People Manager

About the company

Vivienne Westwood is a celebrated British fashion house known for its cultural influence, creative approach, and long-standing legacy. The brand is guided by four core principles: Gaia, Quality not Quantity, Activism, and Culture & Heritage. It places strong emphasis on people, sustainability, and innovation.

Role summary

The People Manager will oversee the effectiveness of the People function and report directly to the Global HR Director. This role combines strategic partnership with day-to-day operational leadership, supporting a generalist People team. The position works closely with senior leaders across the business to provide expert advice on employee relations, organisational change, workforce planning, performance, reward, wellbeing, and People operations. It also supports the Global HR Director on key priorities, complex matters, and wider strategic projects.

Key responsibilities

The role is focused on ensuring consistently strong People practices across the full employee journey within a creative business environment.

Strategic People leadership

• Help the Global HR Director develop and execute the People strategy, acting as a senior sounding board on organisation design, workforce planning, People risk, and culture.
• Convert strategic priorities into actionable People plans, using data, metrics, and insights to guide decision-making and delivery.

HR operations, governance, and employee relations

• Take ownership of consistent and compliant delivery across the employee lifecycle, making sure People policies and practices align with UK employment law and good practice.
• Oversee the People team’s operational delivery for contracts, onboarding, offboarding, recruitment, systems, data accuracy, reporting, and internal communications, maintaining quality standards and alignment with workforce plans.
• Lead complex and sensitive employee relations cases, including investigations, disciplinary matters, grievances, performance concerns, absence management, and organisational change.

Performance and capability

• Ensure the People team supports effective performance and capability processes, including probation reviews, performance appraisals, and improvement plans.
• Lead the creation and rollout of internal training programmes, ensuring they match business requirements and capability gaps.
• Manage the learning management system, including content updates, reporting, compliance monitoring, and ongoing improvements.
• Coordinate with external training providers, balancing quality, cost effectiveness, and alignment with development priorities.
• Provide managers with practical guidance, training, and tools to handle performance issues well, while maintaining oversight of team quality and audit readiness.

Payroll and reward

• Ensure People data and reward inputs are delivered accurately and on time to Finance and Payroll, with proper checks and controls in place.
• Oversee administration of approved pay, bonus, and retail commission structures, making sure calculation inputs are complete and correct.
• Work closely with Finance and the Payroll Manager to resolve issues, reduce risk, and support smooth payroll and commission processing.

Wellbeing, risk, and compliance

• Support the People team in handling health-related matters such as disability, reasonable adjustments, occupational health referrals, and Equality Act considerations, with fair and compliant outcomes.
• Make sure there are suitable frameworks and guidance to support wellbeing, inclusion, and management of health-related risk.
• Partner with Office Management on People-related risk and health and safety matters.
• Contribute to audits, risk reviews, and ongoing improvement of People governance and compliance.

CSR and early careers

• Ensure People support for CSR initiatives is delivered effectively through the People Leads, including workforce data, policy alignment, and employee volunteering coordination.
• Maintain accuracy and integrity of People data used for sustainability and reporting purposes.
• Oversee operational delivery of early careers and educational programmes, including the intern programme and related development activity.

Stakeholder and advisory management

• Partner with senior stakeholders and cross-functional leaders across the UK, EU, US, and Thailand to support People initiatives, change activity, and risk mitigation.
• Manage external People advisers such as legal counsel and specialist consultants, ensuring the right support is in place for complex cases, compliance, and transformation work.

People team leadership

• Lead and line manage the People team, setting clear priorities, standards, and accountability while keeping delivery aligned with the Director’s direction.
• Oversee team output across all People areas, providing guidance, quality assurance, and escalation management where needed.
• Build team capability in employee relations, stakeholder management, and practical problem-solving, balancing delegation with hands-on support when required.
• Take on other ad hoc tasks and projects as needed.

Profile and key skills

The ideal candidate will bring substantial generalist HR experience in a complex organisation, along with strong leadership, advisory, and operational capability.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of experience in a senior generalist HR or People role within a complex or multi-disciplinary organisation.
• Strong track record of handling complex employee relations, organisational change, and People risk.
• Experience managing the full employee lifecycle, HR operations, and People governance.
• Proven ability to lead and develop HR or People teams, including delegation, coaching, and quality control.
• Excellent communication skills with the confidence to influence, challenge, and give practical advice to senior stakeholders and managers.
• Ability to stay adaptable and resilient while handling competing priorities and changing business needs.
• Good working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Experience with reward, payroll, benefits, and performance frameworks, including governance and controls.
• Exposure to immigration, right-to-work, and sponsorship processes.
• Strong stakeholder management skills across functions and regions.
• Comfort using People data, systems, and reporting to support decisions and improve capability.

Benefits

• Employee discounts.
• Health and wellbeing support, including private medical insurance, employee assistance programme access, gym discounts, and financial planning services.
• Perkbox discounts and wellness hub access.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Generous annual leave.
• Pension scheme.
• Training and hands-on experience.
• Opportunities to build new skills and gain valuable industry knowledge.

Additional information

Applications are reviewed continuously, so early submission is encouraged.

The employer is committed to equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion, and does not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on protected characteristics under local law.

The organisation states that its work is guided by its four values: Gaia, Quality not Quantity, Activism, and Culture & Heritage. These values influence its approach to products, design decisions, workplace behaviour, sustainability, craftsmanship, community engagement, and the promotion of positive activism.

The brand also uses its collections, collaborations, and catwalk shows to encourage awareness around overconsumption, support better-quality purchasing habits, and keep heritage, craft, and tradition alive through innovative design.