HR Director

Title: HR Director

Hybrid

People Directors

Contract

Cambs Essex Q3 2026

Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

Saffron Walden, England, United Kingdom

Colchester, England, United Kingdom

Job Description:

Commercial, dynamic, energetic, creative, curious, pragmatic, influential, inspiring, kind.... do these words describe you? If yes, then this is a fantastic opportunity to join and collaborate with like-minded HR Director superstars in the People Puzzles community.

Where?

Well located in the East of England, to support clients across Cambridgeshire into Essex and the surrounding areas.

Who are you?

A highly successful CPO,CHRO, People/HR Director or Senior HR Consultant that loves to help businesses unlock their potential and drive through people solutions that change lives. You might be looking for an alternative to corporate life and are excited to work with SME businesses/entrepreneurial leaders?

You possess strong technical HR skills, yet you also have a solid grasp of business concepts and naturally excel at developing and implementing business strategies that align seamlessly with People strategies.

You may want more control over your working life? Perhaps you have dipped your toe into the consulting world... and now you are looking to take the plunge? You love to collaborate and you are looking to join a network of like-minded, commercial People Directors who are there to support each other and ultimately medium-tier business owners.

You enjoy building trusting relationships across all levels and are comfortable influencing at board level. You like your 'trusted advisor' status and have excellent stakeholder management skills. You tend to always exceed expectations and wow!

You are seeking to have a more flexible work-life balance with good earnings potential. You want to control how many days you work (with the earnings potential that matches it).

You thrive in a fast-paced environment and enjoy discovering and implementing innovative, commercially viable solutions while engaging everyone in the process. In essence, you are a catalyst for action, leveraging your intelligence, charisma, and vibrant energy to get things done.

And what about us?

We are an award-winning fractional HR consultancy with 80+ of the UK’s most trusted people experts, delivering business transformation through proven people strategies and chosen by over 1000 ambitious business leaders.

Requirements

Main Responsibilities:

• Make an Impact: Lead the delivery of HR solutions to our client businesses; business and strategic HR planning, culture change, business transformation, change management, leadership development, organisational design, D&I, wellbeing, L&D and Talent Management
• Full accountability for managing your portfolio of clients and working in partnership with the whole team to ensure a first-class HR service is provided
• Work with the Regional Director and our marketing team to support the process for attracting and gaining new clients

Skills & Experience:

• Proven experience inputting into the strategic direction of the business & partnering with the Board & Senior Executive team
• Business consultancy skills: ability to spot opportunities and influence at all levels
• Ideally be CIPD (L7) qualified or equivalent
• Bring the Energy: A strong “people person” with a natural ability to lead teams and nurture and build relationships
• Curiosity with Purpose: AI adopter with confidence and ability to use these skills to support clients
• Tech sector experience extremely beneficial
• Commercial - you are a business person "who does HR". You see the big picture
• Pragmatic, you work strategically but are happy to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in

Benefits

We believe in “Team”. We attract individuals who can put their energies into being part of our team and fully embrace all aspects of working as part of our local and national teams.

Richard is one of our fractional People Directors, hear first-hand the impact he has had with one of his clients here.

“Richard has been a great fit for our culture, he’s been able to relate to the team and drive accountability and performance in a constructive manner.”

Network: you will have access to an amazing community of People Directors who are always ready to support each other. In addition to this, we have carefully chosen strategic national partnerships that enhance our services and provide support to our People Directors. It's a #Winning Together situation!

CPD: We provide CPD offerings and we always embrace the ethos of continuous learning and growth. #Curiosity With Purpose.

We have a creative marketing team that is constantly brainstorming ideas to boost awareness and generate new opportunities.

Sales and business development: Our team of Regional Directors play a crucial role in assisting you in expanding your portfolio. As with any endeavor, the effort you invest directly correlates with the rewards you receive, so we encourage your active participation to make your Puzzles journey both successful and fulfilling. #WinningTogether

There is some scope for client work to be remote, although most client work is onsite so interested applicants will need to be within easy commute of all the areas listed above.

If you are shortlisted you will be required to complete a behavioural assessment and a background/identity check.