Experienced professional job search

Alternatively, Grant Thornton

At Grant Thornton we do things differently - looking to the future, driving ambitious growth and pioneering positive change in our industry. Providing audit, tax and advisory services, we empower clients through strategic insight, curiosity, and genuine partnership. And we empower our people with real opportunity, an inclusive culture and work life balance. A true alternative.

With over 5,000 people in the UK, and a presence in 150 global markets, we're on an ambitious journey, from great to exceptional, and we need the best people to help us achieve our potential. And with that comes the opportunity to help redefine what our industry looks like, and what you want from your career.

Job Description:

Chief of Staff – Chief People Officer

NEW GROUND WON’T BREAK ITSELF.

The Chief of Staff will provide high‑impact support to the Chief People Officer (CPO), ensuring effective delivery of the CPO’s strategic priorities. Working closely with the CPO’s leadership team, the role focuses on clarity, prioritisation and disciplined execution, enabling the CPO to concentrate on firm‑wide outcomes.

This position is ideal for an experienced senior manager, with potential to progress to director level.

A look into the role

As a strategic partner to the Chief People Officer (CPO), this role acts as an extension of their leadership, shaping priorities, structuring key decisions and ensuring focus on the most important People & Culture outcomes. You will drive delivery of major transformation initiatives, oversee governance and SLT engagement, and maintain strong cross‑functional alignment across People Operations, Resourcing, Learning and Centres of Excellence. A key part of the role is translating workforce data and trends into clear, compelling executive insight for senior audiences.

The role also manages the flow of priorities and issues to the CPO, filtering and resolving matters where possible, anticipating risks and ensuring the CPO is fully prepared on critical topics. You will lead high‑priority firm‑wide projects, design the CPO’s operating rhythm and provide confidential advisory support on sensitive leadership and people matters. This is a highly influential role requiring sound judgement, discretion and the ability to operate with pace, clarity and impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive delivery of the CPO’s strategic priorities through strong coordination, planning and communication.
• Provide analytical insight and operational support across the CPO’s remit.
• Attend and contribute to high‑level meetings, including with the SLT, summarising key points and linking discussions across People priorities.
• Ensure effective cross-functional collaboration to strengthen organisational alignment and performance.
• Support the CPO in an agile, fast‑paced environment by filtering information, providing clarity and enabling informed decision-making.

Knowing you’re right for us

Joining us as a Chief of Staff to the Chief People Officer, the minimum criteria you’ll need is significant senior‑level experience supporting executive leaders within complex, fast‑paced environments, with a strong track record of driving strategic priorities, managing cross‑functional delivery and providing high‑quality analytical and operational support.  It would be great if you had some of the following skills, but don’t worry if you don’t tick every box — we’ll help you develop along the way:

• Strong organisation, prioritisation and coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and stakeholders at pace.
• Experience supporting or working closely with C-suite leaders, including attending senior forums and summarising key decisions.
• Excellent PowerPoint and presentation‑building skills, able to translate complex information into compelling executive narratives.
• Financial aptitude, with the ability to interpret and synthesise information from varied data sources.
• Strong stakeholder management capability, with the confidence to influence across People Operations, Resourcing, Learning and Centres of Excellence.
• Ability to operate in ambiguity with agility, sound judgement and high levels of discretion and confidentiality.
• Experience in risk identification, issue resolution and anticipating emerging challenges within People, Culture or organisational contexts.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to analyse information quickly and connect insights to broader People & Culture priorities.
• Ability to establish effective operating rhythms, planning cycles and structured ways of working to keep strategic priorities on track.

Knowing we’re right for you

The culture at Grant Thornton is what sets us apart, we’re known for our inclusive culture and creating environments where all our people can flourish. The things that set you apart, we value them, and this helps us all to perform at our best.

Our values are the unwavering principles that shape our daily behaviours and decisions, alongside our drive to do the right thing. We’re looking for people who align with our values and are purposefully driven, actively curious and candid but kind. You can learn more about our values in practice here.

It’s not just about our culture and values, in addition to a competitive salary and reward package, us you’ll also get:

• Tailored development programmes and access to coaching
• Flexible bank holidays – allowing you to celebrate the days that are important to you
• Benefits including pension, life assurance and private medical, additional holiday purchasing and health benefits
• Any benefits giving you access to shopping discounts, gym memberships, financial advice

And more. Visit our benefits section to read more.

How we work

We have a trust-based way of working, driven by responsible people who have the best interests of our firm and our clients at heart. Our how we work framework gives flexibility in where, how, and when we work to deliver the best results for our clients, whilst helping you keep a balance between work and life. Life is more than work, the things you do, and the people you’re with outside of work matter, that’s why we’re happy to look at flexible working options for all our roles.  That is how it should be.

We’re looking for people who can help drive the business forward, who want to contribute, spark fresh ideas and go beyond expectations. People who want to be able to proudly do what’s right, for the firm, our clients, our people and themselves. It’s how it should be.