Director of People and Culture

Salary: (UK) £62,355 plus benefits (Our pay philosophy ensures consistency across locations and salaries. The starting salary for this opportunity plus benefits depends on location of the candidate).

The role:  

Due to internal progression, we are recruiting for an inspirational, experienced and impactful leader to join Mary’s Meals International as our Director of People & Culture.  Our people are at the heart of everything we do and you will play a crucial role in growing and strengthening our movement, providing leadership that enables Mary’s Meals to be a great place to work and volunteer. 

Working with our Chief People & Governance Officer, you will shape and lead our global people and culture strategy, ensuring we attract, develop, and retain outstanding people across all our countries of operation. You’ll inspire and equip leaders at every level, helping to embed a high-performance, values-driven culture and create an environment where individuals and teams can achieve meaningful impact. 

You will lead a talented, multi-disciplinary People & Culture team covering L&D, people services, partnering, and recruitment. Together, you will deliver high-quality services, systems, and frameworks that support our mission – from global HR standards and legal compliance, to innovative learning programmes, to strategies for organisational development and inclusion. 

Key priorities: 

• Lead on the evolution of the MMI People and Culture Strategy to ensure that activities are aligned with global strategy and support our growth ambition.
• Build and nurture high-performing, highly engaged teams across our global network.
• Develop global policies and frameworks that ensure fairness, consistency, and safe people.
• Lead the design and implementation of organisational design initiatives to support growth, collaboration, values alignment and leadership.
• Develop our approach to equality, diversity and inclusion ensuring that MMI continues to welcome and celebrate diversity in all its forms.
• Design and deliver change programmes that enhance performance and ways of working.
• Develop MMI’s thinking on the use of volunteers across the network to boost capability, provide strategic insights and deliver projects.  

We are looking for:  

• Significant senior-level experience in strategic people leadership in a complex, multicultural environment.
• A track record of creating great workplaces with high engagement and strong employer brands.
• Expertise across key areas such as business partnering, people services, organisational development, global reward, learning & development, EDI, and cultural transformation.
• The ability to influence and inspire at every level, from grassroots teams to boards.
• Sensitivity to different cultural contexts, combined with a pragmatic, solution-focused approach.
• A deep alignment with the mission and values of Mary’s Meals. 

About us:  

Mary’s Meals is a global movement supported by people from all walks of life and we are focused on one goal – that every child receives a nutritious daily meal in a place of education. We continue to change the lives of over 2.6 million children who today will receive Mary’s Meals.  

We believe in the innate goodness of people, respect the dignity of every human being and family life and believe in good stewardship of the resources entrusted to us. In line with our values, Mary’s Meals is fully committed to a culture of safeguarding. Mary’s Meals is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work and we expect all the Mary's Meals family to share this commitment and work in the best interest of the communities we serve. Our safe recruitment practices ensure that only those that are committed to our high standards join our movement.  

Salary advertised is for UK based candidates, our salary philosophy ensures consistency across locations where Mary’s Meals operates, please reach out to for more information about salaries in other locations.  

Additional Information:  

This role will undertake travel to countries where our programmes operate and will involve regulated work with children. You will be required to register with the Protected Vulnerable Group Scheme or local equivalent before undertaking your role.  

To apply:  

If you are inspired to join our movement and our vision, mission and values resonate with you, we would love to hear from you. To apply, please click below to send your CV and a short covering note (no more than 1 page) telling us why you are a great fit for this role and why you would like to work for Mary’s Meals International.  

Closing date for applications is Monday 1st September 2025.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.