Director of Employee Insights & Experience

Division: People

Career Level: B1

Location: London, with global travel as required

Reports to: VP, Talent & Development

Purpose

Bringing every family closer through play

Vision

To be the world’s most loved family escape

At Merlin Entertainments, our people are central to how we create unforgettable experiences for millions of guests around the world. We are now looking for a Director of Employee Insights & Experience to shape, lead and embed a world-class, data-driven people experience that fuels engagement, performance and sustainable growth.

The Role

The Director of Employee Insights & Experience will define and deliver an end-to-end people experience that is commercially grounded, inclusive and differentiated. Partnering closely with Reward, Talent, HR Business Partners and senior leaders, you will use insight, segmentation and experimentation to design experiences and propositions that matter most to our people – particularly in critical and revenue-generating roles.

This is a highly strategic role with real influence, where employee experience, EVP and culture are treated as powerful levers for business performance.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

Employee Engagement

• Own and evolve the organisation’s employee engagement strategy, including surveys, pulses and qualitative listening

• Turn insight into prioritised, accountable action plans that leaders can own and deliver

• Build manager capability to interpret data, close feedback loops and track impact over time

• Shape a clear engagement narrative so colleagues see how their voice drives real change

Employee Experience

• Define and lead the enterprise-wide employee experience strategy across the full lifecycle

• Map employee journeys to identify moments that matter, pain points and opportunities for simplification and differentiation

• Design and test hypotheses linking experience improvements to commercial outcomes such as productivity, retention and revenue per head

• Build and own EX measurement frameworks, dashboards and insight loops

• Partner with HR Operations, Digital/IT and Communications to create user-centred, inclusive and intuitive experiences

Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

• Own and govern a clear, authentic and differentiated EVP aligned to business strategy and brand

• Segment the workforce and develop tailored “target EVPs” for priority populations

• Partner with Reward to align pay, benefits, recognition and incentives to EVP and market priorities

• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition, Employer Brand and Marketing to bring EVP to life externally and internally

• Track EVP effectiveness and continuously refine propositions

Culture, Inclusion & Belonging

• Embed diversity, equity and inclusion into every aspect of experience and proposition design

• Sponsor and support employee resource groups and forums with clear governance and business impact

• Use culture and inclusion initiatives to drive measurable commercial outcomes

• Partner with leaders to role model behaviours and reinforce a high-performance, inclusive culture

What Success Looks Like

By 6 months:

• Clear diagnosis of engagement, experience and EVP health across key workforce segments

• Workforce segmentation completed with initial target EVP propositions defined

• Joined-up listening and EX measurement framework in place

• Early journey redesign pilots delivering measurable impact

• Strong partnerships established across Reward, Talent and HR

• Visible, commercially aligned DEI and culture progress

By 12 months:

• A business-endorsed People Experience and EVP strategy with a 2–3 year roadmap

• Differentiated EVP and reward propositions live for priority populations

• Measurable improvements in engagement, retention, onboarding and productivity

• All key employee journeys mapped with a portfolio of experience improvements delivered

• Recognised as a trusted strategic partner to the executive team

About You

You bring deep expertise in employee experience, engagement and EVP within large or complex organisations, and you are comfortable operating at pace in a highly commercial environment.

You’ll bring:

• 7–10+ years’ experience in HR, employee engagement, EX or organisational development

• Proven experience defining, implementing and measuring EVP in a global organisation

• Strong data and people analytics capability, translating insight into action

• Experience designing and delivering company-wide EX and culture programmes

• Confidence influencing senior leaders and working cross-functionally

• Experience partnering with ERGs and senior stakeholders to drive inclusion and belonging

• Strong change, communication and storytelling skills

• Hands-on experience with EX and engagement platforms (e.g. Qualtrics, Medallia, Culture Amp, GPTW)

What Sets You Apart

• High-energy, high-accountability and impact-driven

• A thinker, doer and continuous learner

• Commercially minded and evidence-led

• Comfortable balancing humility with confidence

• A natural storyteller who brings data to life

• Passionate about people, culture and performance

• A true role model of our values and an extraordinary teammate

We’re growing fast and alongside a fun and friendly environment, we offer a fabulous package and amazing prospects – ideal if you’re already fantastic and want to become even better (our magic can help here). Benefits include Pension, Life Assurance, discretionary company bonus, 33 days’ holiday including bank holidays, a Merlin Magic Pass which gives you and your friends and family free admission to all of our attractions worldwide, an Enjoy the Ride pass which entitles you and 5 loved ones unlimited entry into your regional attractions, 25% discount in our retail shops and restaurants and 40% discount on LEGO, plus lots more!