Head of People & Culture: Retail Segment

Head of People and Culture: Retail Segment Salary: Competitive and based on experience Location: Johannesburg Keywords: collaborative, inclusive, supportive leadership, flexible working opportunities, training opportunities, generous pensions contributions

A leading national retailer is seeking a Head of People and Culture for their retail segment, based in Johannesburg. This pivotal role offers you the opportunity to shape the people strategy across a vast network of pharmacies, clinics, and frontshop locations, driving transformation and embedding a culture of inclusion and excellence. You will be at the forefront of integrating people priorities with business outcomes, ensuring operational capability and workforce readiness to support ambitious growth plans. The organisation values flexibility, continuous learning, and supportive leadership, providing an environment where your expertise in human resources can make a measurable impact on both employee experience and business performance. If you are passionate about nurturing talent, championing diversity, and building collaborative teams within a high-volume retail environment, this is your chance to influence the future of retail healthcare.

• Lead the integration of people strategies across hundreds of retail sites nationwide, ensuring consistent employee experience and regulatory compliance while supporting business growth.
• Champion transformation initiatives that foster inclusion, belonging, and leadership accountability, creating a future-ready talent pipeline through skills development and training opportunities.
• Enjoy flexible working arrangements, generous pension contributions, and ongoing professional development in a supportive environment committed to operational excellence and employee wellbeing.

What you'll do:

As Head of People and Culture: Retail Segment, you will play a central role in shaping the employee journey from recruitment through induction to ongoing development. Your day-to-day responsibilities will involve collaborating closely with executive leaders to align people priorities with business objectives while fostering an inclusive culture that supports transformation. You will oversee a large team dedicated to delivering consistent People and Culture services across hundreds of stores nationwide. By leveraging data analytics for workforce planning and resourcing decisions, you will anticipate challenges related to expansion or seasonal trading periods. Your commitment to continuous learning will ensure all employees meet required certifications while supporting succession planning for key roles. Through proactive engagement strategies with Employee Relations departments, you will reinforce fairness and accountability throughout the organisation. Ultimately, your efforts will contribute directly to operational agility by streamlining processes that enhance accuracy across the employee lifecycle.

• Design and deliver tactical objectives for People and Culture across the national retail footprint, including pharmacies, clinics, frontshop operations, and category teams.
• Lead, develop, and manage a team of field professionals who support various segments within the retail network to ensure seamless service delivery.
• Partner with executive management to build alignment between divisional operational teams and support structures for responsive solutions that add value.
• Drive cross-functional synergy among pharmacy, clinic, frontshop, and category teams to enable integrated People and Culture service delivery.
• Oversee operational readiness for new store openings, acquisitions, and clinic integrations by managing talent acquisition processes as well as change management initiatives.
• Ensure smooth transitions during periods of organisational change such as new store launches or reconfigurations by facilitating cultural integration and systems enablement.
• Act as the People and Culture lead in store closure or reconfiguration projects with sensitivity to employee impact while maintaining business continuity.
• Develop strategic workforce plans in partnership with Talent Acquisition to maintain an adequate pipeline of employees for current and future needs.
• Implement targeted sourcing, onboarding, and retention initiatives aligned with property expansion models to address workforce challenges in high-demand regions.
• Collaborate with Learning & Development teams to drive training interventions specific to pharmacy compliance, customer service excellence in frontshop areas, and clinical protocols.

What you bring:

To excel as Head of People and Culture: Retail Segment you will bring extensive experience leading human resources functions within complex retail or healthcare organisation. Your background should include deep familiarity with South African labour laws alongside hands-on exposure managing distributed workforces across multiple locations. You are adept at navigating transformation agendas—championing diversity initiatives while embedding inclusive practices throughout every level of the organisation. Your proven ability to design strategic workforce plans ensures readiness for rapid expansion or seasonal fluctuations without compromising quality standards. Collaboration comes naturally: you thrive when partnering with Learning & Development specialists on tailored training interventions that uplift capability across pharmacy dispensaries as well as frontshop customer service teams. Commercially astute yet empathetic by nature—you balance cost optimisation imperatives against employee wellbeing considerations at every turn. Your interpersonal strengths shine through when motivating high-performing teams or influencing senior executives toward shared goals. Above all else your commitment to continuous improvement drives measurable impact on both operational efficiency and employee engagement.

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources or Industrial/Organisational Psychology is essential for success in this role.
• Minimum eight years’ experience in Human Resources with at least five years spent in senior HR operations or HR Business Partner leadership roles within retail or healthcare environments.
• In-depth understanding of South African labour legislation (BCEA, LRA) as well as sectoral regulations governing pharmacies and clinics (SAPC, NDoH, HPCSA compliance).
• Demonstrated success managing large-scale distributed workforces across high-volume retail settings is highly advantageous.
• Proven track record driving transformation initiatives including Employment Equity (EE), BBBEE compliance, skills development programmes (SD), and equity legislation implementation.
• Experience designing strategic workforce plans that anticipate staffing needs during expansion phases or seasonal peaks while addressing skills scarcity in rural regions.
• Ability to implement targeted sourcing strategies alongside effective onboarding processes that support retention goals aligned with property expansion models.
• Expertise collaborating with Learning & Development teams on pharmacy-specific training interventions as well as customer service excellence programmes for frontshop staff.
• Strong commercial acumen enabling alignment between People & Culture practices and cost-sensitive business outcomes within margin-focused environments.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills including resilience under pressure; ability to motivate teams; build trust; develop future leaders; influence senior stakeholders; engage cross-functional groups; shape organisational decisions.

What sets this company apart:

This organisation stands out for its unwavering commitment to creating an inclusive workplace where every individual feels valued regardless of background or role. With a national footprint spanning hundreds of stores—including pharmacies clinics frontshops—the company prioritises consistency in employee experience alongside strict adherence to regulatory requirements. Flexible working opportunities allow you to balance professional ambitions against personal commitments while generous pension contributions provide long-term financial security. Training opportunities abound: whether you’re developing frontline staff or preparing future leaders there’s always room for growth supported by knowledgeable mentors who genuinely care about your success. The leadership team fosters collaboration at every level—encouraging open communication sharing best practices celebrating achievements together as one unified network dedicated not only meeting but exceeding customer expectations daily. Transformation isn’t just a buzzword here—it’s embedded into everything they do from championing employment equity initiatives through skills development programmes right down crafting employer branding messages that resonate authentically across diverse communities nationwide. If you’re looking join an organisation where supportive leadership drives real change—and where your contributions have lasting impact—this is the place for you.

What's next:

If you are ready to make a meaningful difference in shaping the future of retail healthcare through compassionate leadership apply now!

Apply today by clicking on the link provided.