Head of Development

Head of Development & Performance (People & Culture)

Function(s): People Development, Culture, Training, Performance Frameworks.

Reports to: Group Managing Director

Location: London

Working Pattern: Hybrid - 3 days a week within the office.

Salary: Competitive, based on experience.

About Us:

We are a group of fast-growing performance, creative, and e-commerce companies: Soar With Us, Hambi Media, Launch With Us, and For You Advertising. Together, we partner with some of the UK's most ambitious brands, delivering breakthrough advertising, growth strategy, and creative campaigns.

With a collective team of 80+ A-Players, we've profitably spent more than £500m on Meta, Google, and TikTok ads, and we're only just getting started.

As Head of Development & Performance (People & Culture), you'll lead the design and delivery of development, progression, and performance initiatives across the group. You'll oversee the full people journey—from onboarding to progression—ensuring our people and culture strategies drive both team excellence and commercial success.

You'll shape development frameworks, deliver training programmes, and build a culture where growth, learning, and accountability are part of daily life.

Our Values:

• Extreme Ownership: Taking responsibility for every outcome within your control.
• Radical Curiosity: Challenging assumptions and exploring what's next to drive smarter, more innovative results.
• Kind Candour: Saying what needs to be said with honesty, empathy, and purpose.
• Client-Centricity: Thinking like owners, acting in our clients' best interests, always.

Requirements
You…

• Are a people-first leader with a passion for building great cultures.

• Are a strategic thinker who can also roll up their sleeves and deliver.

• Are commercially minded and able to balance employee needs with business goals.

• Are a skilled communicator, coach, and relationship builder at every level.

• Are a proactive problem-solver who thrives in a fast-paced, multi-brand environment.

• Have 7+ years experience in people development or senior HR roles (in creative/agency environments)

Core Responsibilities:
People Development & Progression

• Design, maintain, and oversee career progression frameworks across the Group.
• Lead annual salary and compensation review cycles.
• Ensure management teams consistently apply progression and development structures.
• Partner with leadership on succession planning and long-term talent growth.

Culture & Engagement

• Partner with leadership to maintain a culture of performance, accountability, and belonging.
• Act as custodian of culture — embedding group values into everyday behaviours
• Lead engagement initiatives: events, recognition schemes, feedback loops, and internal campaigns.

Training & Learning

• Build and manage internal training schedules (leadership, skills development, client excellence).
• Partner with managers to identify capability gaps and deploy targeted L&D programmes.
• Track and report on training impact against performance outcomes.

People Operations & Leadership Support

• Advise management on sensitive people matters with fairness and commercial balance.
• Oversee onboarding and off-boarding experiences to maintain consistency across brands.
• Support hiring and workforce planning, ensuring alignment with growth strategy.

Leadership & Commercial Impact

• Present actionable insights and recommendations to the Group Managing Director.
• Drive initiatives that improve retention, client delivery standards, and commercial performance.
• Be a trusted partner to the leadership team, advising on people and performance strategy.

What Success Looks Like:

6 Months:

• You are fully embedded as a trusted partner to leadership and the wider team.
• Internal marketing strategy is in place and engagement initiatives made live.
• Training schedule launched and uptake measured.

12 Months:

• Career progression frameworks are fully operational across departments.
• Retention rates improved and directly linked to improved client delivery.
• Recognised as the cultural and developmental driver within the Group.

24 Months:

• Recognised as a culture leader, shaping the group's reputation as one of the best places to work in e-commerce and advertising.
• Built a scalable people function capable of supporting rapid growth across multiple agencies.
• Partnering on long-term workforce planning, succession, and organisational design.

Benefits

We believe looking after our people goes beyond the basics. That's why across the group, we offer:

• 26 days annual leave (including your birthday off, and additional days for long-term service).
• Private Health Insurance (with wellness perks and rewards, available after 6 months).
• Life Insurance & Smart Health Services (including 24/7 virtual GP and wellbeing support).
• Cash Plan (reimbursement for dental, optical, physiotherapy and other healthcare expenses).
• Company Pension (auto-enrolment with employer contributions).
• Professional Development Fund (courses, certifications, and resources to support career growth).
• End of Year Bonus Scheme
• Kudos Recognition Platform (peer-to-peer recognition across the group).
• Hybrid & Remote Working options.
• Work Abroad Scheme (up to 30 days at a time).
• Regular Company Events & Team Socials to bring our brands together.

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