Head of People & Culture - Children's Residential Social Care

Department: People \& Culture

Reports To: CEO

Location: Dublin or Kilkenny office with national travel required

Weekly Hours: 40

Holiday Entitlement: 25 days p.a.

At Odyssey Social Care, we are dedicated to delivering high\-quality, trauma\-informed residential care for young people across Ireland. As part of the Broadlake Group, we are on an ambitious growth journey focused on creating positive impact for young people, our employees, and the communities we serve.

We are now seeking an exceptional Head of People \& Culture to join our Executive Leadership Team. This is a strategic leadership role offering the opportunity to influence organisational growth, culture, talent, and employee experience at a critical stage of our development.

Reporting directly to the CEO, you will lead the People \& Culture function, ensuring our people strategy supports sustainable growth, regulatory excellence, and an outstanding employee experience across the organisation.

About the Role
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As Head of People \& Culture, you will:

• Lead and deliver the People \& Culture strategy aligned with organisational goals and growth ambitions.


• Partner with the CEO, Executive Team, and Board on workforce planning, organisational design, succession planning, and leadership development.


• Drive employee engagement, retention, wellbeing, inclusion, and culture initiatives.


• Lead HR governance, compliance, employee relations, and best practice people management.


• Support organisational growth through workforce planning, talent management, and leadership capability development.


• Oversee learning and development programmes, career pathways, and employee development initiatives.


• Champion digital transformation across People \& Culture systems and processes.


• Lead Diversity, Equity \& Inclusion (DEI), ESG, and positive impact initiatives.


• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including regulatory bodies and sector partners.

Essential

• Significant senior HR/People leadership experience within a complex, regulated, or values\-led organisation.


• Experience operating at Executive Leadership Team level and partnering directly with CEOs and Boards.


• Proven success leading organisational change, culture development, and workforce planning initiatives.


• Strong knowledge of Irish employment legislation and HR governance requirements.


• Experience using people data and analytics to influence decision\-making.


• Experience leading digital HR transformation projects.


• Demonstrated success developing and implementing DEI strategies.


• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.

Desirable

• Experience within social care, healthcare, or other regulated sectors.


• Experience working across multi\-site or group organisations.


• Background in organisational development, coaching, learning, or behavioural change.


• Experience supporting ESG, sustainability, or B Corp\-related initiatives.


• Experience managing international talent and diverse workforces.

We are looking for someone who is:

• Values\-driven and people\-focused


• Strategic and commercially aware


• Influential, credible, and collaborative


• Passionate about inclusion, wellbeing, and employee experience


• Committed to developing people and enabling organisational success


• Comfortable leading through change in a fast\-paced growth environment

Why Join Us?
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We offer a rewarding career opportunity along with an excellent benefits package, including:

✅ Life Insurance (Death in Service)

✅ Health Insurance (upon successful completion of probation)

✅ Education Assistance Programme

✅ Paid Volunteering Opportunities

✅ Employee Assistance Programme (VHI) for you and your family

✅ Refer\-a\-Friend Scheme

✅ Team Building \& Social Fund

✅ Continuous Professional Development and Career Progression Opportunities

Apply Today
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If you are an experienced People leader who wants to make a meaningful impact while supporting the growth of a purpose\-driven organisation, we'd love to hear from you.

About The Company

Overview

*Mission**: Odyssey Social Care provides safe homes where children and young people can heal from trauma, rebuild trust, and discover their own strengths. We give them the support and opportunities they need to build resilience and step into a brighter future.*

Working for Odyssey Social Care involves being part of a team dedicated to supporting children and young people.

As professional caregivers, we are caring, compassionate and resilient. We work with children who have experienced trauma, and believe in healing through trusting care relationships.

The Odyssey Way

We put the needs of the child at the forefront of everything we do. Our care framework is designed to be flexible, responsive and provide holistic care to our young people.

Our care model, *The Odyssey Way*, is trauma\-informed, evidence\-based, and outcome\-led. It supports the needs of each individual child, helping them to work through trauma by focusing on overall wellbeing.

Our unique, specialised intervention, the Odyssey Saoirse Project, uses eco\-therapy, adventure\-based life skills and positive mentoring to help young people heal, grow and thrive.

Company Culture

Our Values

• Safety – safe homes, safe care, safe relationships


• Quality – trauma\-informed, evidence\-based, outcome\-led


• Trust – built through honest communication and consistency


• Empowerment – giving young people and staff the tools to succeed


• Inclusion – equity and belonging for all


• Impact – measurable difference for young people, staff, communities \& planet

Odyssey Social Care is committed to encouraging a culture of diversity and inclusion across our organisation.

As a Certified B Corp, we also believe in providing care sustainably, measuring our impact across our people, our communities, and the planet.

Company Benefits

On joining Odyssey, you’ll be supported every step of the way.

• Competitive salary \& incremental pay progression


• Flexible rostering that supports work\-life balance


• Accredited training \& continuous development


• Education assistance grants


• Health \& life insurance supports


• Social events \& wellbeing supports


• Real career progression – 80%\+ of our leaders Have grown from within


• We believe in caring for our staff with the same commitment we bring to the young people in our homes.

Flexible schedule, Employee development programs, A diversity program, Cycle to work, Referral bonus, Company retreats, Life insurance, Employee Assistance Scheme, Social Opportunities, Culture of recognition, On the job learning, Long service awards

Salary

Not disclosed

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