focus on healthcare-related businesses, ensuring compliance across employment law, data protection, health and safety, and HR policy governance.
We are looking for a candidate with at least 10 years of HR experience, including five or more years in a senior leadership role, ideally within the social care sector. Direct experience in homecare, residential care, supported living, or similar settings is highly desirable. You will have practical experience of HR challenges specific to social care, such as managing shift-based teams, supporting frontline leaders, handling complex employee relations cases, ensuring compliance with sector-specific regulations, and driving engagement in high-pressure care environments. CIPD accreditation at Associate or Chartered level is essential, and a degree in HR, Psychology, Business, or a related field is preferred. Strong practical expertise in UK Employment Law, TUPE, and the Equality Act is required, alongside experience supporting multi-site or multi-entity organisations.
The ideal candidate will be commercially minded, understanding that excellent HR enables growth rather than slowing it down. You will be agile and grounded, equally comfortable in boardrooms and on the frontline, and motivated by creating structure from scratch as well as improving existing systems. Authentic leadership, approachability, credibility, curiosity, and a values-led mindset are key qualities. Experience in building high-performing teams, developing people frameworks, and leading cultural change within social care organisations will set you apart.
We offer a market-leading salary, 25 days holiday plus your birthday off, private healthcare, mental health support, a Cycle to Work scheme, an electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme, and full support toward Chartered Fellow (FCIPD) status. There is a clear path toward HR Director as the Collection grows, and the opportunity to create a lasting impact on people and culture across a growing social care organisation.
This role is for someone who wants to build an HR function that people genuinely believe in, someone who is excited by scale, complexity, autonomy, and the chance to shape a Great Place to Work across a Collection of care-focused businesses. If you have the experience, sector knowledge, and leadership mindset to make a real difference, we would love to hear from you