Director of People Partnering

About the role

As our Director of People Partners you will lead the People Partner function supporting all University of Warwick’s academic departments, professional services, including executive level support.

This partnering function (comprising c20 partners) will be critical in working collaboratively with University business units, and translating their needs into local people plans.  This will be founded in your skill at establishing deep and trusted business relationships, facilitating collaborative partnerships, and working closely with the Chief People Officer and People Operations leads to drive implementation of strategies and solutions.

You will champion University of Warwick’s values and behaviours, promoting these cultural values and instilling change adoption, while also being accountable for providing support to the executive level.

About you

To succeed in this role, you will be a proven senior HR/People professional, with a proven capability in driving excellence not only within our People function but more broadly across an organisation as large and complex as ours.  You will be consistently employee-centric, with proven ability to build strong relationships, empowering them to establish respect, credibility, and strong professional relationships across University of Warwick.

Your proven senior leadership and interpersonal skills will be invaluable in your significant contribution to meeting our strategic challenges, using all of your experience and insight in influencing, negotiating and advising across all areas of our People activities within the University.  All of which will be underpinned by a data-driven approach, directly informing to aid valuable insights and evidence to drive decision making and strategic planning. Reporting directly to our Chief People Officer your input and counsel will be key in the success of the People function.

This is a tremendously exciting role within our People function and wider University.  It provides a blend of challenge, growth and professional reward that makes it ideal for an individual who is keen to combine all their hard won People skills and abilities in a truly global, ambitious and complex organisations.  We welcome applications for all sectors, and while specific Higher Education knowledge may prove worthwhile, it is not essential.

Benefits

• 30 days of paid annual leave, 4 shut-down days at Christmas, and 8 bank holidays
• A competitive pension scheme
• Staff training
• Free eye care vouchers
• Discounted private healthcare and cash plans
• Discounts at Warwick Arts Centre and Warwick Sport Membership
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme, a complete support network that offers expert advice and guidance 24/7

About the University

Ranked 69th in the world and 9th in the UK, Warwick is one of the world’s leading universities for teaching and research. With an absolute commitment to excellence and an ambition to challenge the status quo, we’ve inspired positive change, sparked innovation and created opportunity across our local community, our region, the country and beyond.

Our campus, on the border between Coventry and Warwickshire, is home to over 28,000 students and 7,000 staff. You’ll be joining a diverse, innovative and globally connected community committed to igniting real world progress.

For further information to shape your application a fuller job description can be viewed here.

How to apply

The University of Warwick has appointed SearchHigher as their recruitment partner for this campaign; please apply above by submitting a CV & Cover Letter in Word Document format, or you can also email your documents to enquiries@searchhigher.com.

Closing date: Friday 20^th March 2026

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