New Director of People and Culture appointed
Louise Kindon has been appointed the University’s new Director of People and Culture.
New Director of People and Culture, Louise Kindon
Taking up her role at the start of October, Louise will develop, implement and manage people and organisational development strategies at Leeds, enabling the delivery of the University’s vision and strategic goals and supporting a significant culture shift to become an organisation characterised by its inclusivity, collaboration, compassion and integrity.
Louise is currently Deputy Director of Human Resources at the University of Birmingham, where she’s heavily involved in the leadership and ongoing development of the HR function.
Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Simone Buitendijk, said: “Built on the three pillars of culture, community and impact, the University strategy sets out our ambition to reduce inequalities and help shape a better future for humanity by educating the next generation of global citizens and embarking on challenge-led research. People are at the heart of this mission.
“Promoting a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion is one of our key priorities, so I’m delighted Louise has agreed to join us as our new Director of People and Culture. She shares our ambition to be a values-led organisation and brings a wealth of valuable experience to this role.”
Strategic ambition
Louise will lead the People and Organisational Development (OD) Directorate to deliver a user-led, collaborative service, which continues to develop and retain a talented, diverse and adaptable community of staff, equipped to secure the successful delivery of the University’s strategic ambition.
Her main areas of responsibility include Human Resources (HR) and Organisational Development and Professional Learning (OD&PL), as well as working in close partnership with Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Wellbeing, Safety and Health (WSH).
Rachel Brealey, Chief Operating Officer, said: “I look forward to welcoming and working closely with Louise in continuing to deliver the professional services required to fulfil the University’s ambitions.
“Louise brings with her a wealth of experience in working in large and complex institutions such as Leeds. Her experience in strategy and framework design, staff engagement and development and the modernisation of HR systems and processes will be extremely valuable as we move forwards with the delivery of our University strategy.”
Extensive experience
In her current role, Louise has also been instrumental in developing an innovative new HR strategy at the University of Birmingham, led the delivery of the Birmingham Academic Career Framework and established an Equality Change programme to deliver a wide range of ambitious equity, diversity and inclusion objectives.
Louise has more than 35 years of HR experience across a variety of sectors, including in higher education through her time at Birmingham and, prior to this, at the University of Warwick. She also brings with her experience of major change programmes from her time in the finance and utilities sector.
Louise said: “I’m delighted to be joining the University at such an exciting time.
“Creating the right conditions for cultural change will be key to delivering the University’s ambitious strategy. This, of course, cannot be done in isolation, and I’m very much looking forward to working with the team and with people from across the institution to ensure the University’s values are embedded in everything we do, and that colleagues feel supported, valued and engaged at every stage of their career with Leeds.”
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