Head of IR & Policy

We are looking for a Head of IR & Policy role to lead industrial relations, employee representation and HR policy to  join our Colleague Experience & HR Operations team. If you are someone with experience or interest in these areas, this is a fantastic opportunity to shape, evolve and embed a sustainable employee representation framework.  Where you will build constructive relationships and provide clear direction on complex colleague matters and help influence a key component of our colleague offering.  

Job Type:  Permanent 

Location: Hybrid.  This is a hybrid role, travel expected to support face to face time with the team, most likely in Edinburgh, Birmingham or London.

Flexible working: All roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about flexible working here.

Closing Date: 23rd November 2026

Salary and benefits: Salary of up to £100k depending on level of experience, plus an indicative bonus range of 30-60%, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, up to 12% employer pension contribution, income protection, 3 x volunteering days and much more. 

Who are we? 

We’re Standard Life, a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement savings and income. We champion the belief that everyone’s journey to and through retirement can be better, and for more than 200 years, we’ve been helping our customers plan and prepare for their financial futures.

Life today is increasingly complicated, uncertain and unpredictable. People move through different careers, face unexpected moments and navigate important choices. We offer our colleagues flexibility, trust and benefits that work for whatever life brings. In return we expect curiosity, connection, accountability and high standards. We make room for what matters - so you can bring your best, every day.

The role  

As part of our Colleague Experience & HR Operations Leadership team, you will shape our approach to industrial relations, colleague representation and HR policies.  Putting partnership at the heart of how we work.  You will build trusted relationships with colleague representatives and senior leaders, strengthening colleague voice and constructive dialogue to support out business ambitions. 

You will own our policy strategy, ensuring our employment policies are market leading, clear and practical and importantly that they reflect our culture and evolve with business needs and changes in legislation.  Working collaboratively across the business, you will connect policy and colleague representation to our wider strategy. 

You will lead strategic collective consultation and complex collective matters, brining stakeholders together to work through challenges and achieve balanced, timely outcomes.   To do this you will provide strategic direction, sound governance and constructive challenge which balances business priorities and colleague outcomes. 

What are we looking for?

• An inclusive and collaborative leader who brings clarity to ambiguity, leads through others, taking shared accountability for business and colleague outcomes. 
• Strong partnership and influencing experience where you can demonstrate the ability to build trusted relationships which enable constructive challenge with the ability to reach a clear conclusion / outcome. 
• Strong track record or experience in industrial relations, colleague representation and employment policy, with the ability to translate business priorities and legislative developments into a clear, forward-looking strategy
• Someone with a track record of turning strategy into practical action, engaging with a breadth of internal and external stakeholders to achieve business outcomes.
• Proven ability to take complex and highly confidential matters and shape clear and practical deliverables, by using insight, feedback and experience to create focus and continual improvement

• Strong experience of providing trusted advice on complex and sensitive matters, underpinned by a strength of experience in industrial relations or employee representation.

  Desirable:

• Experience within Financial Services or another highly regulated environment.
• Experience of working within a unionised environment and engaging with trade unions.

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you. 

 If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best. 

We’re reviewing applications as they come in and may close this role before the closing date, so apply early to avoid missing out.

Find out more about working at Standard Life

• Guide for Candidates: standardlifeplc.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates
• Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.standardlifeplc.com/careers/talk-to-us

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