Strategic Lead – People and Culture

Location: Newark based (with flexibility to work from home).  UK Travel will be required  

Full Time: 35 hours per week  

About Us  

We are a grassroots movement of 46 independent Wildlife Trusts, supported by a central charity,
The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. We have more than 900,000 members, 35,000 volunteers and
3,500 staff across the UK. We are at an exciting moment in our 110-year history, with an
ambitious new strategy setting out a vision of nature in recovery, with abundant, diverse
wildlife and natural processes creating wilder landscapes where people and nature thrive. 

The next 10 years will be critical in determining what kind of world we will all live in. We
need to urgently reverse the loss of wildlife and put nature into recovery at scale if we are
to prevent climate and ecological disaster. This will require big, bold changes in the way we
think and operate, and the development of a strong, collaborative culture. It will require an
increase in collaboration and working together, underpinned by strong systems and data. 

The Wildlife Trusts are on a mission to bring about a people-powered nature and climate
recovery by empowering people to take meaningful action for nature, and to create an inclusive
society where nature matters to everyone, everywhere. We are ambitious in our desire not just
to slow, but to reverse the declines in nature. Together we have developed a bold, new
collective strategy which outlines our vision and the actions we will take to restore nature
over the next eight years. 

About You 

If you are a brilliant People and Culture professional looking for a new and exciting challenge
with the opportunity to work for one of the UK’s best loved charities, then this could be the
perfect role for you! 

You will be supporting a strategy group and working with strategic people across the federation
to ensure we invest in a high-skilled and diverse staff. You will be part of our strategic
transformation team and you will foster a positive work environment, develop a strong
organisational culture, and align HR Practices with the organisation’s objectives and values. 

This is your chance to be a core part of driving our ambition to unlock the potential of our
people through leading, cultural and HR best practice at RSWT and across the Wildlife Trust
federation. We know The Wildlife Trusts is a great place to work and volunteer and with your
help we can further embed this view across the sector. 

You’ll work alongside the Strategic Lead on Learning and Development and the wider Wildlife
Trust People team. As well as managing a small team of HR professionals, you will look to
develop and deliver our people and culture strategy using innovative and creative talent
solutions – building an environment where our people can continuously develop to be their
best. 

You will provide leadership and consulting support to the Senior Leadership Team on matters of
cultivating culture, setting goals, developing policies, and implementing strategic
objectives. 

We are seeking a passionate Strategic People and Culture professional to join us, you will have
a proven track record of taking a lead in driving forward organisational change around people
and culture strategies in a complex organisation. Your role will be to evolve and deliver our
People and Culture Strategy delivering resulting initiatives and plans, and you will have
experience of working within a strategic HR role, ideally across different organisations.
Excellent communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills are essential, with the ability
to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams. You will be a natural influencer and you
will be highly personable and able to build effective stakeholder relationships, internally and
externally, at all levels. 

You will support, lead and facilitate a number of working groups across The Wildlife Trusts
looking to harmonise terms and conditions where appropriate and produce a suite of resources
leading to great efficiencies. 

You will enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, be organised and resourceful and be able to
think strategically as well as having a great attention to detail. You will have a clear
passion for our cause and have excellent listening, collaboration and facilitation skills to
help bring everyone together to ensure that we deliver to the highest standards and achieve the
best outcomes for nature. 

To excel in this role, you should be highly motivated and detail-oriented with strong emotional
intelligence and should enjoy social interaction. You will develop and execute people and
culture strategies, collaborate with colleagues across the Trusts in joint initiatives, share
best practice and provide professional support where appropriate. 

A proven commitment to and understanding of the not-for-profit sector would be desirable but is
not essential.

This is a new and ambitious role which will evolve following your appointment so you should be
excited by the flexibility and opportunities to take an innovative approach. 

This role may be subject to a DBS check. 

The Wildlife Trusts value passion, respect, trust, integrity, pragmatic activism
and strength in diversity. Whilst we are passionate in promoting our aims, we are not
judgemental and are inclusive. We particularly encourage applications from people who are
underrepresented within our sector, including people from minority backgrounds and people with
disabilities. We are committed to creating a movement that recognises and truly values
individual differences and identities. 

RSWT take our Safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously. Please view the
documents to read our commitment statement. 

The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts is committed to safeguarding and promoting the
welfare of children and adults at risk. For applicable roles, applicants must be willing to
undergo checks with past employers and Disclosure and Barring Service checks at the eligible
level. 

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to offering an interview to
anyone with a disability that meets all the essential criteria for the post. Please let us know
if you require any adjustments to make our recruitment process more accessible. 

Please do not use artificial intelligence tools to assist you to complete the
application form. Our client may not accept applications that have been completed utilising AI
tools. If you would usually use tools such as these to assist you in filling in a form, please
contact us to discuss this further and understand other options. 

Closing date for applications: 4 August 2024

First Interview: 23 August 2024 (Newark office)

Second Interview: 30 August 2024 (Online)