Job Specifications
As the Head of People Partnering, you will be at the heart of the Training Ground’s People function - leading the people partnering team to deliver a top-tier strategic and operational people service across all departments.
You will act as a senior advisor and trusted partner to executive and departmental leadership, ensuring people solutions are aligned to business performance, talent needs, and the club’s strategic goals. You will blend data analytics, employee experience, operational effectiveness, and leadership development to deliver impact and shape the future of our people agenda.
This is a highly visible, influential role, designed for a proactive, client-focused leader who thrives on partnering with diverse teams in a fast-paced, performance and winning environment.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Business Partnering
Lead the People Partnering team to deliver proactive and high-impact people services across the Men’s and Women’s first teams and Academies.
Embed a culture of strategic people business partnering, ensuring all people plans are aligned with business priorities and performance targets.
Act as the key conduit between the People function and department leads, driving engagement and influencing leadership thinking on workforce planning, performance, and talent strategies.
Partner with senior leadership and the Finance team to oversee people budgets, workforce planning, and organisational design needs.
Client Focus & Relationship Management
Build and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with sporting department heads and senior stakeholders, providing expert guidance on all people-related activities, challenges, and opportunities.
Actively engage with business units to understand their operational needs, acting as a thought partner in the design and implementation of people solutions.
Translate business insights into people initiatives and ensure seamless execution and follow-through.
Organisational Design & Change Leadership
Lead the design of structures aligned to business strategy and future needs.
Partner with senior leaders on restructures and transformation initiatives.
Own end-to-end change delivery with a focus on communication, engagement, and risk.
Embed a people-first approach while driving performance outcomes.
Support leaders through change, capability shifts, and cultural alignment.
Team Leadership & Development
Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing People Partner and future direct reports
Drive a culture of continuous improvement, service excellence, and accountability within the partnering team.
Champion inclusion, leadership capability, and learning across the people team and broader business.
Data Analytics & Strategic Workforce Insights
Use people data and insights to identify trends, risks, and opportunities across departments.
Develop and implement data-driven objectives that support business and people performance outcomes.
Translate workforce analytics into strategic actions that drive engagement, performance, and retention.
Talent Development & Organisational Effectiveness
Collaborate with the Talent & Development team to design and implement leadership and development programmes that strengthen capability and succession.
Support performance management and talent calibration processes to ensure high performance and future readiness across teams.
Contribute to employee engagement initiatives and culture-building activities across the Club.
HR Operations & Policy Implementation
Work closely with People Operations to support the roll-out of policy updates, process changes, and compliance requirements.
Provide operational oversight and ensure excellence in delivery across all people processes and employee life-cycle events.
Support resolution of complex employee relations matters with a strategic and compliant approach.
Talent Acquisition Partnership
Collaborate with the Talent Acquisition team to understand workforce needs, shaping recruitment strategies and ensuring alignment with longer-term talent pipelines.
Support proactive succession planning and internal mobility strategies to build capability club wide
Key Measures of Success
Alignment of people strategies with business priorities and operational needs.
Quality and consistency of people service delivery across departments.
Impactful people insights and data-led interventions.
Strength of stakeholder relationships and feedback from business leaders.
Team engagement and development within the People Partnering function.
Effective delivery of people programmes in partnership with Talent, L&D, and People Ops.
Skills, Experience & Knowledge
Essential:
Proven experience in a senior HR Business Partner or Head of People Partnering role.
Demonstrated leadership of an HR partnering team in a complex, multi-functional environment.
Strategic thinker with a deep understanding of organisational dynamics, performance management, and workforce planning.
Strong analytical skills wi
About the Company
Chelsea Football Club, with over a century of rich sporting heritage, has paved the way for a superior collection of hospitality, events and leisure facilities all at one venue. Boasting 25 function rooms and 60 syndicate rooms, alongside two hotels, a sports bar and grill, a music venue, the Chelsea FC Museum, megastore, ticket office and a luxury health club and spa all found at London's most complete venue, Stamford Bridge.
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