People and Culture Director

The Vacancy

We’re building an inclusive work environment

Here at Zen your gender, race, ethnicity, neurodiversity, sexuality, sub culture, size, introversion, extraversion, family background and everything else that shapes you does matter to us. Because they matter to you and are part of who you are.

We’re interested in you as an individual and here you’ll find opportunities to develop, be recognised and hopefully enjoy yourself along the way. So don’t hold back, there is a warm welcome for everyone at Zen and we look forward to meeting you.

1 Overview

At Zen we believe that business can be a force for good. In our own small way, we feel it’s our responsibility to set an example. That’s why our ultimate purpose is not to provide a return to shareholders but to deliver happiness to our people, customers, partners and suppliers. We chose not to be constrained by short term financial targets but to strive for long-term goals aligned to our pursuit of happiness, and our collective desire to have a positive impact on people and the planet.

We hold ourselves to high standards, which is why we’ve already become Carbon Neutral and a part of the B Corp movement. And we are committed to align to Net Zero with a target date of 2040. We’re ensuring that our responsibilities to society and the environment are formally set out in our business objectives – embedded in our DNA – just part of our commitment to creating a more sustainable future.

We believe that a better-connected world leads to happiness for all. It gives people and businesses a voice and a gateway to expand their world and we are committed to delivering them the best experience. In doing so, we are also determined to be a good neighbour and a generous member of the local community. As an independent business we are able to take the long-term view and have a progressive outlook as an ultrafast pioneer and leading independent infrastructure player.

We are an award-winning internet service provider, with a reputation for excellent customer service. Our people-first culture is backed up with a Great Place to Work accreditation, as well as a Best Workplaces for Women, Best Workplaces for Wellbeing and more recently Best Workplaces for Development. We have a passion for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and have several colleague-led network groups, helping us to make a difference in this area.

As People & Culture Director you will support our ambitions and lead the People & Culture division, as well as being a member of the Executive Committee (Exco). You’ll have the capability and enthusiasm to lead the People agenda and help Zen on a successful and exciting journey of growth and sustainability.

The role has a wide remit covering; Human Resources, People Development and Facilities, Health & Safety, Security and Maintenance. You will be a key member of the Executive Committee, be highly commercial in your approach and will enjoy being part of a collaborative, agile business with ambition to succeed. Your style will open and consultative, supporting divisional business units and central functions, to proposer and grow whilst ensuring they have the right people, skills and structure to succeed.

2 People & Culture Director

The People & Culture Director is the custodian of our People-first culture and will devise and implement a People strategy that will support and maximise the value of our culture, as well as enable Zen to succeed.

3 Key Responsibilities

· People & Culture Strategy – devise the long-term strategy and annual people plan, ensuring this aligns with and supports the achievement of the company strategy and objectives, and our people-first culture.

· Ensure successful implementation of the People Plan and report on progress throughout the year.

· Lead and develop the People & Culture team; create a collaborative and high performing team; ensure engagement scores within the team are high and that service to the business is excellent. Line manage the P&C SMT and provide coaching and development support for the team.

· Member of Executive Committee – as a member of the Exco you’re responsible for contributing to the wider company strategy and objectives, participating in various Exco meetings, presenting your views and updates on people & culture, constructively challenging your Exco colleagues, as well as providing support and praise. You have collective responsibility for the good and successful running of the company.

· Exco coaching & development – you will have regular (monthly) meetings with the Exco to support their personal development needs and provide counselling and advice where needed, including supporting them in creating successful structures/teams

· Exco Remuneration – you will conduct Exco benchmarking twice per year ahead of the performance review periods and provide this information to the CEO

· Board updates – you will compile a monthly board report and submit this to the CEO by the Thursday prior to the Board meeting date, or an earlier date agreed with the CEO. You may occasionally be required to attend the board meeting and present or provide an update on any P&C matters, or anything else which the CEO requires.

· Structure & Organisation Design – you are responsible for ensuring Zen has the appropriate org and division/team structures in place, to enable the effective delivery of the business strategy.

· Talent Attraction – you are responsible for ensuring Zen has a brilliant employer brand, which enables us to attract great talent into the business. You will create appropriate talent pipelines with schools, colleges and universities and well as connecting with other organisations, such as the GMCA.

· Recruitment & Onboarding – you are responsible for ensuring that the candidate experience is excellent and that we are using the best and most modern methods of recruiting and onboarding our new people.

· Learning & Development – you must ensure that we are continually developing our people across the business and providing learning solutions that are current, relevant, and future focused. You should ensure ROI is measured and that we focus on value.

· Leadership Development – ensure we continue to provide leadership and management development across the business, to create brilliant leaders, which will help us to create brilliant teams.

· HR policies & ER – ensure all policies are current and updated regularly, to reflect legislative changes or any changes required from a cultural/other perspective. Look for ways to improve HR policy and process and align with our culture. Embrace the use of AI and technology to create efficiencies and improve the customer experience. Ensure adequate training and support for managers at all levels, on HR practice.

· Engagement & Retention – ensure we have excellent internal communications, which help engage our people. Complete quarterly pulse surveys and bi-annual external engagement surveys (GPTW) and use results/data to help improve things across the business and maintain Zen as a Great Place to Work. Ensure we continue to evolve ways of engaging our people with Zen and retaining talent in the business.

· Reward & Recognition – conduct annual benchmarking of Salaries and benefits. Look for ways to improve our packages, whilst being mindful of maintaining sustainable profitability. Continually review and look for new ways of recognising great behaviours and achievements across the business.

· Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging (DEIB) – As the Exco sponsor of the DEIB agenda and Networks, you’re responsible for devising and updating the DEIB strategy and ensuring that the Networks all have annual plans, which can be monitored. You are the figurehead for DEIB in Zen and will play an active role in the DEIB Steering Group and will assist the DEIB Steering Group Chair/Network Leads, to help drive the DEIB agenda forward. You are responsible for ensuring that the Gender Pay Gap, and any other regulatory reporting requirements are completed on time.

· BCorp – You are the Exco sponsor for BCorp and will work closely with the BCorp lead and team, to ensure there is a strategy and plans, which support us maintaining our BCorp status and looking for ways to continually improve our scores.

· Health & Safety and Wellbeing – you are responsible for ensuring that Zen is compliant with all H&S legislation and that we maintain a safe working environment. You must report all H&S issues to the Board, particularly if they are RIDDOR reportable. This will be done in conjunction with the H&S and Security Manager, typically via your board report, unless it is an urgent matter. Along with this, you are responsible

for the broader wellbeing of our people and will run various H&WB initiatives and have process and structures in place to support our people.

· Security & Maintenance – you will ensure that our building is kept safe and secure and maintained to an appropriate standard to keep our people and our tenants safe, as well as meeting all building and regulatory requirements.

· Facilities – you will ensure that all office facilities, including reception, the mailroom, cleaning and catering, provide an excellent service for internal and external customers, visitors, tenants etc.

· Budgets/sustainable profit – you have overall responsibility for the P&C team budget. You will participate in the annual budget process and take collective responsibility for the companywide budget. You have joint responsibility, with your Exco colleagues, for the achievement and maintenance of sustainable profitability for Zen.

4 Skills & experience

· At least 5 years’ experience in an equivalent HR Director or P&C Director role – leading the HR and People Development teams.

· Experience of leading Facilities, H&S, Building Management would be an advantage, but not essential.

· Up to date knowledge of employment legislation and experience of advising Exco and the Board on ER issues.

· Experience of organisation design and structure reviews

· Experience of leadership and people development

· Ability to develop and lead high-performing teams

· Ability to lead companywide initiatives

· Ability to constructively challenge the status quo, in order to promote improvements, at all levels

· Ability to interpret people data and statistics and use this to focus plans/strategy

· Excellent feedback skills – providing praise and recognition, whilst also tackling tough conversations

· Excellent collaboration and communication skills – written and verbal

· Experience of coaching Exco and Senior Management level colleagues

· Experience of leading and driving forward Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB)

· You are a brilliant people leader and set an example for your Exco colleagues and others across the business

· You will have a commercial mindset and the ability to deliver people initiatives which help Zen become a success

· You must be passionate about our People-first culture and have the drive and gravitas to ensure we remain true to our values at all times

· You must be an advocate of continuous improvement and promote the use of Technology/AI/automation to improve our services