People Business Partner - OSB Group - Chatham, United Kingdom
(2015-02)
OSB Group plc is a UK-based specialist mortgage lender and retail savings bank, focused on niche segments of the property market including buy-to-let, residential and commercial lending, and development finance. The Group has offices across the UK, including Chatham (head office), Wolverhampton, Fareham, London with additional operations in India. Current employee base of 2700.
- Partnered on a large-scale Enterprise Workforce Optimisation Programme to reduce organisational layers and improve efficiency across the Group. Worked with senior stakeholders to redesign structures, enhance spans and layers, and align workforce capabilities to strategic priorities.
- Co-designed and implemented a Technology Target Operating Model as part of a major transformation programme. Structured around product-aligned value streams and agile delivery, enabling improved accountability, delivery speed and alignment to business outcomes.
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive job architecture framework, introducing job families to support clearer career pathways, progression opportunities and structured learning journeys. Enabled improved workforce planning and internal mobility.
- Partnered with business leaders to design and embed a skills-based organisational framework aligned to job families. Defined capability matrices and proficiency levels to maximise talent utilisation, support career development and future-proof workforce capability.
- Led the people workstream for a significant Technology function restructure aligned to the new operating model. Managed organisational change with approximately 100 redundancies as well an additional 65 managed exits, alongside changes to terms and conditions for remaining employees, ensuring compliance and strong stakeholder management throughout.
- Designed and delivered a reskilling programme in partnership with India-based teams. Established frameworks aligned to policy, including skills matrices, assessment approaches, recruitment processes, and communication campaigns to support capability building and internal mobility.
- Manage complex employee relations cases (disciplinary, grievance, absence, performance)
- Provide expert advice on employment law, policy and risk mitigation
- Support investigations, hearings and appeals, ensuring fairness and consistency
- Partner with leaders to resolve issues pragmatically and minimise business disruption
- Identify ER trends and implement proactive interventions to reduce risk
- Ensure compliance with regulatory and internal governance requirements
- Partner with hiring managers to define workforce needs and hiring strategies
- Lead and support end-to-end recruitment for key and critical roles
- Develop talent pipelines and direct sourcing strategies for hard-to-fill roles
- Strengthen employer branding to attract and retain top talent
- Support workforce planning aligned to business growth and transformation
- Ensure fair and inclusive recruitment practices
- Advise on compensation structures, salary benchmarking and pay reviews
- Support annual reward cycles including bonus, salary and promotion processes
- Ensure reward frameworks are competitive, equitable and aligned to business goals
- Partner with leaders on reward decisions to balance cost and retention
- Analyse reward data to identify trends, risks and opportunities
- Support benefits design and communication to enhance employee value proposition
- Embed and manage performance management frameworks across the organisation
- Support goal setting, performance reviews and continuous feedback practices
- Coach managers on managing high and low performance effectively
- Drive calibration processes to ensure consistency and fairness
- Identify capability gaps and link performance outcomes to development plans
- Support succession planning and development of high-potential talent
- Lead and support employee engagement initiatives to enhance employee experience and organisational culture
- Analyse engagement survey data to identify trends, risks and opportunities, translating insights into actionable plans
- Partner with leaders to drive engagement action plans and improve team effectiveness
- Support culture change initiatives aligned to organisational values and strategic priorities
- Ensure HR policies and practices are aligned with employment legislation and regulatory requirements
- Maintain strong governance across people processes, ensuring consistency and compliance
- Use HR data and analytics to identify trends, inform decision-making and mitigate risk
- Contribute to learning and development strategies to build organisational capability
- Support leadership development and coaching initiatives
- Drive skills and capability development aligned to business needs and future workforce requirements
HR Adviser - Dovetail Games - Medway
(2013-09 - 2015-06)
Dovetail Games is a UK-based video game developer and publisher specialising in simulation games, including train and fishing simulators such as Train Sim World. Headquartered in Chatham, Kent, the company operates primarily from its studio at the Historic Dockyard. It employs 200 people.
- Led end-to-end recruitment for niche technical and creative roles, implementing direct sourcing strategies and strengthening employer branding to attract talent in a highly competitive market.
- Partnered with senior leaders and founders to provide pragmatic HR support, coaching on people management and team effectiveness.
- Managed employee relations matters, balancing commercial priorities with employee wellbeing and fostering a positive, inclusive culture.
- Implemented performance management frameworks tailored to creative and technical teams, enabling clear goal setting, continuous feedback and improved performance.
- Designed and delivered engagement initiatives to improve retention, team cohesion and employee experience, particularly within hybrid and project-based teams.
- Supported leaders in managing workload and delivery pressures, including navigating crunch periods and promoting sustainable working practices.
HR Generalist - Peakdale Molecular - Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire
(2010-10 - 2013-09)
Peakdale Molecular Ltd is a UK-based contract research organisation specialising in drug discovery and medicinal chemistry services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The company was headquartered in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire (Peak District), with an additional site at Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent. It employed 200 employees.
- Acted as the primary point of contact for all HR compliance, identifying audit and training gaps and implementing robust policies, processes and mandatory training frameworks to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements.
- Managed end-to-end recruitment for niche roles, developing direct sourcing strategies and building talent pipelines, while implementing retention initiatives and career development pathways to secure critical skills.
- Led and delivered organisational change initiatives, including restructures and role redesign, ensuring clear communication, minimal disruption and continued employee engagement.
- Worked directly with senior leaders to align priorities, provide pragmatic HR solutions and support decision-making in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment.
- Designed and delivered engagement initiatives, using employee feedback and insight to drive improvements in culture, retention and overall employee experience.
- Identified skills gaps and implemented practical learning and development solutions, including reskilling initiatives, on-the-job development and structured capability frameworks.
- Managed the full employee lifecycle, including employee relations, policy development, performance management and HR administration, ensuring a consistent and commercially focused approach.
Personnel Assistant - The School's Personnel Service
(2007-11 - 2010-10)
- Provided HR advice and administrative support to schools across a range of personnel matters.
- Maintained employee records and supported recruitment and compliance processes.
