Director of People and Talent

The Director of People & Talent is a senior leadership post, sitting on the Trust's Leadership Team and reporting directly to the CEO. The post holder will hold Trust-wide strategic and operational responsibility for all people-related functions, from workforce planning, recruitment and retention, to learning and development, employee relations, wellbeing, reward and organisational Talent. This role is as much about talent-building as it is about HR. The Trust is new, and its talent is not yet written. The Director of People & Talent will be one of the primary architects of how we work, the values we live by, the experience we offer our staff, and the kind of organisation we become. This requires someone who combines deep people profession expertise with genuine Catholic values and the vision to build something lasting. There are responsibilities for when the new trust is formed. Also, there will be a responsibility to support the merger that can be found in the appendix. The Blessed Chiara Badano Catholic Education Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All staff are expected to share and embody this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to undergo an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check with barred list check, and employment is subject to satisfactory completion of all pre-employment checks in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), including identity verification, right to work in the UK, satisfactory references, and overseas checks where applicable. In line with KCSIE, the Trust will conduct online searches on all shortlisted candidates as part of due diligence. All applicants must disclose any unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings relevant to this post. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. As a Catholic Trust within the Diocese of Leeds, we are committed to recruiting staff who are supportive of our Catholic ethos, mission and values. We promote diversity and want a workforce which reflects the communities we serve across West and North Yorkshire. Closing date: Monday 6th July 2026, 12 noon Interviews: w/c 13th July 2026 We strongly encourage candidates to arrange an informal conversation with our Chair prior to applying. Please contact Julie Noble, JNoble@bkcat.uk, to arrange this.