Head of Employee Engagement and Learning

Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

About the Organisation

Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) is the UK's chartered professional body dedicated to educating, developing and regulating actuaries based both in the UK and internationally.  The IFoA regulates and represents over 34,000 members worldwide, overseeing their actuarial education at all stages of qualification and development throughout their careers. We set examinations, continuing professional development, professional codes and disciplinary standards for our members. 

About the role

We are currently recruiting a Head of Employee Engagement and Learning. The Head of Employee Engagement and Learning is a strategic leader responsible for shaping organisational culture, engagement and capability in line with the IFoA’s strategic objectives and transformation agenda. The role drives a high-performing, values-led organisation by embedding engagement, leadership capability and learning as core enablers of organisational effectiveness, performance and long-term sustainability.

The postholder ensures that colleagues are meaningfully connected to organisational purpose, equipped with the skills required for the future, and supported through a culture that prioritises inclusion, accountability and continuous improvement. The role uses insight, data and evidence to inform strategic interventions that enhance engagement, capability and organisational performance.

The postholder operates with significant autonomy in shaping and delivering engagement, learning and culture strategies. They are accountable for decisions relating to organisational engagement approaches, learning frameworks, talent strategies and cultural interventions. The role influences Executive and Board-level decision-making through insight, evidence and expert advice, within agreed governance frameworks.

Responsibilities

Principal Accountabilities:

• Strategic employee engagement and organisational insight
• Learning, capability and leadership development strategy
• Organisational culture, values and behavioural frameworks
• Talent development, succession and future capability planning
• Inclusive leadership and EDI capability building
• Strategic internal communications and colleague experience
• Recognition strategy aligned to performance and values
• End-to-end onboarding and colleague lifecycle experience
• Embedding engagement and learning within organisational transformation

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the development of a strategic employee engagement approach, using data and insight to identify trends, risks and opportunities and drive targeted organisational interventions
• Design and implement a forward-looking learning and capability strategy aligned to future organisational needs, including digital, professional and leadership capability
• Shape and deliver leadership and management development frameworks that build accountability, performance and inclusive leadership capability
• Drive the embedding of organisational values and cultural behaviours, ensuring alignment to performance, leadership and organisational outcomes
• Lead the design and implementation of talent management and succession frameworks to build organisational resilience and future leadership pipelines
• Evaluate the impact of engagement and learning interventions, using data to continuously refine and improve effectiveness and return on investment
• Partner with senior leaders to strengthen organisational effectiveness, team performance and culture
• Embed capability within the performance management framework, ensuring alignment between performance, development and organisational priorities
• Design and implement a strategic recognition framework that reinforces values, performance and colleague contribution
• Lead the design and delivery of organisational engagement moments, including connection events and leadership-led communications
• Partner across the organisation to identify critical capability gaps and deliver scalable, accessible learning solutions
• Design and embed a high-impact corporate induction and onboarding experience that accelerates colleague integration and performance
• Support organisational change programmes by embedding engagement, communication and learning interventions that enable successful delivery

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Knowledge & Experience Essential:

• Significant experience in senior HR leadership or specialist role
• Strong understanding of engagement activities and organisational effectiveness
• Experience influencing senior leaders and managing organisational change
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills
• Demonstrable experience of using data to drive decision-making
• Project management skills
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion

Desirable:

• Experience within professional membership, charity or public sector environments
• Experience leading organisational transformation or culture change

Core Competencies & Behaviours:

• Values-led leadership
• Strategic thinking and judgement
• Collaboration and influence
• Emotional intelligence
• Inclusive and ethical decision-making
• Resilience and adaptability

Required Qualifications

• CIPD qualification or equivalent professional experience

Conditions of employment

• Applicants must have the right to work in the UK

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the Oxfordshire office and remotely
• Oxford or Edinburgh hub office. You will need to be in the office approximately monthly and might need to travel to the London hub from time to time.

How to apply

• Please email the HR Team if you require:
  • Any information regarding our vacancies in an alternative format
  • Any adjustments to support you to fully participate in any part of the application and recruitment process
• To apply, please send a CV and cover letter to [email protected] by the closing date of Sunday 6th September 2026.
• This vacancy may close early if we receive a high volume of applications, so please submit your application as soon as possible.
• Any information shared will be used only to enable us to make reasonable adjustments to support candidates to participate in the recruitment process. It will not inform selection decisions. You can reach us at [email protected].

Policies

The IFoA encourages applicants from a variety of backgrounds and experience and welcomes diversity with regard not only to protected characteristics but also diversity of thought. Diversity, equity and inclusion are more than just words for us. That’s why we are committed to creating a culture where everyone feels included and respected, and where no one is unfairly discriminated against.

Consequently, we promote diversity, equity and inclusion in all our policies, practices and procedures, and actively encourage applications from a diverse range of potential candidates. All applications for our roles are considered on merit alone, and if you don’t meet all the criteria but believe you have something to offer, we want to hear from you. For more information on our commitments, please see our DEI strategy page.

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