Head of People Development (3033)

Do you want to help create a better world for animals? At the RSPCA, we believe animal welfare is everyone's welfare. Join us in creating a better world for every animal. We can do it if we work together, everyone for every animal.

Choose a career with us and make a difference.

We are looking for an inspirational leader to join us as Head of People Development. This is an impactful and influential role responsible for leading our teams in designing and delivering learning across the Society, moving beyond traditional methods to create a digital-first, blended learning culture that reaches our geographically dispersed workforce.

You will combine strategic vision, digital learning expertise and strong delivery leadership to modernise our learning approach and foster a culture where people grow, thrive and perform at their best. If you are a visionary leader with deep expertise in Learning & Development, a strong track record in learning technologies, and a passion for building capability in mission-driven organisations, we'd love to hear from you.

Contract: Permanent

Working hours: 35 hours - Monday - Friday
Location: Hybrid or Home-based, with the expectation to attend team meetings in our London or Horsham hubs and occasional travel to Animal Centres across England.

Our recruitment journey - key dates for you to note:

Here's what the process looks like, no surprises, just a friendly guide:

Application

To apply, please submit your CV and a Supporting Statement of up to 1200 words. Your statement should clearly set out how you meet the key accountabilities, personal competencies, and essential criteria for the role. We ask that you use specific examples from your experience to demonstrate your impact. This is your opportunity to give us a sense of your leadership journey and your potential to transform our learning landscape.

If shortlisted, you'll be invited to a panel interview with the Hiring Manager and colleagues from across the organisation. This is your opportunity to:

• Tell us about your leadership journey and the impact you've created
• Share examples of work achievements you're proud of
• Ask questions about the role, team and the difference you could make
• Demonstrate your approach to leadership and collaboration in a supportive environment
• You will also be asked to deliver a short presentation relevant to the role; the topic will be shared with you in advance.

In this role you will lead a specialist People Development team, ensuring our learning approach strengthens organisational capability, supports delivery of the People & Culture strategy and enables colleagues across the organisation to succeed. You will act as a centre of excellence, bringing fresh thinking and innovation to how learning is designed and experienced.

While every day is different, you might find yourself:

• Modernising the Society's learning approach, embedding innovative and engaging learning solutions
• Leading the development of a digital learning ecosystem, including the effective use of learning platforms and technologies
• Designing learning programmes that support diverse teams, inclusive leadership, and career development
• Overseeing organisational and role-specific development programmes that support colleagues at every stage of their career
• Supporting organisational development and cultural transformation, enabling the Society to evolve and thrive
• Using insight and data to identify learning needs, measure impact and continuously improve learning provision
• Leading, developing and inspiring the Learning & Organisational Development team: Fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement within the L&OD function.

Essential:

• Professional Standing: Fellowship of the CIPD, LPI, or equivalent specialist professional standing in L&D.
• Strategic Leadership & People Management: Significant senior-level experience in leading learning initiatives in complex or mission-driven organisations. You have a proven track record of setting strategic direction and the ability to lead, motivate, and inspire high-performing teams.
• Digital Mastery: Deep expertise in modern, blended, and digital learning methodologies, with a focus on leveraging LMS and learning technologies to transform the colleague experience.
• Stakeholder Partnership: Highly skilled at partnering with senior stakeholders to diagnose capability needs and building credible relationships at all levels.

Desirable: 

• Experience in organisational design, organisational development or people transformation programmes
• Experience working in the charity, voluntary or not-for-profit sector, or another mission-driven organisation
• Experience of developing capability frameworks, skills taxonomies or structured career and development pathways.
• Knowledge of emerging learning technologies and digital learning innovations, such as learning experience platforms or AI-enabled learning tools.

Are you ready to make an impact? 

Are you an People & Development expert and an inspirational leader who enjoys bringing fresh thinking to transform how people learn and develop? If so, we encourage you to apply.

Successful candidates for certain RSPCA roles will need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK - We are unable to sponsor visas at RSPCA

We want to ensure we do all we can to give you a positive candidate experience through our recruitment. Whilst we do try to give feedback where we can, sometimes due to receiving high levels of applications, this may not always be possible

We are building the future of a diverse Society, and our priority is to support animal welfare by finding people from all backgrounds who are committed  to our mission.  For this reason we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications - in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities - as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA. Your transferable skills & lived experiences could make you a valuable addition to our RSPCA Family! 

We're here to support you and encourage you to let us know if you need any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Please feel free to contact us at resourcingteam@rspca.org.uk or 0300 123 0685 so we can ensure the process works for you.