Val Clarke

Strategic People & Operations Leader with a strong track record in HR leadership, organisational development, and corporate services management across IT, Facilities, and Governance. Over 14 years of experience leading multifunctional teams in complex, cross-cultural environments. Proven ability to develop and implement People Strategies, enhance employee engagement, drive workforce planning and performance management, and ensure robust HR compliance.

Adept at aligning people strategies with business goals, fostering a high-performance culture, and embedding Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) as a core organisational pillar. Strong financial acumen, adept at setting and managing budgets, optimising processes, and leading change initiatives to drive operational excellence. Skilled in aligning operation strategies with corporate goals, ensuring stakeholder buy-in and satisfaction, and managing change successfully through multiple acquisitions.

High emotional intelligence, with a collaborative leadership style and outstanding relationship builder fostering high-performing teams and exceptional stakeholder relationships. An outstanding partner developer, expert in getting people to perform and helping them to maximise their potential. In addition, recognised industry speaker, mentor, and thought leader.

HR Director Northern Europe - 4PS Construction Solutions Ltd (Construction Software) Part of Hilti Group

(2025-01)

Operations & HR Director UK - 4PS Construction Solutions Ltd (Construction Software) Part of Hilti Group - UK

(2024-01)

• Defined and implemented strategic people plan across all areas of HR including recruitment, onboarding, training, skills gap development, soft & hard skill training programmes, performance management, succession planning and payroll/benefits.
• Part of 4PS Group HR Management Team, working on strategy 2030 for group.
• Managed organisational change through 2 acquisitions, retaining 100% of employees in 2024.
• Developed and implemented company-wide Wellbeing Programme including ED&I policy implementation.
• Launched training programmes focussing on emerging technologies like AI and industry best practice.
• Steerco and Leadership lead on various internal projects including group knowledge management and Future leaders programme.
• Defined and implemented company-wide operational strategies aligned with growth targets, optimizing cross-department workflows to improve efficiency/chargeability and reduce costs
• Developed KPIs and regularly evaluated operational performance, enabling agile adjustments
• Increased Chargeability by 10% and increased revenue streams
• Led and developed a team from 30 growing to over 70 professionals across operations and central services including HR, IT, & Facilities,- customer support, product management and development, technical, H&S, facilities, internal projects, marketing and product delivery, fostering a collaborative culture and outstanding employee feedback with an Employee NPS score over 60 and personal manager relationship score of 9.7 (Workleap Officevibe).Also achieving Great Place to Work 2024.
• Oversaw Cybersecurity & GDPR compliance, working with IT teams to mitigate risks and enhance data protection.
• Implemented Health & Safety policies, ensuring a safe working environment and legal compliance.
• Managed external supplier contracts, including HR, IT systems, and facilities maintenance, ensuring cost efficiency and high service standards.
• Worked directly with client success teams to resolve high-level client challenges and ensure satisfaction, resulting in a 98% client retention rate and increased account expansion and upsell opportunities. Client services and licence acquisition increased by 20%. Managed, maintained and owned key relationships with C-level executives
• Managed client satisfaction across the business resulting in current Client Net Promoter Score of 73
• Managed the annual operations budget, optimising resource allocation and growing budget annually in line with Top line growth. Grew top line by 120% over 6 years.

General Manager UK - 4PS Construction Solutions Ltd (Construction Software) Part of Hilti Group - UK

(2021-01 - 2024-12)

Head of Customer Services - 4PS Construction Solutions Ltd (Construction Software) Part of Hilti Group

(2017-01 - 2021-12)

Served as a key member of the leadership team, strategically developing and managing customer partnerships and training initiatives.

Customer Support Manager and Trainer - Advance IT Group, Birmingham (Lone Worker services and software development) - Birmingham

Customer support and team management: Monitoring and reporting on support, complaints and internally for system downtime. All aspects of after sales and account management from point of sale to end of contract and designing training programmes. Project Management for all new projects including British Standard compliance, new customer website and new software development packages.

Sales Manager - Ateliers A.S.-Enoly, Lyon, France (Hermes Luxury fabric) - Lyon, France

European Customer Support Manager - RAC France, Lyon, France - Lyon, France

MA (Hons) - French - University of Glasgow