Director of People Operations

Location: City of Edinburgh

## Job Title Director of People Operations## Department Human Resources-BG-UK## Overview of Department The People team develops the capabilities, culture and experiences that create a human and commercial edge for Baillie Gifford. We exist to make the firm the world’s most distinctive place to grow a career, investing in our people with the same long-term conviction as our portfolios and continually reimagining how work is done to outpace the industry.

The team supports the full people lifecycle, including people operations, people partnering, leadership, learning and capability development, attraction and resourcing, organisational culture, reward, wellbeing and the end-to-end people experience. Through this work, we ensure that people and performance are deeply connected and that our colleagues are equipped to deliver long-term value for clients.## Purpose of Role This role leads People Operations across Baillie Gifford, delivering clear, human-centred and technology-enabled services across our people lifecycle.

The role protects organisational health, compliance, and trust, while enabling the wider People Team to focus on long-term value.
Reporting to the Chief People Officer, you are a senior member of the People Leadership Team and the operational voice of the People function across cross-firm initiatives and regulatory engagement.
This is a newly created role, reflecting the firm’s ambition to strengthen its People Operations capability as part of the wider People strategy. The focus is on building modern, human-centred and technology-enabled services that support colleagues and leaders today, while creating strong foundations for the future.
We welcome applications from leaders beyond traditional people function backgrounds, including those who have led people-adjacent operations in fintech, technology or platform-led organisations. We are interested in judgement, operating mindset and leadership impact — not job titles.## Responsibilities
* Lead all People Operations activity, creating an integrated team that delivers high-quality, efficient, and human-centred services.
* Oversee employment law and complex people relations matters, ensuring fair outcomes, compliance, and policy clarity.
* Own people risk reporting, governance, and operational resilience for the People function.
* Lead change enablement, automation, and readiness for AI across people processes and ways of working.
* Own self-service platforms and the People technology roadmap, improving adoption, reliability, and colleague experience.
* Simplify policies and processes so it is easy for colleagues and people managers to do the right thing.
* Build and lead a service-oriented team that works in close partnership with the wider People Team and the business.
* Foster a culture of continuous improvement, transparency, and accountability within People Operations.
* Contribute as a member of the People Leadership Team to the overall People strategy.
* Represent the operational perspective of the People function in cross-firm projects and external discussions.
** What success looks like
** 1. Clear, human people experiences

People Operations delivers simple, supportive services across the people lifecycle, from onboarding to exit.

Success looks like:
* Clear and consistent processes that respect colleagues’ time
* High trust and satisfaction from colleagues and people managers
* A service culture grounded in empathy, clarity, and follow-through
2. Strong organisational health, risk, and compliance

People risk is well understood, well managed, and proportionate to the firm’s long-term ambitions.

Success looks like:
* Confident and proactive management of people risk with robust systems and controls across people processes
* Fair and timely resolution of complex people matters
* Fewer and clearer policies that are easy to apply in practice
3. Modern and effective people operations

People Operations uses technology well to remove friction and free capacity for higher-value work.

Success looks like:
* Intuitive self-service and reliable core systems
* Automation that reduces manual effort and error
* Strong foundations for insight, knowledge sharing, and…