People Lead

William Grant & Sons is a family-owned Scottish distilling company founded in 1887 and renowned for producing some of the world’s leading premium spirits. Headquartered in Dufftown, the business is best known for iconic brands such as Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, and Hendrick’s Gin. With a commitment to craftsmanship, innovation, and independent ownership across five generations, William Grant & Sons has grown into one of the world’s most respected and award‑winning distillers while staying true to its heritage and values.

William Grant & Sons: a home where Rare Characters thrive. 

WGS value every employee for their rare character, distinctive skills, experience and perspectives. Every one of their colleagues has a role to play in helping them to achieve their growth ambitions. 

The Contribution & Development (C&D) Office is an independent entity, reporting to the Supervisory Board. It has been set up to help ensure the long-term success of William Grant & Sons as a family business. 

The Company’s operating model, the William Grant Way (WGW) provides the framework for how the business works at its best. There are five key pillars – Organisation, People, Business Processes, Technology and Ways of Working. The WGW provides a well organised structure to allow activities to happen in a coordinated way to ensure the long-term success of the Company. 

While the business owns and drives the WGW, the C&D Office monitors how well it’s set up to optimally achieve the Company’s objectives. This includes ensuring it is well understood and considering how effectively it is working, and where it can keep improving. 

The C&D Office  also supports the Supervisory Board in monitoring and accelerating the progress of people development and Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. 

We have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced People Lead to own all matters relating to the People and Organisation pillars in order to sustain and optimise their content and application, to ensure the most effective and efficient possible outcomes for the Company. 

The People Lead will also work with the business in developing a high-performing organisation with an employee-oriented, open and collaborative culture that emphasises empowerment and promotes team working. The role will also ensure that the business is building the necessary capabilities to deliver the long-term growth to the highest performance standards. 

We are seeking an experienced HR Professional with a strong grasp of modern HR delivery and a clear understanding of “what good looks like” in a high performing people function. The ideal candidate will blend strategic thinking with operational discipline, bring a data driven mindset, and a clear appreciation of how HR enables business success. 

Modern HR Operating Model 

• Deep understanding of contemporary HR operating models – including Business Partnering, Centres of Expertise, and Shared Services – and how these components integrate to deliver value. 

• Knows when HR should standardise vs. differentiate, striking the right balance between strategic partnering and operational excellence. 

• Able to position HR as an enabler of business outcomes, not as an administrative function. 

 End-to-end Employee Lifecycle Expertise 

• Strong understanding of people processes across the full employee lifecycle: workforce planning, attraction, onboarding, development, performance, reward, engagement and exit.

Data Driven HR Delivery 

• Experience using leading measures, not just lagging indicators, to drive HR performance (e.g. quality of hire, time to productivity, leader capability, engagement drivers). 

• Skilled in using data and insight to diagnose issues, prioritise interventions and demonstrate HR’s impact on business outcomes. 

Policy Design & Governance 

• Experience designing and implementing clear, pragmatic HR policies. 

• Able to balance risk mitigation with creating a positive employee experience. 

Change & Organisation Design 

• Experience leading or contributing to change and organisational design programmes, bringing structure, clarity and people-focused thinking to periods of transformation. 

Leadership Models & Role Clarity 

• Strong understanding of modern leadership models and the behaviours required for a high performing organisation. 

• We offer a competitive salary and benefits which are designed to promote our employees’ financial wellbeing. Employees are also eligible to participate in a bonus plan. 

• Our employees enjoy a generous holiday entitlement and an opportunity to ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ some holiday entitlement. 

• Private Healthcare and Doctor at Hand (remote GP service). 

• Our employees can join a defined contribution pension plan. Employees contribute either 4% or 5% of salary, the company contributes 8% or 10% depending on the employee contribution. Employee contributions can be made through salary sacrifice. 

• Our Employee Assistance Programme offers practical, impartial support on everyday matters ranging from medical, financial and legal to home and family issues.  

• Our Life Assurance cover is a multiple of eight times your annual basic salary. 

• Product allocation so that you can enjoy our fantastic portfolio of brands. 

• Our Cycle to Work scheme allows you to hire a bike for an agreed length of time, and then snap it up for a fraction of its original value. All while making savings (at least 25%) and spreading the cost. 

• Every employee has the opportunity to claim up to £1,000 per year for a charity or charities for which they have raised money, volunteered their time or personally donated. 

• Learning resources to help you be your best self.