The Head of Leadership, Talent and Organizational Development will lead Coats’ global Leadership Development, Talent Management and Organizational Development Strategies to ensure Coats has a robust pipeline of high performing future leaders and a strong organizational culture of excellence. This role is pivotal in raising the bar on succession planning for the Group Executive Team, which is a key priority for the Board, accelerating the development of top talent, and embedding systems that foster leadership maturity across the organisation. The first year (or two) will be focused primarily on strengthening the leadership pipeline, and following that, we’ll focus on organizational development and strategic workforce planning.

What you will do (Key Responsibilities)

• Succession Planning & Leadership Pipeline: Design and implement a succession strategy for critical roles, focusing on Group Executive Team readiness. Establish a proactive external talent acquisition strategy for senior leadership roles, where needed, ensuring diversity and cultural alignment.
• Talent Development & Leadership Maturity: Develop and execute accelerated development programmes for top talent and embed leadership competency frameworks and career pathways for critical roles.
• Performance Management: Oversee the global performance cycle, ensuring alignment with Coats’ leadership attributes and competencies.
• Organization Development:  Advise on organizational optimization to support business strategy and growth.  Aligning structures, roles, responsibilities, team effectiveness, assessment, spans, layers, and reporting lines for clarity and efficiency
• Talent Acquisition: oversee the Talent Acquisition strategy for management and above roles globally
• Culture: Embedding organisational values and cultural principles across all levels.
• Strategic Workforce Planning: Determine which roles and skills create disproportionate value for the organisation and create and execute plan to close capability gaps
• Systems & Governance: Implement data-driven talent analytics and ensure compliance with global talent policies and governance standards. This role is not responsible for the HRIS strategy, just ensuring that we use data to derive insights, measure progress and track performance.

Leadership Attributes

• Inspirational – Think big, energize others 
• Courageous – Do what's right, own outcomes, avoid blame
• Empathetic – Care deeply, listen actively, put people first
• Resilient – Adapt, stay positive

Leadership Competencies

• Growth  Leadership– Customer-centric, understand value, drive growth
• Strategic Focus – Integrative thinking, anticipate, bring clarity, prioritize
• Execution – Consistently deliver results through an efficient operating system
• Decisive Problem Solving – Analyze, decide, act, learn
• Developing Others – Build strong teams, high bar on talent, make people grow
• Communication & Collaboration – Align and connect, fight siloed thinking

HR Capabilities

• Accelerates Business: Generates Competitive Insights, Influences the Business Gets the Right Things Done, Drives Agility
• Mobilizes Information: Leverages Information and Technology, Guides Social Agenda
• Advances Human Capability: Elevates Talent, Delivers HR Solutions by capabilities, Champions Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Fosters Collaboration: Manages Self, Builds Relationships
• Simplifies Complexity, Thinks Critically, Harnesses Uncertainty

Who you are (Requirements) 

• 15+ years in senior HR leadership roles, with expertise in succession planning, leadership development, organizational development and performance management.
• Strong understanding of global talent trends and best practices in executive development.
• Demonstrated success in building leadership pipelines and managing organisational change.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills at Board and Executive levels.

What we would like to achieve (KPIs and Success Measures)

Succession Planning & Leadership Pipeline

• Critical Role Coverage: % of Group Executive Team and other critical roles with identified successors (target: 100%).
• Bench Strength: Number of ready-now successors per critical role; ratio of Ready Now vs Ready in 1–2 years.
• Internal Promotion Rate: % of leadership positions filled internally vs externally.
• High-Potential Retention: Annual turnover rate of identified HiPos (target: <5%).

Talent Development & Leadership Maturity

• Leadership Competency Growth: Improvement in leadership attributes measured via 360° feedback and assessment scores.
• Participation in Development Programmes: % of top talent completing accelerated development tracks (target: >90%).
• Role Model Ratio: % of leaders rated as Role Model in performance and behaviour frameworks.

External Talent Injection

• Time-to-Hire for Executive Roles: Average days to fill critical external leadership positions (benchmark: <60 days).
• Diversity in External Hires: % of external senior hires meeting diversity targets (gender, ethnicity).

Performance Management

• Completion Rate of Performance Reviews: % of eligible employees completing mid-year and annual reviews (target: >95%).
• Differentiation in Ratings: Distribution of ratings aligned with performance and leadership behaviours.
• Linkage to Rewards: % of merit and incentive payouts tied to leadership competency scores.

System & Governance

• Digital Process Adoption: % of talent processes digitised (succession, performance, development).
• Data Availability: Accuracy and timeliness of talent analytics dashboards for leadership decisions.

Cultural & Engagement Indicators

• Employee Engagement (eNPS): Net Promoter Score for leadership and talent programmes.
• Women in Leadership: % female representation in leadership roles