Head of Culture and Inclusion - Maternity Cover

Application Deadline: 30 April 2025

Department: People

Employment Type: Fixed Term - Full Time

Location: London, UK

Description

This maternity cover role is a critical, cross-business role that will work alongside the Director of People in the delivery of key culture, inclusion, engagement and learning and development projects. The core workstreams that this role encompasses sit at the heart of Premier League People team delivery and a strategic and experienced People lead is required to drive forward our work in these areas. The role is a twelve-month maternity cover position.

Success in this role will facilitate the Premier League’s global workforce, which is currently 370 staff, to operate at their best in a well-structured, high-performance environment. The role also provides shared services support to the staff of Premier League Charitable Fund, Football DataCo and Professional Game Academy Audit Company (approximately 65 staff in total).

The role has line management responsibility for the Culture and Inclusion Manager and the Senior Learning and Development Manager and operational oversight of the workstreams falling under these two key pillars of People team delivery.

The individual in this role will need to be able to operate across senior stakeholders, both internally and externally, and be an innovative and experienced operator. It is expected that they will have experience of managing multiple workstreams in a busy People team environment and be able to produce executive-level reports and content. The role requires extensive liaison and communication across the business, including regular updates with the Executive Leadership Team and Senior Management Group, as well as reporting to the Premier League Board, and the post-holder will need to be an excellent communicator, be approachable, a team player and enjoy connecting with colleagues.

The People team currently has sixteen members and delivers a proactive and highly supportive HR function to the Premier League workforce. There is extensive work completed across staff engagement; organisational culture; diversity and inclusion; learning and development; talent and international office operations; along with the core People service delivering payroll, benefits and employee relations support.

Who we are

The Premier League is home to some of the most competitive and compelling football in the world. The League and its Clubs use the power and popularity of the competition to inspire fans, communities and partners in the UK and across the world. The Premier League brings people together from all backgrounds. It is a competition for everyone, everywhere and is available to watch in over 900 million homes in 189 countries.

We have a wide variety of responsibilities. These include organising the competition and its Handbook as well as managing the centralised broadcast and commercial rights. The work we do in conjunction with the Clubs also goes far beyond the 90 minutes. We support and provide a framework for youth development, we protect the organisation’s intellectual property, support the wider game and community programmes, undertake international development work and liaise with governing bodies and other leagues.

The Premier League is an equal opportunities employer and strives to create an inclusive culture where talent can flourish. We believe in the potential of everyone and open our doors to those who share those values. All appointments will be made based on merit; however, we particularly encourage applications from women, people from minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people.

Our hybrid-working model also allows you some variety on your place of work, offering you the chance to work from home on some days each week, where possible. You will be expected to attend the office or site visits in line with our company policy. All staff liaise closely with their line manager to manage their time appropriately and according to their work and team requirements.

The role

The main duties include but are not limited to:

Act as a strategic advisor to senior leaders on culture, inclusion and development matters; providing expert guidance across the remit of the role.
Have operational oversight of the Premier League’s culture and inclusion action plan and staff engagement calendar. This work includes having line management responsibility for the Culture and Inclusion Manager, supporting them with the ongoing delivery of staff engagement events, internal communications plans, and inclusion programmes which promote the Premier League’s cultural behaviours.
Provide senior oversight and operational leadership of the Premier League’s learning and development strategy and delivery. This work connects the Premier League values and behaviours with business strategy and ensures an expansive learning and development programme is delivered across four pillars – leadership and management; communication; EDI and professional skills. The role has line management responsibility for the Senior Learning and Development Manager and provides oversight and support of their delivery.
Have operational oversight for the organisation’s staff diversity targets, including working with the Talent team and EDI colleagues to improve diversity in our recruitment, manage development programmes that target staff from under-represented groups and build an inclusive culture where all staff can thrive. The workstream includes working with the Director of People to oversee the organisation’s reassessment against the National Equality Standard (NES) in 2025.
Lead on the design, delivery and analysis of the annual staff engagement survey. Track changes against previous surveys, identify key areas for improvement. Work with the Director of People to share results with leaders and staff and update the Culture and Inclusion Action Plan based on results.
Support the Director of People in strategic planning across People team delivery, ensuring that operational workstreams are meeting the needs of a growing business and appropriate reporting and actions plans are implemented. This includes regular SMG, ELT and Board level reporting and the shaping of an ongoing programme of delivery.
Work with the Director of People to ensure that all Premier League staff, regardless of their background or geographic location, feel connected to the Premier League and are considered in engagement delivery, with particular attention given to welcome new joiners to the business. This work will require close collaboration with the International Operations team, to ensure proactive connectivity with all international Premier League staff.

Requirements for the role

Extensive experience of operating in a senior position in a progressive People team (or similar cross-business role) where the delivery of programmes to improve company culture, drive forward growth and support staff development have played a key role
Experience of leading and managing others, providing appropriate levels of support and guidance in setting goals, providing feedback and ensuring smooth operations across team delivery
Experience of leading strategic and innovative People projects, particularly projects with a focus on diversity and inclusion, with expertise of designing solutions using data analytics and industry benchmarking
Strong knowledge of HR best practice that demonstrates sound judgement and a proactive and innovative approach to People support
An authentic leader who has a strong EDI orientation in their approach and mindset; and who is able to keep abreast of the latest trends and best practices in EDI
Excellent written and oral English, with an attention to detail throughout their work. This experience should include coverage across the drafting and production of high-level executive reports (e.g. Board reports and business proposals)
Strong interest in providing support to others and being a team player
Strong stakeholder management – you will be liaising with multiple stakeholders across all levels inside and outside the business
Be an ambassador for an organisation’s culture and creating a supportive and progressive environment for all staff
Empathetic and engaging in your communication style

The Premier League is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. All appointments will be made based on merit.

Our commitment to safeguarding includes implementing robust safer recruitment procedures to assess the suitability of individuals applying for roles that involve work with children and adults who are or may be at risk of harm. For further information, please see our Safer Recruitment Guidance.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 30 April 2025.

First round interviews will be held on 14 and 15 May 2025 and second round interviews will be held for successful candidates shortly after.

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