Head of People and Culture - #2197332

Scottish Football Association

Head of People & Culture

An opportunity to shape the people, culture and leadership behind Scotland's national game.

The Scottish Football Association is seeking to appoint an experienced, commercially astute and forward-thinking Head of People & Culture to play a pivotal role in shaping its people strategy, organisational capability and culture at an exciting time for Scottish football.

Founded in 1873, the Scottish FA is responsible for the governance, development and promotion of Scotland's national game, from grassroots participation and elite player pathways to international football and the operation of Barclays Hampden, Scotland's National Stadium.

With the men's national team returning to the FIFA World Cup in 2026, continued investment in women's and girls' football, UEFA EURO 2028 on the horizon and the launch of its ambitious Power of Football 2.0 strategy, the Association is entering a significant period of opportunity and development.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and working closely with the CEO and Senior Executive Board, the Head of People & Culture will lead the development and delivery of a progressive people strategy that supports the Association's sporting, commercial and organisational ambitions.

This is a broad and influential leadership role, combining strategic business partnering with hands-on operational delivery. Key priorities will include:

• People Strategy & Organisational Development: Shaping and delivering the People and Culture Plan, strengthening organisational effectiveness, workforce planning and change management.
• Leadership, Talent & Performance: Building leadership capability, developing talent and succession pipelines, and embedding a culture of accountability and high performance.
• Culture & Engagement: Fostering an inclusive, collaborative and values-led environment that attracts, develops, engages and retains talented people.
• People Operations & Governance: Ensuring effective HR services, employee relations, reward frameworks, compliance and robust people governance.
• Insight & Continuous Improvement: Enhancing people data, systems and processes to support informed decision-making and operational excellence.

Leading the People and Culture team, the successful candidate will establish a credible, proactive and commercially focused function, recognised as a trusted strategic partner to the Executive and the wider organisation.

The Candidate

We are seeking an accomplished HR or People & Culture leader with significant senior-level experience, strong professional expertise and the credibility to influence at Executive and Board level.

Candidates will bring a proven track record of developing and delivering people strategies, leading organisational change, strengthening leadership capability and managing complex employee relations. Equally important will be commercial awareness, sound judgement and the ability to balance strategic ambition with pragmatic, hands-on delivery.

The successful individual will be an engaging, collaborative and values-led leader, comfortable operating within a complex, high-profile organisation and motivated by the opportunity to make a lasting impact.

Experience within professional sport, a governing body or another purpose-led organisation would be advantageous, but is not essential. We welcome interest from candidates across a broad range of sectors.

This is a compelling opportunity to influence the leadership, culture and organisational performance of one of Scotland's most recognised institutions, contributing to the future success of Scottish football on and off the pitch.

For further information, to request the full candidate brochure, or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact Eilidh Mackenzie or Michael Dickson at FWB at [email protected].