Head of People - Strategy Agency

Head of People - Creative & Data-Driven Consultancy
London £90,000 - £100,000 + bonus Hybrid

The Opportunity

Saisei Talent are delighted to be working exclusively with a creative, commercially minded consultancy who combine insight, strategy, and data to help leaders make smarter decisions, faster. They're people-focused, collaborative, and fast-paced with a leadership team who care deeply about their culture and the people who make it all happen.

Following a restructure, we're looking for a highly experienced Head of People to take over from the recently departed CPO who's put some strong foundations in place. This isn't a seat on the SLT, but you'll have real influence, working directly with the CFO who sees HR as a strategic partner and will back you to make the role your own.

You'll lead a highly capable People Partner and People Coordinator, inherit solid operational processes, and have the freedom to refine, enhance, and strengthen what's already in place. This is about taking good to great, embedding sharper performance management, coaching leaders, and making sure people decisions are backed by data and insight.

What we need from you

This is a role where you'll be visible, hands-on and strategic in equal measure.

On any given day, you might be:

• Sitting down with leaders to set clear expectations, tackle underperformance, and coach them through difficult conversations.
• Leading calibration sessions, performance reviews, and succession planning to ensure the right people are in the right roles.
• Translating employee survey data into clear actions that improve engagement and culture.
• Reviewing the EVP, reward, and recognition programmes to ensure they're competitive and meaningful.
• Guiding the DEI Forum and embedding inclusive practices into everyday operations.
• Supporting restructures, team changes, and hiring strategies to align with business goals.
• Partnering with finance and commercial leaders to align people strategy with performance targets.
• Keeping HR operations running smoothly through your team, policies, contracts, onboarding, and compliance.

To thrive here, you'll need to have:

• Operated at Head of People level, shaping both culture and commercial results.
• A background in SME media, consultancy, strategy, or other data/insight-driven sectors.
• Experience leading in fast-paced, project-based, or client-facing businesses where agility is essential.
• Depth in performance management, organisational change, leadership coaching, DEI, EVP, reward, L&D, and employee engagement.
• A strong grasp of how to use metrics, data, and insight to drive better decisions and prove ROI on people initiatives.
• The confidence to influence senior leaders without a formal SLT seat, you'll be the trusted HR voice in the room.
• The balance of gravitas, resilience, and emotional intelligence to work with a warm but occasionally conflict-averse culture.

Why you'll want this role

You'll be stepping into a business with a solid foundation, operationally sound, legally compliant and with a leadership team who value HR. But there's space to raise the bar.

If you've ever wanted to:

• Take an existing people framework and make it sharper, more consistent, and performance-led.
• Apply your experience in media, consultancy, or data-driven environments to bring more commercial thinking into HR.
• Embed a metrics-led approach so people decisions are backed by clear evidence.
• Coach leaders who are open to learning, and see your advice directly shape business outcomes.
• Lead a small, capable HR team while still being close enough to the detail to influence day-to-day operations.

You won't be boxed in by legacy processes or corporate red tape, you'll have the freedom to experiment, measure impact, and leave a visible mark on how the business thinks about performance, culture, and talent.

Interested?

This search is being led exclusively by Amanda Watts at Saisei Talent, a boutique HR search consultancy specialising in leadership hires across tech, media and creative sectors.

Saisei Talent are an equal opportunity agency and will consider all applications.

We are dedicated to hiring diverse talent and ensuring that we treat you with respect and support throughout the interview process. We strive to include diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in our everyday work, and we commit to using these for our business and for all our Clients & Candidates.