Head of People and Culture Business Partner

Welcome to KFC

Take one man with a big idea, add 11 herbs and spices, grit, ambition, and buckets of heart – you’ve got KFC. Since 1939, we’ve been bringing finger lickin’ good chicken to the world, and today we’re proud to be in over 1000 communities across the UK & Ireland. But without our people, none of it would be possible. Just like our recipe, they’re all original. Join us. Bring it. And together, we can be part of something truly extraordinary.

Bringing it to the role

We are looking for a Head of People & Culture Business Partner (Head Office or Restaurant Support Centre to us) to join us at Team KFC. So, if you put people at the heart of what you do and are motivated to drive results through talent management, organisational effectiveness and culture, we want to hear from you! The Head of People & Culture Business Partner plays a crucial role in the execution of our People & Culture Strategy. In this position, you’ll partner with C-suite business leaders and their functions at our Restaurant Support Centre (RSC) to align organisational and functional strategies, goals and priorities with our vision and values. You’ll advise and coach managers and employees in all aspects of the employee life cycle. Not only will you have the chance to support as a broad generalist, you will also drive key people priorities by partnering with our Centre of Excellence teams in Talent Development, Reward and Employee Engagement making KFC an even better place to work. You are a people person in the truest sense of the meaning, so you understand that when supporting people, it is essential you treat people as people, not just a resource. You rebel against boring ‘HR’ norms, you are obsessive about the experience we provide. And best of all you’ll also get the opportunity to be a coach (what we call line managers here). Most of all, you have fun while you do it, because it’s more than just a job. This is a hybrid role and will be based in our RSC in Woking 2 days a week.

Buckets Of Benefits

• Flexible, hybrid working with our Restaurant Support Centre located in Woking, Surrey – a 24-minute train ride from London Waterloo. Depending on job requirement, travel across the UK & Ireland may be required.
• Generous pension with up to 11% company contribution.
• ‘Fri-Yay’ time – finish up at 1pm every Friday, all year round.
• Live Well Days - 5 days per year to disconnect from our day-to-day (in addition to 25 days annual leave and bank holidays).
• You can buy or sell up to 5 extra days of your core annual leave allowance each year.
• After 5 years’ service, annual holiday allowance increases to 30 days.
• Bonus – We work hard and do our best work to succeed together. When the company and individual goals are reached, you’ll be rewarded through our bonus scheme.
• Wellness– We want you to be your best self, so you’ll have access to lots of wellbeing initiatives and programmes, including Telus Health, and 1:1 Mental Health coaching sessions with our partner Sanctus.
• Private healthcare, including access to Digital GP, with the option to increase to include family cover.
• Flexible and Voluntary benefits including Dental Insurance, Health Screening and Gym Discounts.
• Insurances – All colleagues are covered by our life and income protection insurance which provides protection and peace of mind.
• Study Support may be available for job-related qualifications.
• Parental Leave – We offer enhanced paid leave and flexible return to work options for those important times.
• Colleague Discount – If you love KFC as much as we do, you’ll received a 25% discount.

Our Commitment to You

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do our teams. We value, support, and celebrate the things that make Team KFC authentic and original and all candidates – regardless of age, background, ethnicity, gender, ability, religion, or sexual orientation. We welcome applications from underrepresented groups in our industry such as women, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities and members of the LGBTQ+ community. To make your journey with us accessible and tailored to your needs, we encourage you to let us know if you'd like any additional support with your application, have a disability or condition that may affect your performance during your recruitment process, or any other requirements.

What you’ll do

Enterprise Leadership & Strategy

• Partner with functional leaders to shape and deliver the people strategy, ensuring broad alignment to commercial priorities, growth ambitions, and long-term capability needs
• Partner with senior leadership to shape organisation design, capability, and workforce strategy
• Translate strategy into clear, prioritised execution plans that drive measurable business outcomes
• Act as a key member of the P&C leadership team, contributing beyond people topics

Executive Partnering & Influence

• Act as a trusted advisor to C-suite and senior leaders, providing challenge, insight, and perspective
• Drive high-quality decision making through data, insight, and strong judgment
• Hold leaders to account on talent, performance, and culture standards
• Navigate complex, high-stakes decisions with credibility and confidence

Organisation & Talent Leadership

• Lead organisation design and workforce planning, ensuring the business is structured for performance, scale and the future
• Build and embed a robust talent architecture (succession, performance, development, mobility)
• Raise the bar on leadership capability and accountability across the organisation
• Make and support tough people decisions where needed to drive performance

Culture & Performance

• Shape and embed a high-performance, values-led culture across the RSC
• Ensure culture is driven through leadership behaviour, not just programmes
• Use engagement and inclusion insights to drive targeted, meaningful actionChampion a best-in-class employee experience that supports performance and retention

Transformation & Change

• Shape and drive enterprise-wide change and transformation initiatives (ex: growth, ways of working)
• Ensure disciplined execution, clear communication, and strong adoption of initiatives
• Anticipate future capability needs and build the organisation ahead of demand

Become an Employee Champion acting as a key contact for our teams through;

• Building strong relationships with employees and coaches across the RSC and be a culture leader
• Bringing the outside in and listening to our people to design and embed new ways of working, policies and practices for our RSC team that maximise team and individual productivity
• Coaching our people to continually deliver exceptional performance that they feel proud of and support talent mobility
• Team player- Strong interpersonal and teamwork skills. Collaborative nature, willing to work constructively with input from coaches and peers. Intellectual curiosity and great judgement skills.

Experience

What we'd love from you

10+ years of business partnering experience in a People and Culture Generalist role at a senior level

• Demonstrated experience in influencing senior management and leadership teams, and ability to strategically solve problems
• Strong coaching and facilitation skills experience
• ER experience and knowledge of existing and upcoming employment legislation
• Self-starter & ability to navigate- Ability to multi-task, manage own workload, comfortable with dealing with ambiguity and working with a high degree of autonomy to deliver results
• Talent Architecture & Succession Planning - Building strong leadership pipelines
• Global mobility a plus

Be Original

At KFC, everyone gets a seat at our table. Since we landed in the UK in 1965, we’ve fed our people’s potential - to be their best selves, make a difference and have fun.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Because it’s not just what you do at KFC. It’s the way you do it. Unapologetically you, undeniably original.

You’ll work with colleagues who all bring their originality to the table: their energy, spirit and sizzle and make every day high flyin’ and high fryin’.

As a multi-billion-pound business with over 1000 restaurants, we take ambition seriously. You’ll be treated with respect and supported in everything you do as you roll up your sleeves and play your part in bringing finger lickin’ good chicken to our customers. And whatever your journey looks like, we’ll help you get there. From flexible working to the chance to earn qualifications, we got you. There are all kinds of opportunities at KFC.

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