HR Assistant Director - HR Policy, Industrial Relations & Reward

Location: Central London
Salary: £80,000 - £90,000 per annum

Job Type: 12-18 months Fixed Term Contract

The Bukola Group is delighted to be partnering with a highly respected and complex organisation to recruit an experienced Assistant Director - HR Policy, Industrial Relations & Reward.

This is a high-profile leadership opportunity for a senior HR professional with deep expertise across reward, benefits, HR policy, and industrial relations. Reporting into the People Director, you will provide strategic leadership across these key functions, helping to modernise people practices, strengthen employee engagement, and ensure the organisation remains an employer of choice.

Leading specialist teams and working closely with executive stakeholders, you will play a critical role in shaping long-term people strategies, driving organisational transformation, and ensuring reward, policy, and employee relations frameworks support both current and future business objectives.

The Opportunity

As Assistant Director, you will provide strategic oversight of HR Policy, Industrial Relations, Reward, Recognition, Pay and Benefits. You will lead the development and delivery of innovative people solutions that enhance organisational performance, strengthen the employer brand, and create a positive and inclusive employee experience.

This role offers significant breadth, influence and visibility, working with senior leadership teams, employee representatives, trade unions, and key stakeholders across a large and multifaceted organisation.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and deliver long-term strategies across reward, policy, and industrial relations.
• Lead transformation programmes to modernise HR practices and improve operational effectiveness.
• Provide expert advice and guidance to senior leaders on complex reward, policy, and employee relations matters.
• Drive innovation and continuous improvement, leveraging digital and AI-enabled solutions where appropriate.
• Act as a key member of the wider HR leadership team, contributing to broader people and organisational objectives.

Reward & Benefits

• Lead the development and implementation of reward and benefits strategies.
• Oversee annual pay review processes and remuneration frameworks.
• Develop senior remuneration strategies and ensure benchmarking against market best practice.
• Lead pay-related projects and transformation initiatives.
• Ensure reward approaches support talent attraction, retention and organisational performance.
• Manage negotiations relating to pay, terms and conditions with recognised trade unions and employee representatives.

HR Policy & Governance

• Lead the development, review and transformation of HR policies across the organisation.
• Ensure policies align with organisational priorities, best practice, and legislative requirements.
• Establish strong links between policy development, employee relations, learning and organisational development.
• Support effective implementation and operational delivery of policies through close collaboration with HR teams.
• Lead consultation and engagement activities relating to policy change programmes.

Industrial Relations

• Build and maintain constructive relationships with recognised trade unions and employee representative groups.
• Lead negotiations and consultation processes on complex workforce issues.
• Provide strategic direction on industrial relations matters.
• Foster productive, collaborative, and solution-focused partnerships with employee representatives.
• Support the organisation through change programmes requiring effective stakeholder engagement and negotiation.

Leadership & Team Development

• Provide inspirational leadership across Reward, Benefits, Policy and Industrial Relations teams.
• Develop high-performing teams through coaching, mentoring and professional development.
• Champion equality, diversity and inclusion across all people initiatives.
• Create a culture of engagement, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Promote excellence, collaboration and professional standards throughout the HR function.

About You

To be successful in this role, you will bring significant senior-level HR leadership experience, ideally gained within a complex, unionised, public sector, regulated or large-scale organisational environment.

Essential Experience

Extensive experience leading HR Policy, Industrial Relations and Reward functions.

Significant experience of workforce transformation and organisational change programmes.

Demonstrable success leading complex trade union negotiations and consultation activities.

Experience developing and implementing reward, recognition and benefits strategies.

Strong understanding of employment legislation, governance and HR best practice.

Experience influencing senior executives and presenting to leadership boards or committees.

Proven leadership experience managing and developing multidisciplinary teams.

Essential Skills

Outstanding stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.

Strong commercial and strategic thinking capability.

Excellent negotiation and influencing skills.

Ability to navigate complexity and deliver pragmatic solutions.

Strong presentation, report-writing and communication abilities.

Experience using data and insight to inform strategic decision-making.

A collaborative leadership style with a strong commitment to inclusion and employee engagement.

Qualifications

Relevant degree-level qualification or equivalent professional experience.

CIPD qualification and/or advanced HR professional accreditation would be highly advantageous.

Why Apply?

This is a rare opportunity to take on a strategically important leadership role with significant organisational influence. You'll have the opportunity to shape people strategy, lead high-profile transformation initiatives, and make a lasting impact on workforce effectiveness, employee experience and organisational performance.