Time commitment: Full-time
Location: Hybrid, London
Reporting to: Mark Jenkins, CEO
About Paloma
Paloma’s mission is to make children’s autism and ADHD assessments and care available on the NHS within 4 weeks of GP referral. We believe the NHS can offer quick access to these services, and Paloma is achieving this by redesigning care pathways, developing new software & AI tools, and investing in clinicians' learning & development.
Mark and Darshak founded Paloma as they were frustrated that families are waiting 2-10 years for NHS children’s autism and ADHD assessments. This crisis in NHS children’s neurodevelopmental services has recently been highlighted by the Children’s Commissioner for England here: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/blog/childrens-commissioner-warns-of-invisible-crisis-as-delays-and-inequalities-laid-bare-among-children-with-neurodevelopmental-conditions/
We are growing our team purposefully to meet the need for NHS autism and ADHD care, and since launching, we have:
- Grown our fantastic team to over 100 people, and are hiring ~100 more over the next 12 months
- Raised £5m pre-seed funding from leading healthcare investors (Triple Point Ventures and Heal Capital), helping us to invest in our technology and our team
- Achieved financial sustainability
How is Paloma Health different from other Neurodevelopmental providers?
- We are clinically-led, Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered, and continuously improve our outcomes and family experiences.
- Our in-house product & engineering team ensures we can:
- Give families a more consumer-like experience of healthcare
- Free our clinicians from documentation to focus on supporting families
- Our strong culture, including transparency, a sense of community, and supporting staff career development
- The experience of our founders (Dr Mark Jenkins & Darshak Shah), who have previously built tech-enabled NHS obesity and ophthalmology services. Combined, their previous companies have treated over 1 million NHS patients in the last 15 years!
- Being backed by leading healthcare investors allows us to move fast
The Opportunity
As Head of People, you will lead our People function and partner with our CEO to develop and deliver our people strategy. You directly lead core people initiatives across culture, team engagement, learning & development, policies, compliance, and process excellence, ensuring Paloma Health remains a great place to work.
You have an immediate team of two, a Senior People Partner and a People Operations Associate, and have the support of a contracted external HR consultancy. You will partner closely with our Head of Talent and their 2 talent team members.
You understand that scale-ups require a dual skill set - as well as being skilled in strategy and team leadership, you will relish being a hands-on operator. This includes supporting your team to optimise and deliver core people processes (writing/reviewing policies, drafting contracts, running engagement surveys) and directly leading on senior line manager development.
This is a fantastic opportunity to join a fast-growing organisation and have a significant impact on both our team and the children and families we serve. With success in the role, you can progress to our People Director in time.
About you
You are an experienced People professional with the ability to operate autonomously, thrive in ambiguity, and lead a function in a rapidly growing organisation. You are passionate about creating a positive and inclusive workplace culture and have the skills to drive both strategic and operational initiatives.
From a cultural perspective, you are:
- Comfortable working in a dynamic environment and embracing change
- Excited about embedding new software tools in our people processes
- Always looking for ways to improve our staff and patient experience
Responsibilities:
People strategy:
- Develop and execute a comprehensive People strategy aligned with our vision, mission and values.
- Partner with our co-founders to ensure excellence in organisational design, talent management, and culture-building.
- Partner with our Head of Talent to ensure we attract the right individuals to help build Paloma.
Leadership:
- Line Manage our Senior People Partner and People Operations Associate.
- Create job specifications and recruit additional People Team roles as needed.
- Lead the management of our contracted external HR consultancy.
Culture and team engagement:
- Champion Paloma Health’s culture, fostering an inclusive, transparent, and community-oriented workplace.
- Design and implement initiatives to enhance employee engagement, including surveys, feedback loops, and team-building events.
- Ensure a high-quality employee experience in our London office and lead its management.
Learning and development:
- Lead and develop our systems for learning, professional development, performance management, and career progression.
- Partner with our line managers to support their development.
Policy and compliance:
- Develop, update, and communicate People policies that align with NHS healthcare standards and CQC regulatory requirements.
- Ensure compliance with employment legislation, NHS and CQC people requirements whilst maintaining an empathetic and employee-focused approach.
- People processes excellence:
- Build and refine People processes to streamline operations and improve the employee experience, leveraging technology to support people operations, data management, and reporting.
Qualifications and experience:
Required:
- Proven experience in a senior HR or People role in a fast-growing organisation. Typically, including at least 7 years of experience in HR/People roles and at least 2 years in a high-growth (100% year-on-year) environment.
- Demonstrated ability to implement robust policies and processes, enhance culture, and support line manager development.
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage and inspire diverse teams.
- A track record of implementing innovation in People strategies, processes, and systems.
- Deep understanding of best practices in modern HR IT systems.
Desirable:
- Worked in an environment with a large workforce, as Paloma has a large and growing clinical team.
- Strong knowledge of UK employment law and regulatory compliance.
- Experience working in a CQC-registered healthcare setting, ideally in technology-enabled care.
Don’t meet every requirement?
Studies have shown that women and people from ethnic minority groups are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every qualification. Paloma is dedicated to building a diverse and top-performing workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align with every qualification, we strongly encourage you to apply. You may be just the right candidate for this role or others!
Why join Paloma?
You will be part of a mission-driven organisation that’s transforming access to autism and ADHD care in England. For all employees, we offer:
- A strong and positive culture that prioritises staff well-being, transparency, and career development.
- Protected time and budget for team connection, learning, and community-building.
- Competitive compensation including:
- Competitive salary, with annual salary reviews.
- 5% employer pension contribution
- Private medical insurance and Employee Assistance Programme (from spring 2026)
- Home Office Equipment Allowance
- A unique annual leave benefits package which includes:
- 34 days of annual leave. This includes eight bank holidays and your birthday off.
- Option to buy an additional 5 days per year
- An additional 10 days of paid sabbatical leave every three completed years of service (which means 44 days of leave in year four at Paloma!)
- Additional benefits include:
- A premium performance company laptop
- Equity compensation through Share Options in Paloma Health for employees working at least 32 hours per week with Paloma.
- NHS discounts, including the Blue Light Card (as we are an NHS provider).
Equality & Diversity
Paloma Health is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and throughout the application process. We do not discriminate based on any protected characteristic.
Accommodations
We’re glad to accommodate candidates who need adjustments throughout the hiring process. We encourage you to be open about the adjustments you need, so we can adapt our interview process accordingly.
Safer Recruitment & Pre-Employment Checks
Paloma Health ensures that supporting people to be safe is at the heart of our work and a key priority across all areas of the organisation. As part of our pre-employment checks, you will be asked to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Depending on your role within the business, this will be at either an Enhanced, Standard, or Basic level. We are committed to safer recruitment practices and expect all applicants to share our dedication to safeguarding. Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure we appoint individuals who are aligned with our values and who will contribute to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for everyone we work with.
Application process
Please apply via our website. We understand that applying for a new job requires significant effort, and we appreciate your time. We look forward to reviewing your application.
Join us and be part of our journey to revolutionise access to NHS autism and ADHD care!
