Interim Head of People & Culture (9-month fixed term contract)
Westminster, London (with hybrid working)

The Role

This is a high-impact opportunity for a high-calibre HR professional with the leadership skills and expertise to deliver change and support across our organisation at the highest levels.

As the Head of People & Culture, you will play a key leadership role in the creation of a workforce strategy, driving the implementation of a culture change plan, and embedding HR operational change. You will act as a trusted advisor to our interim CEO and senior leaders regarding workforce planning, organisational design, culture, and people-related risks, delivering a strategy that operational teams can achieve.

As a senior leader and strategic influencer, you will also oversee the delivery of core HR operations and lead change initiatives, guiding other leaders and managers through the change process with coaching and frameworks for support.

Your role will also involve:

- Leading and inspiring a team to deliver an agile, professional and people-centred service
- Developing a wider picture of the organisation, identifying current and future needs and designing interventions for growth and transformation
- Ensuring we are equipped with suitable and compliant policies, processes, and systems support
- Delivering best practice across recruitment, performance management, employee relations, reward, and retention
- Partaking in, and potentially leading, the delivery of strategic P&C projects and initiatives
- Developing and embedding frameworks for succession planning, talent management, and capability development
- Providing benchmarks across all areas of People & Culture

About You

To be considered as our Head of People & Culture, you will need:

- Experience leading and developing HR teams
- Experience of being a trusted leader of organisational change
- Proven leadership experience in managing departments and teams
- Strong background in navigating and advising on employee relations, including TUPE, restructures, redundancies, and other complex matters
- The ability to develop, motivate and nurture relationships across departments
- The ability to inspire and influence others across stakeholder groups, including staff, members and volunteers
- A customer-focused mindset, with excellent communication, facilitation and data-driven decision-making skills
- Strong knowledge of UK employment law, HR best practice, and safe recruitment processes
- A CIPD qualification or proven substantial equivalent work experience

The Benefits

- Salary of circa £70,000 per annum, depending on experience
- 28 days’ holiday per annum plus bank holidays
- Benefits, including stakeholder pension scheme, life assurance, birthday leave, and optional private health cover
- Other benefits as detailed in our generous and competitive benefits package

At a pivotal moment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), with your relevant people expertise and experience, you will gain the chance to influence organisational direction, strengthening your leadership portfolio at a strategic level through visible, significant work.

What’s more, although initially an interim role, for the right individual, there is the potential for this to become a permanent position where your impact will be maintained for the longer term, making this a career-defining appointment.

Other organisations may call this role Head of Human Resources (HR).

So, if you want to join us as our Interim Head of People & Culture, please apply via the button shown. The closing date for applications will be Sunday 22 February 2026.

Please note that due to this recruitment being time sensitive, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the vacancy may close early if sufficient applications are received. An immediate start will be available for the right candidate.

This vacancy is being advertised by Webrecruit. The services advertised by Webrecruit are those of an Employment Agency.

Webrecruit and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers are equal opportunities employers, value diversity and are strongly committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees and all applicants for employment. Equal opportunities are the only acceptable way to conduct business and we believe that the more inclusive our environments are, the better our work will be.

People and Culture Assistant
Birdcage Walk, London (with hybrid working)

About Us

With over 110,000 members in 140 countries, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) has been at the heart of the mechanical engineering profession since 1847. We strive to improve the world through engineering by developing engineers, promoting engineering, informing opinion and encouraging innovation.

We are proud to have achieved workplace accreditations - Invest in People Gold, and Invest in Wellbeing Silver. These awards reflect our organisation’s commitment to our employees, who are a vital part of supporting the engineering community.

We are now seeking a motivated People and Culture (P&C) Assistant to join us on a full time, permanent basis. This is a fantastic opportunity to become part of a dynamic, forward thinking team where your ideas are valued, your growth is supported, and your work truly makes an impact.

The Role

As a P&C Assistant, you will provide high-quality HR administration that underpins effective people support across our organisation.

Working closely with our P&C Business Partners and the wider team, you will manage the employee lifecycle from onboarding to offboarding, maintain accurate records, and act as a key point of contact for employee queries.

You will support inductions and training activity, keep documentation up to date, and ensure managers and employees receive timely, professional guidance aligned with policies and best practice.

Additionally, you will:

- Lead monthly our payroll administration, facilitating necessary reports and other payroll-related tasks such as annual P11d process
- Liaise with Finance and external auditors, supporting reporting, processing invoices and audit activity
- Act as an IRIS Cascade superuser, maintaining records, producing HR data-driven reports and providing guidance and training to managers and employees.
- Manage administrative tasks for new starters, leavers and employee-related changes.

About You

To be considered as a P&C Assistant, you will need:

- Experience leading administration within an HR and payroll environment
- Experience using HR Information Systems for administration and reporting purposes
- Experience using Microsoft Office products, including intermediate to advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills
- Experience achieving a high level of customer care in a customer-focused environment
- Good communication, organisational and time-management skills
- Good numeracy skills with attention to detail
- To be educated to GCSE level, at a minimum, with five passes, including English and Maths

The Benefits

- Salary of circa £33,000 per annum, depending on experience
- 26 days’ holiday per annum plus bank holidays
- Benefits, including stakeholder pension scheme, life assurance, birthday leave, and optional private health cover
- Other benefits as detailed in our generous and competitive benefits package

This is a terrific opportunity for a motivated, detail-driven HR administrator with solid payroll experience to join our people-centred organisation.

In return for your expertise, you will enjoy a supportive, hybrid working environment, strong wellbeing and people-first values, alongside the satisfaction of contributing to an organisation that exists to improve the world through engineering, while being genuinely invested in its people.

So, if you want to take the next step in your career and join us as our P&C Assistant, please apply via the button shown.

The closing date for this role is 20th February 2026. Due to this recruitment being time sensitive, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the vacancy may close early if sufficient applications are received. An immediate start will be available for the right candidate.

Other organisations may call this role HR Assistant, HR Administrator, Human Resources Assistant, Human Resources Co-ordinator, Payroll Assistant, People Assistant, or People Co-ordinator.

This vacancy is being advertised by Webrecruit. The services advertised by Webrecruit are those of an Employment Agency.

Webrecruit and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers are equal opportunities employers, value diversity and are strongly committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees and all applicants for employment. Equal opportunities are the only acceptable way to conduct business, and we believe that the more inclusive our environments are, the better our work will be.