Fractional Chief People Officer

Premium Consumer Brand | Private Equity-Backed | Oxfordshire | Two Days per Week

A high-impact fractional appointment for a commercially minded people leader who can shape an organisation for its next phase of international growth.

We are partnering with an ambitious, design-led consumer business to appoint an experienced Fractional Chief People Officer. The company has established a strong international presence and is entering its next stage of growth. With an experienced HR Manager already overseeing the day-to-day people operation, the business now requires senior strategic leadership to ensure its organisation, leadership capability and workforce plan are aligned with its commercial ambitions.

Working closely with the founders and executive team, the Fractional CPO will provide strategic direction across organisational design, succession planning, leadership development, workforce planning and performance. This is not a role focused on building a large central HR function. Success will come through developing the existing team, enabling line managers and introducing practical, proportionate people processes that support growth while maintaining commercial discipline.

The Opportunity

·        Shape an organisational structure with clear accountabilities, sensible spans and layers, and the capability required to deliver the business plan.

·        Develop succession plans for critical roles and reduce key-person risk across the leadership team.

·        Create a consistent approach to objectives, performance, management and leadership across functions.

·        Coach senior leaders and managers, acting as a trusted sounding board and constructive challenger to the executive team.

·        Standardise core people processes across UK and international operations, including hiring, onboarding, probation, reward, progression and exit.

·        Build a commercially grounded workforce plan aligned to key milestones, with clear visibility of headcount cost, timing, ramp-up and return.

·        Improve the quality and consistency of people data, systems, documentation and reporting.

·        Work through the existing HR Manager and functional leaders to strengthen capability without creating unnecessary central infrastructure.

About You

·        You will be an experienced CPO, People Director or HR Director who combines strategic judgement with a practical, low-ego approach. You are likely to bring:

·        Senior people leadership experience within a business of comparable scale, ideally with international operations.

·        A track record of scaling or optimising an organisation through a defined growth phase.

·        Strong expertise in organisational design, resource planning, succession and performance frameworks.

·        Commercial and financial fluency, with the ability to frame people decisions in terms of investment, cost and return.

·        Credibility with founders and experienced executives, alongside the confidence to challenge constructively.

·        A pragmatic mindset and the ability to build the processes a growing business genuinely needs.

·        Experience in a consumer, direct-to-consumer, product-led or design-led environment would be advantageous, as would exposure to multi-country employment across the UK, US and Europe.

What Success Looks Like

·        A trusted, costed workforce plan linked directly to commercial milestones.

·        A clear organisational structure with stronger accountability and succession coverage for critical roles.

·        Managers who set objectives, run reviews and address performance in a consistent way.

·        A confident, well-led people function with clear priorities, reliable processes and useful management information.

The Detail

Commitment: Two days per week, ongoing Location: Oxfordshire

To apply, please submit your CV or contact the search consultant for a confidential conversation. All applications will be handled in strict confidence.