Job Description: Head of People & Culture
Position Overview
- Job Title: Head of People & Culture
- Reports To: Managing Director
- Location: Warrington Birchwood
- Position Type: Full-time
Role Purpose
As the Head of People, you will sit on the Leadership Team and report directly to the Board of Directors. You will own the entire employee lifecycle end-to-end, balancing high-level business strategy with hands-on execution. You will drive talent acquisition, shape company culture, ensure strict HR compliance, and act as a trusted advisor to the leadership team during our next phase of growth.
This role is the first of its kind in the business and will require a person with significant experience in operating in an environment where processes need to be established and developed to meet the objectives of the role. Up to now, people matters have been handled the way they are in most businesses our size — a bit by the Directors, or whoever had capacity and outsourced consultancy. That's got us this far but won't get us through what's next.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Advisory
- Partner with the Board to align the people strategy with overall business goals.
- Sit on the leadership team to provide data-driven insights on organizational design.
- Coach and advise managers on leadership, performance management, and team dynamics.
- Manage and optimize the annual People budget.
End-to-End Talent Acquisition
- Own the full recruitment lifecycle from forecasting to offer execution.
- Build a strong employer brand to attract top talent in our industry.
- Source candidates directly to reduce reliance on external recruitment agencies.
- Design and oversee a world-class onboarding and integration process.
- Develop talent pipeline
Culture & Employee Experience
- Define, champion, and embed company values into daily operations.
- Design initiatives that boost employee engagement, retention, and morale.
- Implement performance management frameworks that drive growth and accountability.
- Lead Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the business.
- Embedding our company values: Trust, Collaboration, Ethical and Accountability.
HR Operations & Compliance
- Maintain comprehensive knowledge of local employment laws and regulations.
- Audit, update, and enforce the employee handbook and company policies.
- Oversee HR administration, payroll inputs, and benefits management.
- Manage employee relations, including conflict resolution and grievance procedures.
Competency framework
- Ensure a robust training and development framework is in place across all roles
- Ensure all team members have personal development plans in place which are regularly monitored and updated with managers
- Monitor and support apprentices across the business
- Seek out opportunities for grant funding and training opportunities
Qualifications & Experience
- Experience: 5+ years of HR experience, ideally as a standalone HR Generalist or Manager in an SME or scaling startup.
- Leadership: Proven experience contributing to leadership-level business strategy.
- Compliance: Deep knowledge of employment law and HR compliance standards.
- Recruitment: Track record of scaling teams through direct end-to-end sourcing.
- Skills: Strong emotional intelligence, exceptional communication, and a commercial mindset.
- Tools: Proficiency with modern HRIS and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) - Breathe HR
- CIPD: Level 5 to 7 or equivalent
What you will get:
Working Hours: 37.5 between, half hour unpaid lunch between 8.00 and 17.00
32 days holiday (including bank holidays and your birthday off)
Royal London pension (salary sacrifice)
Simply Health cashback plan
Death in service cover
Health & wellbeing programme
Private healthcare
Working Hours: 37.5 hours flexible between 8.00 and 17.00 with half hour unpaid lunch
Career development opportunities in a growing company
More about us:
We're a family-run mechanical and electrical engineering business, 36 years in, still owned by the people who built it. Around 50 people now, across four business units — HVAC Projects, Electrical, Air Conditioning, and Service & Maintenance.
B-engineering is a proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals.
Pay: £42,000.00-£52,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
