Head of People and Culture

1 week ago

London, Greater London, United Kingdom Wahaca Full time £60,000 - £100,000 per year
Role Overview

• Location: Taco Towers (Oxford Circus based office) and proudly in our restaurants

• Contract Type: Permanent, Full-time

• Reports to: Managing Director

• Direct Reports: 5

The Role

We're looking for a Head of People & Culture who brings energy, curiosity and heart to everything they do. You'll lead our people strategy and keep our values-led, high-performance culture thriving across 600 team members and 14 sites - predominantly based in London.

You'll head up a talented People Team of 5, partner closely with our leadership team and shape the initiatives that make this a place people are proud to work. You'll balance strategic direction with hands-on delivery - you know what great looks like, and you're not afraid to roll up your sleeves to make it happen.

At Wahaca, pride and fun go hand in hand, from the way we lead our teams to the experiences we create for our guests. You'll help keep that spirit alive by ensuring our people, systems, and processes work together to support great shifts, for our team and guests. Your mission? To keep Wahaca a place where everyone feels valued, supported, and fuelled by purpose and pride.

What You'll Do

You'll shape and steer our people vision, keeping our values-led culture thriving and our team engaged with a place they are proud to be part of.

Lead the People Strategy
  • Set the direction for how we attract, engage and grow our people; ensuring it flows from the overall company strategy.
  • Create practical, people-first solutions that solves business problems and helps the business evolve while staying true to our values.
  • Stay curious about what's happening beyond our walls - bringing in fresh ideas, best practice, and creative thinking to continually enhance our employee experience.
  • Take overall accountability for legal compliance, policies, and processes, ensuring everything we do is consistent, compliant, and fair.
Champion our Culture
  • Our values start with our leadership team, and in this role you will represent these values through every interaction and decision, inspiring others to do the same.
  • Ensures our values are reflected across every touchpoint of the employee journey.
  • Maintain an always on drumbeat of events and initiatives throughout the year for our team to drive engagement and belonging towards a shared purpose.
Lead and Develop the People Team
  • Guide and inspire a talented team of 5, making sure we deliver exceptional people operations with warmth and efficiency
  • Empower the team to take ownership and continually improve how we work.
Enable Leadership and Connection
  • Act as a trusted sounding board for the senior leadership team - offering perspective, challenge, and practical support.
  • Equip our managers with the skills and confidence to lead high performing teams through coaching, workshops, and development programmes.
  • Partner with Operations to design and implement development and engagement initiatives to drive performance and a sense of being valued.
  • Oversee internal communications to ensure collaboration across departments and that messages land clearly with our teams.
  • Maximise our people systems - evolve the tools and processes that support performance, progression, and feedback, making them simple, impactful, and easy for everyone to use.
Foster Fairness and Clarity
  • Oversee employee relations with empathy and professionalism, guiding managers through tricky situations with balance and care. Act as point of escalation for complex cases.
  • Oversee pay, recognition, and benefits frameworks to keep them motivating, transparent, and aligned with our values.
  • Protect the integrity of our people processes, always doing the right thing for both our people and the business.
  • Turn team feedback into meaningful action, ensuring we listen, learn, and keep improving together.
Desired Experience and Profile

* Proven senior HR/People leadership experience in a multi-site organisation - experience in hospitality is a plus but not essential.

* Comprehensive knowledge of UK employment law and people best practice, with the confidence to apply it pragmatically.

* A genuine passion for people, leading with positivity, empathy, and care.

* Emotionally intelligent and comfortable having honest conversations that build trust and clarity.

* Balances policy with good judgment, knowing when to apply process and when to lead with intuition and outcomes focus- creating a great employee experience, even in challenging moments.

* Systems savvy - someone who is comfortable in the detail, using systems and understands how processes connect to put forward well thought through recommendations, based on fact.

About Wahaca

Wahaca is the leading Mexican restaurant in the UK, founded by Thomasina Miers (Masterchef winner) and Mark Selby. Inspired by their time in Mexico and a mission to prove to the UK just how vibrant and delicious Mexican food is, championing great British produce and sourcing ingredients locally.

Wahaca remains deeply rooted in the values set by our founders. By showing pride, staying humble, choosing integrity, having fun, and thinking positively, our team serves a taste of Mexican sunshine. With an upbeat atmosphere and chef made dishes, our restaurants are full of energy and purpose, and we want our people to feel the same sense of joy and pride in what they do every day.

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