Director of Culture and People Camphill Village Trust

Who we are

Camphill Village Trust is a national charity that has been supporting adults with learning disabilities, autism and mental health support needs for more than 70 years. Across our communities in England, we enable people to lead meaningful, independent and connected lives through high-quality, person-centred support, underpinned by a strong commitment to inclusion, community and opportunity.

Our communities are distinctive places. Alongside high-quality care and support, people have opportunities to develop skills, build relationships and participate in meaningful activities through our farms, gardens, workshops, cafés, shops and wider community partnerships. Our connection with nature, land and community remains an important part of who we are and our ambition for the future.

Camphill Village Trust has been through a significant period of organisational change and is now entering an important next chapter. We are building greater stability across the organisation while continuing to develop the culture, leadership and organisational capability needed to deliver our ambitions.

As part of this next phase, we are creating the role of Director of Culture & People to provide Executive leadership for our culture and people agenda and help create an organisation where our colleagues can thrive, and the people we support continue to receive outstanding, person-centred support.

About the role

As Director of Culture & People, you will lead the strategic development of our organisational culture, leadership capability and employee experience, working across a diverse and geographically dispersed organisation of around 800 colleagues.

We already have an experienced Head of People & Talent and an established People team responsible for operational HR and professional people practice. Your role will be to work alongside, and through that team, while providing the strategic leadership, organisational development expertise and Executive influence required to take our culture and people agenda to its next stage.

We have already started this journey.

Colleagues across Camphill Village Trust have contributed to conversations about our culture and what they want the organisation to become. We are developing a three-year People Strategy focused around culture, capability, capacity, communication and change.

Our next Director will turn that insight and ambition into meaningful and sustained action.

You will help us strengthen leadership and management capability, develop our approach to organisational development, talent and succession, improve employee experience and engagement and ensure our structures and workforce remain fit for the future.

Central to this will be building trust.

Our colleagues have experienced considerable organisational change, and we recognise that meaningful culture change cannot simply be announced or imposed. People need to see that their contribution matters and that when we listen, something happens.

You will therefore work with colleagues and communities rather than doing change to them, creating meaningful opportunities for people to contribute and helping leaders across the organisation build the confidence and capability to lead change well.

Communication will be fundamental. Our workforce is exceptionally diverse, from support workers, farmers and colleagues working in our shops and cafés to professional and central teams. Colleagues are spread across communities throughout England, with many working remotely. You will help us find better ways to connect people, strengthen our shared identity and values while respecting the individuality of our communities, and ensure colleagues feel part of the wider Trust.

This is also a highly visible leadership role. We want our Executive leaders to spend meaningful time within our communities, listening to colleagues and the people we support and understanding first-hand how organisational decisions and changes are experienced.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for an experienced senior leader with a strong track record in organisational culture, organisational development and complex change.

You will have led significant culture or organisational transformation and understand how to move beyond strategies and frameworks to create sustainable change in behaviours, leadership and everyday experience.

You may come from social care, another large charity or a different values-led and people-intensive environment. What matters is that you understand the realities of leading culture change across a complex, geographically dispersed workforce and can adapt your approach to very different people, communities and professional groups.

You will bring strong strategic People expertise and a sound understanding of contemporary people practice and employment law, but your experience and interests will extend considerably beyond operational HR.

You will be an engaging and credible Executive leader, able to influence and constructively challenge colleagues, Trustees and senior leaders while also being comfortable spending time with frontline colleagues and the people we support.

We are looking for someone who listens before acting; is curious about why things are as they are; and can recognise and build on the considerable commitment and capability already within the organisation.

You will combine compassion and empathy with clear expectations and accountability. You will be comfortable with complexity and resistance and understand that lasting culture change requires patience, consistency and sustained leadership.

Above all, you will believe that organisational culture should ultimately enable better lives for the people we support. You will be excited by the opportunity to make a long-term contribution, helping Camphill Village Trust become an organisation where colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered to do their best work.