Director of People

Application Deadline: 27 July 2026

Department: People

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Chilcomb

Reporting To: Paul Sapwell

Compensation: £70,000 / year

Description

Level: 1

Salary: £70,000 FTE
Location: Chilcomb House, Winchester

Hours: 37 hours per week. We are willing to consider applications for part-time working (80%) and hybrid working across Hampshire.

Type of Contract: Permanent

Change Lives Through Culture by Leading our Most Valuable Asset – Our People

Hampshire Cultural Trust runs 20 museums, galleries and arts centres across the county, caring for 2.5 million historic objects and welcoming over 750k visitors a year. But we are far more than our buildings and collections. We use culture to genuinely improve people’s lives through social impact programmes, community partnerships, work with children and young people, and experiences that improve health and wellbeing. We are an independent charity with regional scale, a bold 2030 growth strategy, and a simple but powerful purpose: to change lives through culture.

With our Make your Mark employer brand and our HCT 2030 strategy now established, we need an exceptional Director of People and Culture to lead our most important asset - our people. You will work at the heart of our executive team, helping 170 employees and +500 volunteers thrive, grow and make their mark.

A bit about you

You will:

Shape Strategy: Align our people strategy with HCT 2030 – supporting social impact, commercial growth and fundraising ambitions in equal measure
Empower Leaders: Coach senior executives and managers to build resilient, customer centric, high performing teams
Drive Experience: Develop our full talent lifecycle, from onboarding, continuous engagement and personal development and continue to build our employer brand
Nurture Well-Being: Safeguard employee mental health, manage balanced workloads, and ensure a fulfilling work environment
Deliver Basic Building Blocks of HR: Ensure legal compliance and robust governance of our policies and standard operating practices, balancing this with the continued development our employee and volunteer ‘offer’

We need a:

Strategic Leader: Proven success managing HR at a senior or director level within complex, customer-facing or charitable sector, able to be an active participant in our executive leadership team and Trustee board
Commercially Minded: Comfortable blending mission-led, charitable values with agile, commercial growth strategies
Inspirational Communicator: Exceptional relationship builder skilled at collaborating with executives, trustees, and diverse frontline staff
Culture Builder: Expert in talent development and employee engagement
Subject Matter Expert: In HR, learning and development, and staff engagement

Ready to Make your Mark?

If you want to find out more, you can view our 2030 strategy at HCT 2030 | Hampshire Cultural Trust and explore details of working for the Hampshire Culture Trust at Work for us | Hampshire Cultural Trust.

Who we are

At Hampshire Cultural Trust we have a vision to create inspirational culture experiences that enrich and transform lives. We manage and support 20+ attractions and deliver county-wide outreach programmes that bring great culture to local communities. We also deliver a diverse range of wider social impact initiatives targeted at those who are most vulnerable or disadvantaged and who would not usually have access to arts and culture.

We promote equity, inclusion and diversity and a culture that actively values difference. We recognise that people from different backgrounds and experiences can enhance the way we perform and work and we encourage and support the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our staff.

We are inclusive, valuing, and respectful of diversity, developing the ability to recruit and retain a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Therefore, we are committed to implementing reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities in our recruitment process and in employment.

The benefits of working for us

25 days annual leave + bank holidays (pro-rated for part time working)
7.5% Employer pension contributions
Generous occupational maternity, adoption and paternity pay
Enhanced occupational sick pay
Generous compassionate leave scheme
Paid emergency leave
Industry leading Employee Assistance Programme
Access to same day GP appointments for employees and their immediate family
Octopus Electric Vehicle Lease Scheme (terms and conditions apply)
Income Protections Scheme (terms and conditions apply)
Life assurance scheme (x3 annual salary)
Interest-free Season ticket loans and travel loans from first day of employment
Charity Worker Discounts Scheme (savings on retail, leisure, groceries, travel etc.)
Access to free eye tests and vouchers towards glasses for VDU use
Free flu vaccination vouchers
Cycle to Work Scheme
Health Cash Plan (cashback on dental, optical, medical for monthly subscription cost)
Opportunities to learn, develop and progress
Free tea and coffee
Team Card - Free access to venues for friends and family, and discounts across café and retail

Timeframes

We will be running a dynamic recruitment process so we would encourage candidates to submit an application as soon as possible as we will be interviewing candidates before the closing date.

To apply please fill in the application form, we would encourage a covering letter for this position around your context for applying and why you would excel in the position.

Closing date for applications: 27 July 2026

To find out more about us visit our website www.hampshireculture.org.uk and https://careers.hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk/

If you have any queries relating to the recruitment process, email people@hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk or call our enquiries line on 01962 398412.

Who we are

The benefits of working for us

Timeframes

About Hampshire Cultural Trust

Documents