Head of HR

Role Profile: Head of HR About Us Happy Days is one of the largest providers of nursery and pre-school care in the South/South West. We're committed to and passionate about delivering quality childcare and early years learning. We underpin our unique approach to nursery and pre-school care by constant reference to the best international research, backed up by almost 30 years in the sector. Happy Days is enjoying a period of sustained growth and will continue to expand throughout the South/South West of England. We have 21 nurseries and counting and aim to add 3-4 sites per annum for the foreseeable future. Although we are growing, we remain small enough that everyone is involved and makes a noticeable impact. We enjoy autonomy and our approach is personable, supportive, proactive and collaborative. Above everything, we care. We care about each other, we care about developing our people and we care about providing the highest quality childcare service to our customers. Happy Days is the perfect fit if you…. …. Enjoy a collaborative culture. …. Are committed to going the extra mile. …. Are passionate about delivering outstanding service. …. Explore, produce and embrace new ideas. The Role: Head of HR We are passionate about developing high quality professionals who excel in the delivery of early years childcare and the Head of HR is key in supporting this objective. The role plays a significant part in the company's growth plans and as a result we are looking for a dedicated, passionate, innovative yet highly pragmatic HR professional to take the reins, execute our current strategy and own the HR agenda for 2020 and beyond. Reporting to the Managing Director, you will deliver sector best practice and be highly motivated to use your knowledge, insight and skill to stay one step ahead of the competition and make the Happy Days proposition unique. This will involve: Ownership for implementing the HR strategy/plan, aligning it to business goals and define key initiatives which will deliver improved performance across the organisation. Collaborate with the Senior Management team to review existing HR/people practices and take responsibility for proposing and implementing improvements that enhance people, nursery and company performance. Advise, coach and support management to effectively manage performance, development and welfare in line with legislation, policy and best practice. Identify, design and deliver HR initiatives that improve people and company effectiveness. Develop a clear HR reporting framework and dashboard and seek to implement tools and systems which drive efficiency across the business and create capacity for others to add value. Provide overall direction for development and maintenance of HR policies, procedures and processes in line with changing legislation, best practice and commercial requirements. Oversee operational HR delivery including employee queries and ER support. Embed learning and development across the business defining new and innovative ways to build skill and capability to develop our team. Up-skill and develop line managers to optimise team, nursery and company performance. Support new nursery openings from a people, resource planning and HR perspective. Ownership of the on/off boarding processes including providing support on recruitment and selection strategies to managers, managing induction, probation and performance management and ensuring all exist are well managed. Design, deliver and evaluate various projects including the employee engagement survey, appraisal process, training evaluation and ad-hoc initiatives. Manage the compensation and benefits processes, enhancing employee experience and retention through commercially viable initiatives and programs. Partner with other functions including Marketing to support an internal communications framework, driving engaging employee communications around HR activity. Write and control the HR budget and report on current and future staffing costs and initiatives. Act as HR lead in current and future transformation projects. Line manage, develop and coach the HR Manager/Team. Ensure the HR operation is fit for purpose and legally compliant. You will be a member of the Executive Team and required to attend Executive meetings and present to the board from time to time. Key Attributes and Skills Level 7 CIPD Qualified Previous experience managing/leading an HR function. Experience of an Early Years environment with a good understanding of delivering HR across a multi-site operation is essential. Demonstrable experience in creating and delivering HR plans. Previous experience of operating within an M&A environment is preferred. Previous experience with or an understanding of safeguarding would be advantageous. A strategic and commercial mindset with a passion for continuous improvement and experience in leading business-wide change initiatives. A confident, driven and dynamic leader with the credibility and commercial awareness to advise and influence at a senior level. Values-led and loyal with the ability to instil confidence in others. A proactive and collaborative relationship-builder able to quickly establish and maintain positive working relationships with strong communication skills (both verbal and written). Strong analytical ability to support sound business decisions. Strong generalist HR experience across ER, recruitment and performance management. Excellent organisational and project management skills with experience managing budgets. Good report writing skills and confidence presenting at board level in a professional manner. The ability to deal sensitively with, and resolve, conflict and complaints. A self-starter, comfortable using their initiative and working autonomously. Ability to develop individuals and teams with a positive and motivational leadership style. Experience of coaching and up-skilling line managers. Professional, credible and responsive.