Head of People - Retail

Vacancy Information

We have a fantastic opportunity to join the People Team at Greggs as Head of People supporting our Retail function. It is an exciting time of growth at Greggs with our ambition to grow to more than 3,000 shops in the UK. This role will play a key part in supporting our Retail teams to deliver this growth.   

Reporting into the People Director, this exciting national role involves leading an experienced Retail People and L&D team to deliver exceptional service and support to our Retail teams across our current estate of over 2,000 company managed shops and over 27,000 Retail colleagues.   

• Management Bonus Scheme which is worth up to 30% of your salary.  

• Profit share: We want everyone to share in the success of the business, so we distribute 10% of our profits to all our employees who have at least 6-month service, or more, each year 

• Company car or car allowance. 

• Private Medical Insurance which is free for you and subsidised for your dependents. 

• Permanent Health Insurance which is a replacement income scheme. 

• You will automatically join our Greggs defined contribution pension scheme which is a fantastic way to save for your retirement and allows you to benefit from employer contributions and tax advantages. 

• Share save schemes that let you buy discounted Greggs shares, by saving a set amount of money over a fixed time, to have an even bigger share of our profits. 

• Death in service benefit which provides a lump-sum payment equal to 4 times your year’s salary. 

• Colleague discount, up to 50% off our own-produced products. 

• 25 days (5 weeks) annual leave, pro-rated, increasing with service (in addition to bank holidays), plus 1 additional floating day. 

• Employee Assistance Programme; A free, confidential helpline, offering advice and support with financial, relationship, work-related and wellbeing issues, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Including a mobile app providing a range of wellness content on physical, mental, social, and financial wellbeing. 

• Perks and savings, such as digital gift card discounts, online cashback, in-store and online coupons and lifestyle offers. 

• A company who cares about our communities; the environment and being a better business! Click here to read about The Greggs Pledge 

• Colleague Networks – internal groups where colleagues and their allies can share their own experiences, offer feedback on the way we do things at Greggs, and provide support to one another.

What you'll do

• You will lead on the development of the Retail People and L&D plan and act as a key business partner to our Retail Director.       

• Hold accountability for the development and achievement of the Retail People plan and provide professional advice and guidance to support the Retail leadership team. Ensure the Retail People plan effectively supports initiatives to meet business objectives.   

• Be responsible for the application of consistent employee relations and effective case management. Support and nurture union relationships and structures.   

• Take ownership for Retail colleague engagement ensuring effective action plans are in place and a colleague listening strategy is fully implemented.    

• Ensure the Retail People team are fully engaged in our diversity, inclusion and wellbeing initiatives, taking ownership of these initiatives across colleague base.   

• Develop and drive effective learning & development plans, succession planning and performance management activities to meet current and future business needs.  

• Ensures effective structures and resourcing plans are in place to meet the current and future Retail requirements.    

• Own the development of Retail people policies.   

• Lead the team in line with the Greggs values and culture. Promoting a supportive and inclusive culture of leadership and responsibility, ensuring the team has clear objectives, regular reviews and personal development plans.  

• Build strong and positive relationships with all areas of the People Team to ensure an effective and high performing team,  contributing to the development of the broader people and L&D agenda.  

About you

We are looking for an experienced people professional who is an empathetic and values driven leader. Highly experienced, with drive and resilience who can engage with people at all levels in the business and can demonstrate: 

• A strategic approach with the ability to manage and influence senior stakeholders in the business and a proven ability to manage through change.    

• Experience in complex and high volume employee relations issues including discipline and grievance.   

• Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills with the ability to remain calm under pressure.   

• Exceptional planning and organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks and stakeholders simultaneously.  

• Proven track record of leading and managing multi-site teams and business partnering at a senior level.  

• Past exposure to formal Trade Union relationships would be beneficial.  

• CIPD or equivalent qualification.  

• Experience of developing and supporting an inclusive culture – recognising and valuing that difference is good.

About Greggs

Here at Greggs, we love what we do, and we have fun! What makes Greggs so special is our culture – the way we are, the way we behave and the way we support each other. We're hard-working, but above all else we're family; and it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from or what your favourite bake is, we’d love you to join us! We want everyone to feel welcome at Greggs and our colleagues to be able to be themselves at work, whatever their background, preferences, or views.