Head of Organisational Development and Culture

Location: Uxbridge/Harrow/Richmond Colleges

Interview Date: To be confirmed

HRUC is one of the largest further education colleges in England and one of London’s best-performing college groups. Across five campuses, we support more than 16,000 learners through high-quality courses, apprenticeships and programmes that enable them to achieve their ambitions and build successful futures.

This newly created role will be central to delivering our 2030 ambition to be the college of choice to work and learn and to achieve external Great Place to Work recognition. We are seeking a Head of Organisational Development and Culture to provide expert strategic leadership for people capability, organisational culture and employee experience across HRUC.

Reporting to the Assistant Director – Talent and Reward and working closely with the Chief People Officer, the role spans three connected priorities: culture transformation; learning and workforce capability, including the 2030 Curriculum Workforce Strategy and a scalable leadership development framework; and employee experience and engagement, driving measurable improvements in performance, attendance and retention.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the development of the 2030 Curriculum Workforce Strategy
• Conducting workforce skills audits and developing a structured continuing professional development (CPD) framework, including digital and blended learning pathways
• Scoping and designing a scalable Leadership Development Programme
• Driving a culture transformation programme that supports HRUC’s ambition to be the college of choice to work and learn and to achieve external Great Place to Work recognition, in collaboration with senior colleagues
• Working with the Chief People Officer to implement wellbeing initiatives that improve attendance and engagement
• Providing leadership and guidance to the Learning and Organisational Development Manager and the Employee Experience Manager, and their teams

 We are looking for a strategic, credible and delivery-focused leader who can demonstrate:

• Significant senior-level experience in learning and organisational development, culture change and/or employee experience, with evidence of translating strategy into deliverable programmes
• A strong track record of designing, procuring and delivering leadership development and workforce capability programmes for senior cohorts, including blended and digital learning approaches
• Experience of leading culture-change and behavioural-development programmes in a complex organisation, including influencing senior leaders and staff representatives
• Experience of designing and leading an employee engagement approach, including survey delivery, insight reporting, action planning and measuring the impact of interventions
• Experience of leading and managing people and delivering complex programmes at pace, including Board/EMT-ready papers, business cases and options analysis

You will be joining a supportive and inclusive organisation, with many opportunities for professional development and growth.   We offer a range of benefits for staff including generous holiday allowance (37 days + bank holidays and additional college closure period), pension scheme, wellness platform, staff discounts, employee assistance programme and free car parking on all sites.

HRUC operates across campuses in Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge. The postholder will be required to work across all College campuses and to travel to partner organisations, providers and external stakeholders as required (base as per contract of offer). Hybrid working can be considered by agreement; however, the majority of working time is expected to be on College sites.

HRUC is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults, and we expect all staff to share this commitment. The successful applicant will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and other necessary pre-employment checks.

Notice for Recruitment Agencies: 

HRUC operates with a managed service provider (MSP) for recruitment services. We do not accept unsolicited emails, CVs, or contact from recruitment agencies. Any CVs or information sent to HRUC outside of this process will not be considered or acted upon, regardless of the terms and conditions stated by the agency. 

The closing date may be brought forward if we receive a sufficient field of applications. We therefore encourage early applications.

Further details:   Job Description    

Equal Opportunities

HRUC is an equal opportunities employer. We encourage applications from all people, irrespective of disability, race, gender, age, sexual orientation, transsexual or gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership, religion/faith or pregnancy and maternity leave.

Disclosure and Barring Service checks 

HRUC (Harrow, Richmond & Uxbridge Colleges) is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults, and we expect all staff to share this commitment. To ensure that we meet our safeguarding commitments we will carry out all necessary pre-employment checks, including undertaking an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring check for all successful candidates.  

Where references are taken up by the College, it is our policy not to disclose references to candidates.

Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders

Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge College (HRUC) is committed to the fair treatment of all applicants, employees, learners, and volunteers, including those with criminal records. We actively promote equality of opportunity and welcome applications from a wide range of candidates, including ex-offenders. Our approach is in line with all relevant and current safeguarding and equality legislation.

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