People Development Manager

About us

CF is a leading consultancy dedicated to making a lasting impact on health and healthcare. We work with leaders and frontline teams to improve health, transform healthcare, embed life science innovation and boost growth through investment.  

Our consultancy serves the entire healthcare sector, from healthcare systems and life sciences to health tech and sector suppliers. CF’s multi-disciplinary team provides end-to-end services, spanning strategy, finance, performance, organisational improvement, data and digital. We also create optimal policy conditions for healthcare advancements through evidence-based thought leadership, taking a proactive stance on key issues.  

 As an inclusive and values-driven organisation, we are committed to excellence and are honoured to have received multiple industry awards. With unmatched access to UK healthcare data and specialist data science expertise, our consultants are a driving force for delivering positive and meaningful change.  

Role summary  

Reporting to the Chief People Officer, you will champion our People Strategy which supports the success of all of CF’s business practices. You will collaborate with the rest of the People Team to deliver an excellent employee experience across employee learning, performance and talent. As a People Development Lead at CF, you will own our performance and development frameworks so your scope and ability to make a difference will be huge. 

We have developed our People Strategy, which is designed to support the delivery of CF’s company strategy, through ensuring we are an employer of choice within the sector and an ‘irresistible organisation’ for our employees.  We have made an extensive commitment to staff development through an in-house development programme, supported with external inputs. This delivers 10 days of training per year to all staff, with additional time for specific groups (e.g. graduate analysts on induction). Training draws on the extensive skills and experience of the leadership team to deliver the programme, which has been accredited as a route for recipients to become Chartered Management Consultants. Spearheading and continuing to innovate our learning offering is a key responsibility of this role.  

Our growth ambitions are significant – we have diversified over the past seven years, and in the future this is likely to see us establish additional UK bases, as well as considering how we have a more international face. These developments will all have significant implications for how we work and the skills we need. 

Responsibilities and duties 

Assessment, development and performance management 

• Be the owner of our performance management framework with responsibility for ensuring staff understand it, that new joiners are familiarised with it on induction and line managers and Development Sponsors are upskilled to act as guardians of the framework 

• Manage our framework for 1 to 1 meetings to support successful probationary, monthly, mid-year and end of year review discussions  

• Lead our feedback management process giving staff access to give and receive 360 feedback that supports their development 

• Support line managers and Development Sponsors in having effective 1 to 1 conversations using a coaching style of leadership  

• Create development plans for staff and coach Development Sponsors to do the same 

• Responsible for the review and ongoing improvements of the performance management framework making sure we are innovative in our approach to performance 

• Lead our OKR programme, ensuring OKRs are set at project level and by individuals and updated on a cadence set by the company  

• Deliver training and feedback on OKRs and how they can be used most effectively to empower teams and individuals  

• Provide coaching and support to managers in addressing people and team challenges, performance issues and driving improvements 

• Manage our Assessment and Development Committee meetings, including preparing attendees and materials to enable effective discussions  

• Act as a trusted advisor on giving and receiving feedback, readiness to progress and career planning 

• Own our Development Sponsor framework with responsibility for making sure Development Sponsors are equipped with the resources, training and support needed to be successful  

• Embed our values and leadership model in assessment and development journeys  

Learning   

• Position the organisation as an employer of choice through compelling learning offerings that other consulting firms can’t beat  

• Develop a portfolio of online training that addresses core needs flexibly and that lends itself to utilising the strengths of our team  

• Be creative in leveraging tools such as e-learning platforms, gamification, and microlearning to enhance learning experiences 

• Manage our learning calendar, including attendance management, feedback management and ensuring relevancy as we grow and evolve 

• Develop and evolve our wellbeing learning offering using employee feedback 

• Introduce an LMS to support the development of e-learning content and to give staff increased access to on demand learning  

• Review, evaluate and report on learning program effectiveness; analyse feedback from the business to ensure alignment of talent practices with business needs 

• Lead a redesign of our onboarding program so that new hires can feel successful from day one 

• Support the CEO in the design of the leadership development programme, ensuring this delivers training in core skills necessary to fulfil roles, is agile, able to respond to changing demands, and supports personal development 

• Champion the external development programme, including our mission to support the majority of our colleagues on the Chartered Management Consultant Award pathway and the associated relationship with the MCA/CMI, utilising apprenticeships and further developing our Data Innovation Team 

• Own the annual accreditation process of our internal learning programme through external accreditation providers for example ChMC, CIMA & RSS 

• Be accountable for, and enhance the impact of the learning budget 

Career pathing and skills development 

• Identify the skills development needs and wants of key talent pools, serve as a design consultant for content creation to enhance our leadership development programs 

• Owns and has responsibility for development of career pathways and competency frameworks across the business  

• Engages in succession planning to allow the Senior Leadership Team to identify top talent with Partner potential  

• Own and update our skills matrix so that it can be used as a tool for the creation of development plans, resourcing and succession planning  

• Develop and manage our secondment programme to create exciting and interesting opportunities for our team to gain first hand industry experience  

• Create innovative opportunities for skills and experience development through mechanisms including shadowing or volunteering  

Requirements

Qualifications and Experience  

We're not necessarily looking for someone CIPD qualified or with a certain level of education, but we are looking for a collaborative, innovative and friendly Learning professional who enjoys rolling up their sleeves and jumping into the thick of the action, someone who is tech savvy, results oriented and loves delivering work to the highest standards. You will likely have a combination of the following skills and attributes: 

• 5+ years prior experience in a people role with hands on experience of learning and development as well as performance management.  

• Experience working with stakeholders outside of a people function 

• Knowledge of LMS administration 

• You will be a self-starter who is action oriented and able to thrive in an entrepreneurial, fast paced environment 

• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills to influence across all levels 

• Data will be your best friend. You will be someone who makes data driven decisions and recommendations to help us achieve our desired people and business outcomes  

• You will understand project management principles and be interested in developing in this area, in order to deliver projects to agreed deadlines  

Desired 

•  Professional services and / or health background is desirable  

Flexible working

We follow a hybrid working model that balances in person connections and remote work to drive exceptional client impact. We enjoy working in person together with clients and colleagues and work where clients need us to be.

In supporting flexibility and remote working, team members can work from home one day per week as standard. Additionally, we offer 44 remote working days per year which can be used to top up your working from home days and enable you to work from home up to two days per week-subject to client needs. Alternatively, you could use your allowance in blocks to manage school holidays or other commitments. Our core in person working hours are from 10am until 4pm allowing you that extra flexibility to manage your schedule in a way that works for you

Our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion 

We are committed to building an inclusive and supportive culture where diversity thrives, and all our people can excel. We only recruit, promote and reward our people based on their skills and contribution, without regard to gender, race, disability, religion, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or other characteristics. 

We are Disability Confident Accredited, and we want you to feel comfortable and able to perform at your best in the recruitment process, if you require any reasonable adjustments for any part of the recruitment process, please let us know. 

Benefits

• Holiday entitlement: 25 days/year for staff and 30 days/ year for leadership (Manager role included), increasing by 1 day for every year of service up to a maximum of 35 days of holiday per year 

• We contribute 7% of your salary into your pension, while you contribute 3% (or more if you like) 

• Access to a flexible benefits programme giving you the chance to increase pension contributions, gain access to a cash plan or benefit from a ClassPass subscription 

• Annual leave purchase: employees with less than 35 days annual leave entitlement are able to purchase additional annual leave days 

• Income protection: in the event of long-term incapacity and a qualifying claim, 75% of salary will be paid 

• Enhanced sick pay benefit beyond Statutory Sick Pay for up to a total 12 weeks in any 12-month period 

• Life insurance covering four times your basic salary in a tax-free lump sum payable to your beneficiaries in the event of your death whilst in service 

• Enhanced family leave policies: additional pay for parents who have a baby or adopt 

• Access to an interest free loan of up to £10,000 

• Access to an interest-free season ticket loan, repayable by 12 monthly instalments 

• Workplace nursery scheme: access to a scheme to help working parents save tax and NI on the cost of the nursery care 

• Flexible working policy: including the ability to work fully remotely for up to 4 weeks a year 

• An employee assistance and wellness Program: including access to telephone counselling, life coaching, interactive tools online and digital content downloadable from Lifeworks 

• Seasonal flu jabs: provided by Boots annually 

• Eye care tests: vouchers and discounts at Vision Express 

• Ride to work scheme, saving up to 42% on bikes and cycling accessories at Evans Cycles 

• Membership to the Health Service Journal (HSJ)