Interim People Director (12-month contract)

Join to apply for the Interim People Director (12-month contract) role at DSP

Interim People Director (12-month contract)

Join to apply for the Interim People Director (12-month contract) role at DSP

DSP offers award-winning IT consultancy and managed services for Oracle, Microsoft and Google technologies. We specialise particularly in data platform management, application development, engineered systems and Cloud with a strong presence specifically in Oracle SQL Server, APEX, Azure and GCP. We are a leading technology partner in the UK and have been recognised for that by our technology partners and industry through a wide range of awards and accolades.

Our mission is to be the most responsive service provider in the sphere of enterprise database management, regardless of platform, geography, and cloud infrastructure. We will harness the passion of our people and have the courage to challenge traditional methods of service delivery, pursuing customer happiness at all times.

We strive to hire the best people who are aligned to our core values of;

Excellence: We are committed to giving our best in everything we do and aspire to be exceptional.

Responsiveness: We are quick to respond to our colleagues' and customers’ needs.

Passion and fun: We are passionate about what we do and believe that work should be both fun and fulfilling.

Respect: We act with honesty and treat employees, customers and partners with mutual respect and promote inclusive working practices.

Continuous Improvement: We have the courage to innovate and embrace new ideas.

The Role

As our Interim People Director, you’ll help shape what great looks like — and have a direct impact on our culture, employee experience, and the future of work at DSP. We’re looking for an experienced People Leader that brings a progressive HR mindset — someone who embraces innovation, champions inclusive and people-centric practices, and has the commercial awareness to align HR activity with business priorities and operational realities.

The ideal candidate will nurture a high-performing, collaborative People team — one that leads with curiosity, integrity, and a shared commitment to delivering exceptional employee experiences and high impact initiatives. You have expertise in employee development, engagement, recognition, compensation and benefits, succession planning, learning & development, and organisational development.

The Interim People Director will provide strategic and operational support to the Group Chief People Officer and be instrumental in building, leading, and executing on all aspects of People strategy. You’ll have the freedom to contribute ideas, take ownership of initiatives, and grow your influence as part of a collaborative and agile People team.

Role & Responsibilities

• Foster a culture of growth and accountability within the People team through regular coaching, development planning, and recognition of success.
• Act as a strategic partner to DSP leadership, advising on critical people matters and organisational needs.
• Oversee end-to-end recruitment, onboarding, and external talent partnerships.
• Lead on employee relations, including disciplinary, grievance, and restructure activity.
• Manage compensation reviews and contribute to a competitive reward and benefits strategy.
• Drive employee engagement initiatives and deliver actionable insights from staff surveys.
• Maintain and update HR policies in line with UK legislation and business needs.
• Support a culture of continuous performance management and oversee key review cycles.
• Provide data-driven reporting on people metrics to the CPO and ELT.
• Lead and develop the People team and delivery model to ensure strong execution and scale. Review and optimise people systems for efficiency and value.
• Contribute to ESG audit activity and support delivery of the broader People strategy.
• Other activities and projects as required.

Key Success Criteria

What you’ll bring:

• A confident, balanced approach to complex people matters, with sound judgement and a pragmatic grasp of employee relations.
• A proactive, solutions-oriented mindset, coupled with strong organisational discipline and executional follow-through.
• Commercial acumen and the ability to translate people strategies into tangible business outcomes.
• A progressive, people-first perspective with a keen interest in evolving and innovating HR practices for long-term impact and in building a resilient, high-performing People team.

Your Experience

• Previous experience in a senior people leadership role, including managing a team.
• In depth knowledge of HR, including employee relations and UK employment law.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, growing, and international business.
• Experience leading global teams and contributing to cross-functional HR projects.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills across all levels.
• CIPD Level 7 qualified or equivalently qualified by experience.
• Experience of working in the consultancy, data, technology, IT sector.

About you

While experience and skills, as detailed above, are important, DSP’s focus on high-quality services and original thinking means we place as much emphasis on candidates’ interpersonal qualities and soft skills. The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate the following skills, and strengths in these areas will be taken into account if there are gaps in professional skills:

• Excellent organisational skills.
• Employee focused attitude.
• Drive and determination to get the job done correctly.
• Excellent communication and team working skills.
• Willingness to develop better and more intuitive ways of working.
• Strong attention to detail with a desire and ability to work accurately.
• The ability to work under pressure and plan, manage and deliver multiple simultaneous activities. This will include good time management skills.
• Desire to help improve current processes.

We welcome applications from experienced Heads of People ready to step into a director level role. This is an interim role to cover maternity leave for 12 months, with an opportunity for permanent position after within the team.

Location

This role will be home based with occasional travel to DSP’s London office.

This job description is not to be regarded as exclusive or exhaustive. It is intended as an outline indicating of the areas of activity and may be amended from time to time in the light of the changing needs of the organisation.

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Director

Employment type

• Employment type

  Contract

Job function

• Job function

  Human Resources

• Industries

  IT Services and IT Consulting

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