Head of HR Birmingham / Andover (Hybrid) Cross Rental Services are looking for an experienced Head of HR to enable business performance through effective people strategy and operational rigour to support our rapid growth in a fast-paced engineering environment. This role will be a key member of the UK senior leadership team and will build trusted relationships with stakeholders throughout the business. This is an exciting opportunity to shape the HR function and implement change as we look to modernise and streamline our HR operations. The Role You’ll lead all aspects of HR, from organisational development to hands-on employee support, ensuring our team thrives as we scale. This role requires a pragmatic approach, strong business acumen, and the ability to communicate effectively across all levels—from depot engineers to the boardroom. Reporting to the Managing Director, this role will bring HR insight to the executive decision-making process, own the full employee lifecycle & workforce administration and, maintain compliance while aligning HR initiatives with our ambitious growth targets. This is a full-time role to join our leadership team in Birmingham OR Andover (with hybrid flexibility). About Cross Rental Services: Cross Rental Services is the UK & Ireland’s leading specialist asset rental business, delivering cutting-edge HVAC, refrigeration and catering hire solutions. Having experienced significant growth over the past 10 years, our team operates across multiple UK sites in a fast-paced, operationally complex environment. We are relentlessly focused on our customers and take pride in long-term partnerships with some of the country’s leading retailers, government bodies, facilities managers and process manufacturers. Our critical solutions enable them to achieve their own goals with peace of mind that they are supported in all their HVAC and refrigeration requirements. Guided by our core values—Respect, Accountability, Teamwork, Commitment, and Integrity—we offer a dynamic workplace where innovation and impact thrive. What You’ll Do: Act as a trusted business partner to senior leaders & depot teams, providing guidance on people issues and driving to resolve ER cases. Manage employee relations, performance reviews, and compliance with employment laws to foster a positive, inclusive culture. Develop practical, cost-effective people solutions to both strategic and day-to-day business challenges. Modernise and streamline HR operations, with a strong focus on employee experience and self-service capability – from paper based to digital workflow and automation. Lead targeted and measurable initiatives to support business growth, efficiency, and resilience—e.g., restructuring, onboarding re-design, leadership development. What We’re Looking For: Proven experience as a Head of HR or senior HR Business Partner in a fast-growing SME, ideally in engineering, manufacturing, or similar sectors. Understands modern HR practices and carries a vision for what ‘good’ looks like. Experience of HRIS development and/or implementation & managing change Practical, sleeves-rolled-up approach—gets things done, energetic, present, enjoys the hustle Commercially astute, with resilience and drive. Relationship based - builds rapport and trust through confidence and an open communication style. Desirable CIPD qualification or equivalent. Experience in PE-backed environments with a track record of scaling HR functions. What we offer: Competitive salary, company pension, private medical insurance, life assurance. 25 days’ holiday bank holidays. Opportunity to implement change, modernise a HR function and work as part of our senior leadership team. Continued learning & development supporting your career progression. Our Mission: We are customer centric. That means we provide excellent and agile service, which is right first time, every time. We are trusted partners. That means our customers trust us to work with them to solve complex engineering problems with precision. We are innovators. That means we use our expertise to grow our business, constantly looking for opportunity to innovate and improve. We are one team. We aim to grow talent by fostering pride and passion in the business, developing our people through education and having fun. Click “Apply” or send your CV to [email protected]