Head of People & Culture - Children's Residential Social Care

Department: People & Culture

Reports To: CEO

Location: Dublin or Kilkenny office with national travel required

Weekly Hours: 40

Holiday Entitlement: 25 days p.a.

At Odyssey Social Care, we are dedicated to delivering high-quality, trauma-informed residential care for young people across Ireland. As part of the Broadlake Group, we are on an ambitious growth journey focused on creating positive impact for young people, our employees, and the communities we serve.

We are now seeking an exceptional Head of People & Culture to join our Executive Leadership Team. This is a strategic leadership role offering the opportunity to influence organisational growth, culture, talent, and employee experience at a critical stage of our development.

Reporting directly to the CEO, you will lead the People & Culture function, ensuring our people strategy supports sustainable growth, regulatory excellence, and an outstanding employee experience across the organisation.

About the Role

As Head of People & Culture, you will:

• Lead and deliver the People & Culture strategy aligned with organisational goals and growth ambitions.

• Partner with the CEO, Executive Team, and Board on workforce planning, organisational design, succession planning, and leadership development.

• Drive employee engagement, retention, wellbeing, inclusion, and culture initiatives.

• Lead HR governance, compliance, employee relations, and best practice people management.

• Support organisational growth through workforce planning, talent management, and leadership capability development.

• Oversee learning and development programmes, career pathways, and employee development initiatives.

• Champion digital transformation across People & Culture systems and processes.

• Lead Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), ESG, and positive impact initiatives.

• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including regulatory bodies and sector partners.

What We're Looking For

Essential

• Significant senior HR/People leadership experience within a complex, regulated, or values-led organisation.

• Experience operating at Executive Leadership Team level and partnering directly with CEOs and Boards.

• Proven success leading organisational change, culture development, and workforce planning initiatives.

• Strong knowledge of Irish employment legislation and HR governance requirements.

• Experience using people data and analytics to influence decision-making.

• Experience leading digital HR transformation projects.

• Demonstrated success developing and implementing DEI strategies.

• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.

Desirable

• Experience within social care, healthcare, or other regulated sectors.

• Experience working across multi-site or group organisations.

• Background in organisational development, coaching, learning, or behavioural change.

• Experience supporting ESG, sustainability, or B Corp-related initiatives.

• Experience managing international talent and diverse workforces.

What You Will Bring

We are looking for someone who is:

• Values-driven and people-focused

• Strategic and commercially aware

• Influential, credible, and collaborative

• Passionate about inclusion, wellbeing, and employee experience

• Committed to developing people and enabling organisational success

• Comfortable leading through change in a fast-paced growth environment