Acting Head of People (6 month contract)

6 month contract | Reports to VP of OperationsFrankieOne is in a defining stretch - scaling a 100-person, global, regulated business while embedding AI across how we build, sell and operate. We need a steady, senior hand to hold the function together for an interim period so our people strategy keeps moving at pace.
This is a six month acting role, and the brief is deliberately focused. We are not asking you to re-architect the function. We are asking you to take ownership of what is already in flight, personally resolve the matters that need resolving, deliver the agreed people plan, support our leaders through a period of growth and change, and hand the function back in better shape than you found it.
You'll lead a small, capable P&C team and partner directly with the CEO and Leadership Team. The team is mid-flight on a number of programs - performance cycles, a new bonus structure, engagement initiatives, hiring against an aggressive roadmap, and embedding our values (The FrankieOne Way) more deeply into how we work.Ideally you'd be available full-time, but we're happy to talk about how a part-time arrangement might work.
The shape of this roleThis is a hands-on role. You will lead a team, but you will also be in the detail - running the difficult conversations yourself, drafting the documents yourself, and moving matters to resolution personally. There is no layer beneath you to absorb the hard or unglamorous work, and the six month window means there isn't time to build one.Key responsibilitiesOwn employee relations, personally. Take immediate control of any ER matters that arise - performance management, extended absence and return-to-work, grievances, investigations, and exits.Hold the function. Take ownership of the existing P&C operating rhythm, OKRs and FY plan, and keep them on track.Be the trusted partner. Partner with the CEO and Leadership Team on the people implications of business decisions - hiring trade-offs, organisation design, performance, and retention of critical talent. Give direct advice quickly, including when it isn't what people want to hear.Lead, coach and support the P&C team. Make sure they're set up for success during your time here and after you leave.Drive the hiring plan. Work alongside the Talent Acquisition Manager to deliver the FY headcount plan. You won't be sourcing candidates day to day, but you will own the plan, unblock it, and stay close enough to the numbers to know when it's slipping.Implement the new bonus structure. We've got an exciting plan for rewarding our staff - we need you to land it, cleanly and on time.Run the people cycles. Deliver performance, compensation review and engagement cycles on time and with integrity.Keep us compliant. Maintain our employment obligations across the jurisdictions we operate in, in a regulated environment where getting this right is non-negotiable.Document and train. Ensure playbooks, processes and key decisions are captured. Embed best practice into our internal tooling so it outlives the engagement.Set the guardrails on AI. Govern how AI is used with employee data and in decisions that affect individuals, use AI to lift the throughput of the P&C team, and support leaders as AI changes the shape of roles across the business.Plan and execute a structured transition at the end of the engagement.Be an advocate for FrankieOne, our product, our people and our values.
What you'll bringSenior People leadership experience in a scale-up or fast-moving business, ideally with a distributed or multi-country workforceA genuine appetite for operational delivery. You are energised by closing things out, not only by designing themThe judgement to make calls with incomplete information and keep matters moving, rather than consulting your way to certaintyExecutive credibility - the ability to walk into a leadership meeting cold, read the room, and be useful in itExperience inheriting an existing program of work and delivering it, rather than replacing it