Head of HR Management

"At Klipboard we've introduced a flexible hybrid work policy, where employees spend three days in the office and two days working from home. This approach promotes a balanced work environment that combines office collaboration with the comfort and convenience of remote work." Klipboard provides specialist software, services and support to deliver fully integrated trading and business management solutions to companies in the distributive trade – wherever they are in the world. With a unique depth of knowledge and experience in ERP/SaaS solutions, Klipboard has a wide range of clients includes wholesalers, distributors, merchants and retailers from small traders to multinational enterprises. Klipboard has offices in the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, South Africa, Kenya and North America. Our mission is simple: to design and deliver high performance, integrated ERP solutions that enable our distributive trade customers to source effectively, stock efficiently, sell profitably and service competitively. Klipboard is a global, growing business that embraces AI and emerging technologies to enhance customer outcomes, collaboration, and continuous improvement. We’re looking for people who are curious about or fluid with AI, open to change, and excited to learn how technology can improve the way we work and help our customers which is always supported by strong human insight and communication. The Head of HR Management leads the global HR management agenda for Klipboard, holding accountability for HR operational delivery, Group employment compliance, policy and handbook governance, and the consistent management of employee relations risk across all operating regions. The role combines leadership of the HR management team with Group-level governance, making sure that people practice is legally compliant in every jurisdiction in which Klipboard operates, commercially balanced and consistently applied. The role sets the standards, controls and service levels through which HR is delivered globally, and acts as the senior escalation point for complex, high-risk or precedent-setting employment matters. Approved AI tools are used to accelerate analysis, drafting, policy comparison, case-trend reporting and documentation, while human accountability is retained for legal judgement, confidentiality, fairness, employee experience and final decision-making. Key Responsibilities:  Global HR leadership and operational oversight • Lead the global HRM team, setting direction, priorities, service standards and performance expectations, and building capability, resilience and succession within the team. • Own the day-to-day operational delivery of HR across all Klipboard regions, providing consistent, timely and high-quality support to leaders and employees throughout the employee lifecycle. • Define and maintain global HR operating standards, workflows, service levels and escalation routes, balancing global consistency with local legal, cultural and operational requirements. • Monitor HR delivery through agreed measures such as case volumes, cycle times, compliance completion, data quality and employee feedback, acting on trends rather than isolated incidents. • Partner with People Business Partners, People Operations, Reward, Talent Acquisition, Talent and Organisational Development, People Data, and Finance so that HR management activity forms part of an integrated People service. • Manage HR budgets, systems requirements, third-party providers and external advisers within scope, securing value for money and appropriate contractual, confidentiality and data protection controls. • Act as the senior escalation point for regional HR colleagues and business leaders on complex, sensitive or precedent-setting people matters, and represent HR management at Group forums. • Lead the continuous improvement of HR processes, documentation and systems, including approved AI-enabled efficiency opportunities, without compromising compliance or employee experience. Group employment compliance and governance • Hold Group accountability for employment compliance across all operating jurisdictions, maintaining a current and evidenced view of statutory and regulatory obligations in each country in which Klipboard employs people. • Maintain a Group employment compliance framework covering contractual documentation, working time, right to work and immigration, statutory leave and pay, mandatory reporting and data protection in the employment context. • Track legislative, regulatory and case law developments in each region, assess the operational and financial impact, and lead the timely implementation of required changes to policy, process and documentation. • Design and run an assurance and audit cycle that tests how compliance operates in practice, records findings and drives remediation to a named owner and a clear deadline. • Maintain governance records, including policy approvals, decision logs, employment risk registers and audit trails, so that the Group can evidence compliance to auditors, regulators, customers and acquirers. • Ensure employment contracts, offer documentation, template letters and country-specific addenda remain legally accurate, current, consistently applied and version controlled. • Determine when specialist external legal or regulatory advice is required, brief advisers effectively, manage cost and turnaround, and translate advice into practical internal guidance. • Support acquisition due diligence, integration and harmonisation activity, including employee transfer obligations, contract alignment, policy migration and the closure of inherited compliance gaps. • Provide clear, evidence-based compliance reporting and assurance updates to the Chief People Officer and relevant governance forums, escalating material risks early and with recommended actions. Group policies and employee handbook • Own the Group policy framework and the employee handbook end to end, covering design, drafting, approval, publication, version control, scheduled review and withdrawal. • Ensure every policy is legally compliant in each region to which it applies, written in plain and accessible language, aligned to Klipboard values and genuinely workable for managers. • Operate a defined governance route for policy approval and change, including stakeholder review, legal input and consultation with employee representatives or works councils where this is required. • Maintain a published review calendar so that no policy drifts out of date, confirming at each review that local variations and country addenda remain accurate. • Lead policy communication, manager guidance and training so that policies are understood and applied consistently rather than simply published. • Monitor how policies are applied in practice, including exception and derogation requests, and use the themes to close gaps, improve clarity and reduce unwarranted inconsistency between regions. • Maintain a single source of truth for policy documentation, with controlled access, clear version history and evidence of employee acknowledgement where this is required. • Benchmark the policy suite against legal requirements, sector practice and Klipboard’s growth plans, recommending new or retired policies to the Chief People Officer. Employee relations, governance and risk management across regions • Own the Group employee relations framework, setting the standards for case handling, evidence and documentation, decision-making, escalation thresholds and record retention in every region. • Provide senior guidance on complex and high-risk matters, including disciplinary, grievance, performance, long-term absence, whistleblowing, harassment, restructuring, redundancy and senior exits. • Assess the legal, financial and reputational risk carried by employee relations matters, recommend proportionate mitigation, and ensure decisions are defensible, consistently reasoned and well documented. • Maintain oversight of employee relations case data across all regions, reporting volumes, themes, root causes, outcomes and cycle times to People and business leadership. • Lead the Group response to tribunal, litigation or regulatory claims within scope, instructing and working alongside external counsel and holding the standard for evidence and disclosure. • Build manager and HR capability in employee relations through coaching, toolkits and training, so that issues are addressed early, fairly and consistently at the right level. • Ensure collective consultation, trade union and works council obligations are met in the relevant jurisdictions, and maintain constructive relationships with employee representative bodies. • Use employee relations insight to identify cultural, leadership or process root causes, driving preventative action and improvement rather than repeated case handling. AI-enabled working and output accountability • AI-augmented task areas: Use approved AI tools to support policy drafting and comparison, compliance research and horizon scanning, employee relations trend analysis and reporting, document standardisation, and the preparation of leader, audit and governance materials. • Human-driven task areas: Retain human leadership of legal judgement and risk decisions, complex employee relations outcomes, consultation and collective engagement, disciplinary and grievance decision-making, and confidential or sensitive employee matters. • AI output accountability: Validate AI-generated outputs for accuracy, source quality, jurisdictional relevance, bias, confidentiality and legal or compliance implications before they are used in policy, advice, communications or decisions. • Evidence and audit trail: Maintain clear records of source data, assumptions, limitations, risks and the human validation applied to AI-supported compliance, policy or employee relations recommendations. • Responsible use: Champion the responsible, transparent and lawful use of AI within the People Team, in line with Klipboard's approved tools, data protection obligations and internal AI governance standards. Skills, Knowledge and Experience: • HR Expertise: Deep technical HR knowledge across employee relations, employment law, policy, HR operations, governance and risk, with the judgement to apply it proportionately in different jurisdictions. • Employment Law and Compliance: Strong working knowledge of employment legislation across multiple operating regions, with the ability to interpret change, identify exposure and know when specialist advice is needed. • Governance and Risk Management: Able to build and run frameworks, controls, audits and reporting that make compliance evidenced and repeatable rather than reliant on individual knowledge. • Leadership and Team Development: Leads a dispersed, multi-country team with clarity and consistency, developing capability, accountability and succession while maintaining service quality. • Policy Design and Writing: Writes clear, legally sound and practical policies and handbook content, balancing statutory requirements, commercial reality and employee experience. • Strategic Thinking: Connects HR management, compliance and employee relations activity to Klipboard's growth, acquisition and operating model plans, anticipating risk rather than reacting to it. • Relationship Building and Influence: Builds credibility with executives, regional leaders, People colleagues and external advisers, influencing decisions through evidence, clarity and constructive challenge. • Emotional Intelligence and Judgement: Demonstrates discretion, empathy and resilience when handling sensitive, contested or high-consequence matters, and holds a position calmly under pressure. • Global Consistency: Understands how to balance Group frameworks with local legal, cultural and operational requirements, supporting a consistent employee experience across regions. • AI-Enabled Working and Output Validation: Confidently uses approved AI tools to improve the efficiency and quality of research, drafting, analysis and documentation, while critically reviewing outputs for accuracy, fairness, confidentiality, source reliability and legal risk. Essential experience • Recognised HR qualification or equivalent practical experience, with a substantial record of senior HR management leadership in a complex, fast-moving or multi-country environment. • Proven experience leading an HR or employee relations team, including setting standards, managing performance and developing capability across dispersed locations. • Demonstrable ownership of employment compliance and governance across more than one jurisdiction, including audit, assurance and reporting to senior stakeholders. • Experience owning a policy framework or employee handbook, including drafting, approval governance, version control and implementation across regions. • Strong track record of managing complex, high-risk employee relations matters through to resolution, including tribunal or equivalent claims and collective processes. • Confident use of people data and case information to report on risk, identify themes and inform decisions at leadership level. • Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex legal and regulatory requirements for a business audience. • High level of integrity, confidentiality and judgement when dealing with sensitive employee, leadership and organisational matters. Desirable experience • Experience supporting acquisitions, integrations, restructures, consultations or operating model change in a multi-country group. • Experience in a technology, SaaS, software or professional services environment with dispersed and hybrid workforces. • Familiarity with HR systems, case management tooling and document management, including the controls needed for reliable audit evidence. • Practical understanding of job architecture, role levelling and the interface between HR management, reward and talent processes. AI-enabled experience • Essential: Experience using data-led tools, dashboards or AI-assisted methods to research requirements, draft and compare documentation, analyse case or compliance trends and prepare leadership materials, with appropriate human review and governance. • Desirable: Experience contributing to AI-enabled HR process improvement, policy or compliance automation, or change initiatives where AI augments analysis, drafting or reporting workflows. Company Info You may also have seen from our recent posts that we are excited to begin sharing our new company name – Klipboard. Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) is becoming Klipboard and our new brand is designed to bring together our expertise across distribution, automotive, retail, rental, transport management, manufacturing, and field service management. We have offices based across the world and we are looking for talented individuals to join our growing teams. Due to our growth over the last few years it is an exciting time to join us as we enter our next chapter! At Klipboard we've introduced a flexible hybrid work policy, where employees spend three days in the office and two days working from home. This approach promotes a balanced work environment that combines office collaboration with the comfort and convenience of remote work." Equal Opportunities As a global company, we value and respect the diversity of our workforce, aiming to empower everyone to embrace each other's differences. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to our company and culture. We recognize the benefits of a diverse workforce, where creativity and valuing differences enable us all to thrive and sparks innovation. If you require any help, adjustments and/or support during the interview and offer process then please advise our TA or HR team.  Research shows that women and other underrepresented groups are less likely to apply for a role unless they meet every listed requirement. However, we recognise that skills and experience come in many forms, and we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every criterion. If you are passionate about this role and believe you have the right mindset and transferrable skills, we would love to hear from you! To all recruitment agencies: Klipboard does not accept agency speculative resumes. At present we only accept CV’s from Agencies on our PSL who have been assigned specific position/s. Please do not forward resumes to our careers site or direct to Klipboard employee as this does not constitute an introduction and Klipboard retrospectively will not be liable for any candidate ownership or fees related to unsolicited resumes.    #LI-Hybrid