Head of COO People Partnering

About Us:

National Gas is securing Britain’s energy. We transport gas throughout Great Britain, repair and maintain gas pipelines, and manage the meters that allow millions of homes and businesses to access the energy they need. We are the national gas network, providing secure energy to power Britain, achieve net zero, and maintain our industrial competitiveness.

About the role:

We are looking for an experienced and commercially minded Head of People Partnering to ensure our Operations business has the people, capability and culture to deliver its strategy through our regional model. Working closely with the Chief Operating Officer and Operational senior leadership team, you will bring a clear people perspective to business decisions, offering trusted counsel and constructive challenge while balancing operational priorities, employee needs and organisational risk.

As a member of the People Leadership Team, you will connect our organisation-wide People strategy with operational delivery, setting shared direction for People Partnering teams across the regions while retaining the flexibility to respond to local needs.

What you'll be doing:

- Set Operations’ people strategy and regional plans, advising and challenging the Chief Operating Officer and senior leadership team.

- Align regional People Partnering teams through dotted-line leadership, setting shared priorities and standards, and coaching strategic partnering and change capability.

- Drive culture and engagement, using employee voice to strengthen leadership, accountability, decision-making, collaboration and continuous improvement.

- Lead workforce, capability, talent and succession planning with People Partners, Finance and People Centres of Expertise, addressing immediate and future skills needs, critical roles and leadership pipelines.

- Shape organisation design and govern regional change, restructuring, redeployment and consultation. Use people data and operational insight to identify risks and opportunities and track engagement, capability, productivity and workforce effectiveness.

About you:

We are looking for someone who has:

- Extensive experience partnering senior operational leaders and translating business strategy into practical people plans across a regional or complex operational model.

- A strong track record of providing trusted counsel and constructive challenge at senior leadership and Board level.

- Proven experience in strategic workforce and capability planning, working across Finance and People centres of excellence to address future workforce and skills needs.

- Commercial, pragmatic and outcome-focused judgement, balancing people outcomes, operational delivery and organisational risk.

- Experience leading through dotted-line relationships and aligning senior stakeholders, Regional Directors and People teams around shared priorities.

- Strong organisation design and change leadership experience, including restructures, redeployment and consultation in complex environments.

- Excellent coaching skills, with the ability to challenge and support senior leaders on leadership, accountability, performance and culture.

- Strong analytical, communication and interpersonal skills, turning people data, employee voice and operational insight into clear priorities and decisions.

- A collaborative and inclusive leadership style, with the credibility to build strong relationships across Operations and the wider People function.

What we offer:

- Salary £90,000-£100,000 depending on experience

- Annual bonus of 20% based on personal and company performance

- Private Medical Insurance

- Company car - an EV or plug-in hybrid company car or cash alternative

- 28 days' holiday plus statutory holidays - option available to buy extra or sell days

- Double-match pension scheme - for every £1 you put in, we'll add £2 (maximum company contribution 12%)

- Opt-in flexible benefit scheme, including salary sacrifice private healthcare, dental insurance, technology plans and more

- Financial protection with 10x salary death in service and financial support if you're unable to work due to long-term illness or injury

- Excellent family-friendly provisions - maternity, paternity, adoption, surrogacy and shared parental leave

- Career progression, professional training and development, including access to LinkedIn Learning

- Employee assistance programme offering free confidential professional counselling 24/7

- Financial support to help you cover the cost of professional membership subscriptions

Key requirements and experience:

- Extensive senior-level People Partnering experience in a complex operational environment.

- Proven ability to influence at all levels, including Board level, and lead effectively through matrix and dotted-line relationships.

- Deep experience of strategic workforce planning, organisation design, cultural change, talent and succession, performance and employee engagement.

- CIPD membership is desirable.

Inclusive recruitment:

At National Gas, we are disability confident and we are signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant, committed to building a workforce that represents the communities we serve. We celebrate the different experiences our colleagues bring to our organisation, and strongly encourage applicants of all backgrounds to apply. Please let us know of any reasonable adjustments you need to perform your best.