Head of People HOP0726

Location

Hybrid with minimum 8 office days per month in either London or Leeds office

Salary

£60,000 - £65,000

Application Deadline

Friday, July 31, 2026

BookTrust

BookTrust is the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. We get millions of children reading, regularly and by choice - especially those from low-income families or vulnerable backgrounds.

Each year we get millions of children and families reading. This is so they can access the life changing benefits that reading regularly brings, helping children to: overcome disadvantage; develop better mental wellbeing, social skills and strong relationships; do better at school; and develop imagination, empathy and creativity.

We deliver our mission through evidence-based interventions that reach over 1.4 million children and families a year. Our carefully selected books and well-researched programmes are delivered by a network of over 7,000 local partners, bringing the magic of reading to children in every community in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We deliver this at national scale with a team of around 100 people. That mix shapes how we work in that we are ambitious and far-reaching in what we set out to do, but small, close-knit and drawn from a wide range of backgrounds in terms of how we actually deliver.

Want to join us? Find out more about who we are at:

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/work-at-booktrust/

Job Summary

The role will be a key partner to the Executive Leadership Team and Heads of Department, coaching, enabling and strengthening people leadership across the organisation. The Head of People will lead and develop BookTrust’s HR function, with a strong focus on day-to-day operational delivery alongside key elements of our organisational development, particularly people development, and is a key contributor to our culture, embedding the values and behaviours and ways of working that shape how decisions get made and how it feels to work here.

We need a pragmatic, solutions focused leader who can simplify where appropriate, keep us focused on the priorities that matter, and ensure legal compliance and good people practice, rather than adding process or complexity.

The role will also contribute to BookTrust’s internal narrative, acting as a strong voice in explaining BookTrust and helping staff understand our direction, priorities and the context for change. Through periods of change, the Head of People will help us think about how to get the best out of our people.

For further information, please see the attached Job Description.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity

We aim to provide an inclusive recruitment process and actively welcome applications from diverse talent pools: minority ethnic candidates, candidates with disabilities and long-term conditions and candidates from underrepresented communities.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and want to ensure we have an accessible application process for all candidates. If you need any reasonable adjustments or would like us to do anything differently during the application process, please contact our HR team on

HR@booktrust.org.ukto discuss your requirements further.

BookTrust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The recruitment and selection process reflect our commitment to safeguarding therefore, the suitability of all prospective employees will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment, and pre-employment checks.

Job Profile

Job Profile document