People & Culture Director

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Summary

Department/Team: Business Contract: Full-Time - Permanent - to start March 2026 (or sooner) Location: The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB Hours: 40 hours per week from 10am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, although additional hours may be necessary in order to fulfil the requirements of the post. Direct reports: People Partner and People Coordinator

More Details

Role Summary

The People Director will lead on shaping the strategic People Plan and delivering the people aspects of The Old Vic's strategic objectives and mission. They will play an integral role in ensuring we have a culture that supports and inspires all who work with us and engage with us. They will be accountable for ensuring a smooth employee lifecycle, attracting diverse talent, engaging and growing our teams to ultimately deliver great theatre. The role will lead on ensuring our systems and structures are set up to support leadership and management to empower their teams and run efficiently.

The Team

The People Director will line manage the People team and will work closely with all departments to effectively partner the business and support the People agenda in the business plan. On a day to day basis, they will work closely with the Senior Management Team, Payroll Manager, wider Business team and collaborate with all departments.

Areas of responsibility

Strategy and People Plan Execution

• With input from the COO & Deputy Executive Director and Executive Director, lead on the development of the strategic People Plan, which supports the Business Plan, identify projects and deliverables and establish objectives to track and report against.
• Ensure the People function can combine medium-long term strategic development, alongside short-term operational deliverables.
• Ensure the People Plan and initiatives are implemented successfully across the business and partner with managers and teams to ensure The Old Vic is a healthy, safe, accessible, inclusive and happy environment to work in.
• Lead in the implementation of People-related elements of The Old Vic's Belonging & Inclusion Plan (BISP). Work with key stakeholders to ensure that all provisions and practices across the organisation are compliant with this policy, and that managers understand its principles in relation to recruitment and People management.
• Contribute at a strategic level in the budgeting of staff resources through annual reviews and regular salary benchmarking across the sector.
• Maintain external contacts and professional networks to enable a continuous assessment of The Old Vic's approach to its staff, current practice and legal requirements; benchmark our services and benefits when appropriate; act as an ambassador and promote the brand and reputation of the organisation.

Culture

• Oversee the roll-out of annual Staff engagement survey 'Have Your Say', identifying and responding to any specific employee lifecycle improvements based on trends and feedback mechanisms.
• Chair our Employee Voice Council meetings, collaborating with staff representatives to find ways to increase staff engagement and involvement across the organisation as appropriate.
• To champion and support the Guardians Programme from a People perspective - i.e. keeping the Resource Pack up to date and delivering HR training on Policies and Procedures to new and existing Guardians.

Governance

• Ensure consistent governance across all policies and procedures in line with relevant legislation and GDPR.
• Ensure that appropriate policies and practices are in place.
• Uphold The Old Vic's values and culture.
• Review and maintain all People policies, ensuring they are legally compliant, up to date and accessible to all staff.

Business Partnering

• To provide strong business partnering, coaching, advising, supporting, mentoring and guiding on employee welfare, employee relations, change and team restructuring projects.
• Provide pragmatic advice and guidance on People issues to Directors, Heads of Department and Managers in order to maximise opportunity and minimise risk to the business.
• Lead on the continuous improvement of systems, policies and practices, working with internal stakeholders to review current practice and implement changes and solutions that meet business requirements, promote best practice and comply with legislation.
• Keep abreast of industry and legislative changes and ensure that the impact of upcoming changes is anticipated and that we are meeting any obligations we may have to consult with staff on key changes.

Employee Relations

• Oversee support for managers with ER issues, including disciplinary, grievance, capability, sickness absence etc, including advising on process and legal implications.
• Guide and coach managers to resolve matters efficiently and effectively

Recruitment and staffing

• Work with senior staff on the end-to-end recruitment process and interview senior hires when necessary.
• Oversee the People Team in the efficient planning and delivery of recruitment processes for all other relevant roles through to and including offer stages.
• Establish relationships with preferred recruitment agencies/advertisers and negotiate appropriate SLAs and competitive rates in line with budget.
• Make recommendations on advertising and hiring solutions which add value and improve inclusivity.
• Together with the Marketing and Commercial team, develop The Old Vic's employer brand and Culture on social media, at events and in person.
• Deliver Old Vic Welcome Days on a quarterly basis, alongside managing and reviewing the organisational induction process and oversee the People Team in carrying it out for all new joiners.
• Oversee the People team conducting exit interviews for all permanent staff and provide relevant feedback and recommendations to SMG.
• Continually evaluate the recruitment and onboarding processes to ensure that they are as inclusive as possible.

Remuneration & Budgeting

• Manage the annual HR budget, providing financial updates for (re)forecasts as required
• Gather and analyse internal and external market-relevant benchmarking data on salaries and benefits and provide recommendations to support the recruitment and retention of high quality staff on an ongoing basis
• Participate in the review of salaries for existing and new roles, and ensure changes are appropriately agreed and implemented.
• Overseeing the communications of our Pension schemes and liaising with Crystallife, our Pensions administrator
• Prepare and contribute to People-related materials ahead of Remuneration Committee or any other Board meetings as requested.
• Manage company wide inflationary increase process (for both Old Vic staff and comms for union rate staff).
• Maintain headcount budgeting, forecast and actuals process and reporting.
• Keep abreast of union-based and London Living Wage increases and ensure that all relevant staff and relevant payroll and pension providers are kept informed of these and that this is factored into budget processes.
• Keep abreast of statutory pension contribution increases and ensure all relevant staff are informed for budget purposes. Communicate these changes to all staff as necessary.
• Review and approve monthly payroll.

Talent Development

• Ensure the delivery of a successful annual appraisal process (CDDs), including providing training and advice on the process and timelines to managers and employees as needed.
• Oversee the annual Training Calendar and ensure the People team appropriately supports departments to deliver internal and external training, as well as evaluate its effectiveness.
• Oversee the annual training budget.
• Co-ordinate and evaluate organisational training and learning initiatives (e.g. Lunch and Learns, Mentoring as well as individual, team and All Staff training) and oversee the People Coordinator on all training logistics and administration.
• Review, make recommendations and collaborate with Education & Community on improving the opportunities The Old Vic offers under their employability schemes (including Apprenticeships, Work Experience and Work Placements), ensuring good practice is followed consistently across the organisation and that relevant legislation, including safeguarding, is adhered to at all times.
• Manage training opportunities and partnerships with corporate and arts industry partners, to build a learning culture across the organisation.

Systems & Data

• Act as the key account manager for IRIS Cascade (HRIS) and Team Tailor (ATS).
• Oversee the People Partner in account managing Staff Savvy, our Time & Attendance system.
• Provide regular key HR metrics to the Board and Senior Team in relation to recruitment, workforce, absence, diversity and other such data.
• Continuously look to improve the functionality and effectiveness of our systems, including APIs.
• Provide 6 monthly BISP data including diversity of applicants, current staff and leavers vs our BISP targets.
• Conduct annual data cleanses of our systems to ensure accurate data.

Wellbeing

• Leading on Mental Health and Wellbeing initiatives to build a safe and supportive working environment.
• Execute social and team-building initiatives in collaboration with the SMG and Events team, where budget allows.
• Co-Chair the Mental Health Champions group, sharing responsibility with the People Partner.

Line Management

• Oversee the People Team's transactional operation such as People documentation, payroll, employee data and projects.
• Motivate, manage and support the People Team in carrying out all people-related operations and administration.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and the Theatre's management may, at any time, allocate other tasks which are of a similar nature or level.

Person Specification

Comfortable working in a dynamic and thriving environment, the People Director will be resourceful, responsive and able to collaborate and communicate with stakeholders across teams and levels, with many competing demands.

Essential

• Level 7 CIPD Qualified or qualified by experience/practice.
• Demonstrable experience of establishing credibility and influencing senior leaders, building strong commercial relationships and delivering projects against a People Strategy.
• Experience managing a team and developing strengths.
• Experience of managing complex employee relations, change and restructuring and managing these to positive outcomes.
• Experience leading change / transformation programmes
• Excellent knowledge of HR systems and experience of driving improvements
• Strong commercial acumen and pragmatic, common sense approach
• Numerate and able to manage financial and employee data to support managers in resource planning and preparing reports to the Board
• Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills and an ability to create clear and concise communications
• Experience of working in a collaborative and solution-focused manner to achieve win-win outcomes; ability to effectively plan ahead to anticipate problems
• Resilient and able to work to deadlines and adapt to changing conditions
• Demonstrable integrity and confidentiality when dealing with sensitive matters
• Knowledgeable about all aspects of employment law and people best practice in the UK
• Excellent attention to detail.