People Director

This post will be based in the appointed candidate's closest Acas office - London, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester or Newcastle, This role is suitable for a combination of office and homebased working. This is a non-contractual arrangement. All Acas employees are currently expected to spend at least 20% of their working time in an Acas office with senior posts such as this doing considerably more. with frequent travel to teams across other sites expected. In your application, please state clearly your preferred base location. Job Summary The People Director will also act as Head of Profession for Acas's HR community and will champion an engaging culture, working with leaders, our Trade Unions and wider workforce, aligning Acas internally with its external best practice messaging. As a member of the Executive Board, the People Director also plays an important part in setting wider organisational strategy, in corporate governance and in leading business and cultural change.

• Set and lead the People and Workforce Strategy; Lead the continued development and implementation of our People and Culture Strategy, ensure the workforce is capable, appropriately sized and structured to deliver Acas's organisational objectives. Including aligning people priorities with corporate and business plans
• Executive and Board Leadership; Act as a member of the Executive Board and Senior Leadership Team, influencing organisational strategy, governance and major business decisions and risk management. Including providing expert people advice to the Chief Executive and Senior Leaders.
• Employee Relations and Union Partnership; Build and maintain constructive relationships with Acas's recognised Trade Unions, lead on strategic employee relations issues, consultation and organisational change. Including promoting positive workplace relations and organisational trust.
• Strategic Workforce Planning; Develop and oversee the Acas workforce plan that address current and future capability and capacity needs. Identify and mitigate against capacity and skills gaps and lead talent and succession planning.
• Culture, Engagement and Inclusion; Lead Acas to create an engaged, inclusive and high performing-culture, lead initiatives to improve employee experience, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion. Ensuring that organisational values are reflected in behaviours and leadership practice.
• Exemplar People Practices aligned to Acas's Purpose; Champion and deliver high HR standards and expertise on workplace relations and the productivity benefits best practice brings. Leading the people directorate to ensure that effective and timely support is given to line managers across the organisation through tailored expert advice, supported by up-to-date HR Policies and practice.
• Promoting Acas's reputation credibility and influence; Through engagement with key stakeholders and representing the organisation in a range of external for and reporting to the Acas Council on people strategy and employment relations and its contribution to achieving Acas's strategic aims.
• Set and lead the People and Workforce Strategy; Lead the continued development and implementation of our People and Culture Strategy, ensure the workforce is capable, appropriately sized and structured to deliver Acas's organisational objectives. Including aligning people priorities with corporate and business plans
• Executive and Board Leadership; Act as a member of the Executive Board and Senior Leadership Team, influencing organisational strategy, governance and major business decisions and risk management. Including providing expert people advice to the Chief Executive and Senior Leaders.
• Employee Relations and Union Partnership; Build and maintain constructive relationships with Acas's recognised Trade Unions, lead on strategic employee relations issues, consultation and organisational change. Including promoting positive workplace relations and organisational trust.
• Strategic Workforce Planning; Develop and oversee the Acas workforce plan that address current and future capability and capacity needs. Identify and mitigate against capacity and skills gaps and lead talent and succession planning.
• Culture, Engagement and Inclusion; Lead Acas to create an engaged, inclusive and high performing-culture, lead initiatives to improve employee experience, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion. Ensuring that organisational values are reflected in behaviours and leadership practice.
• Exemplar People Practices aligned to Acas's Purpose; Champion and deliver high HR standards and expertise on workplace relations and the productivity benefits best practice brings. Leading the people directorate to ensure that effective and timely support is given to line managers across the organisation through tailored expert advice, supported by up-to-date HR Policies and practice.
• Promoting Acas's reputation credibility and influence; Through engagement with key stakeholders and representing the organisation in a range of external for and reporting to the Acas Council on people strategy and employment relations and its contribution to achieving Acas's strategic aims. Person specification Essential Criteria
• Relevant professional qualification or knowledge - Chartered Fellow/fully qualified member (Level 7) of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) or equivalent professional qualification or HR knowledge.
• Extensive experience of leading an HR/people function within an organisation of at least comparable size, scale and complexity working in partnership with recognised Trade Unions.
• Visible, inspiring and engaging leader with a proven ability to build the capacity, capability, commitment and culture of an organisation
• Demonstrable experience of successfully leading the delivery of significant people-focused change programmes designed to improve engagement, retention, organisational performance and culture.
• Outstanding interpersonal, communication and influencing skills, with an ability to build credibility quickly with senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrable experience of using digital transformation to drive improvements in the provision of people related advice and services.
• Evidence of operating successfully at board level, influencing the most senior stakeholders in an organisation of at least comparable size, scale and complexity Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing Alongside your salary of £86,000, Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service contributes £24,914 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides . Benefits We're big believers in rewarding people for the amazing work they do. Take a look at some of the fantastic benefits we offer:
• Learning and Development
• Health and wellbeing
• Pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Volunteering opportunities Could you ask for any more? You'll have access to a Lifestyle website where you'll be able to grab savings on a wide range of products, from holidays to your weekly shop. To Find Out More, Check Out Working for Acas Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. Selection Process Acas has engaged the services of GatenbySanderson, to whom applications should be sent by the closing date of Midday, Tuesday 10 November 2026. Applications can be submitted online at https://www.gatenbysanderson.com/job/GSe137565 In Order To Apply, Please Submit The Following
• A CV - setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, including details where budgets and numbers of people managed, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• A Statement of Suitability – (maximum 2 sides of A4, 12 point font) setting out how your skills, experience and personal qualities make you suitable for the role. Please provide clear evidence, supported by specific examples, demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria, and where applicable, the desirable criteria outlined in the person specification. Please state which Acas office would be your preferred base.
• Diversity Monitoring - All candidates are also requested to complete an online Diversity Monitoring system, which will be found at the end of the application process. Anticipated Timeline Advert closing date: Midday, Tuesday 10 November 2026 Preliminary Interviews with GatenbySanderson: W/C 23 November Shortlist decision: W/C 30 November Leadership assessments: W/C 7 December In Person Final Interviews: W/C 14 December in the Acas London Stratford office, this will include a short presentation. Recruitment Principles and Candidate Support Name-Blind Recruitment Acas operates a name-blind recruitment process. Candidates are required to remove personal information, including their name and other identifying details, from CVs and supporting statements. Applications will be reviewed against the published criteria only. Reasonable Adjustments Acas is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process. Candidates requiring reasonable adjustments at any stage of the process are encouraged to notify the recruitment team and Berwick Partners via scsrecruitment@acas.org.uk and emma.clark@gatenbysanderson.com Requests will be recorded, managed and monitored throughout the campaign to ensure appropriate support is provided. Please review the attached Candidate Pack for further details. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise. As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above. Security Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks. Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks. Nationality requirements This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups
• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles . The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles . The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Contact point for applicants Job Contact

• Name : Martyn Brereton - Gatenby Sanderson
• Email : martyn.brereton@gatenbysanderson.com Recruitment team
• Email : SCSrecruitment@acas.org.uk Further information If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Code and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact us on HRRecruitment@acas.org.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from us, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.