From HR Pro to HR Director: Preparing for the step up

About this event

Join us for this virtual event designed to help experienced people professionals prepare for the transition into Director-level leadership.

This interactive session will explore the skills, mindset, and strategic insight required to successfully step into HR Director roles, drawing on the lived experience of three inspiring leaders.

✨ Why attend?

• Gain practical insights from HR leaders who’ve made the step up.
• Understand the key challenges and opportunities at Director level.
• Learn strategies for driving culture, transformation, and performance.
• Build inspiration and confidence for your own HR leadership journey.

🔗 Don’t miss this opportunity to learn directly from three outstanding HR leaders and prepare yourself for the next stage of your career.

About the speakers

Rebecca Bishop

With over 28 years of HR and OD experience across private and public services, Rebecca has built a career rooted in transformational change. From her beginnings in Applied Biology and a role at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, she moved into HR at Univar before leading pan-European projects and working in senior HR roles across councils, universities, health services, the Civil Service, and combined authorities.

A seasoned HR professional, Rebecca specialises in turning underperforming HR services into strategic enablers, driving cultural change, implementing digitally-enabled operating models, and building strong union relationships. Her expertise lies in strategic planning, people and culture programmes, and aligning HR to organisational objectives.

Shade Odupelu

Shade brings over 25 years of senior leadership experience across organisations such as Salvation Army, Teach First, Re-engage, Livability, and Advance. Currently Interim Co-CEO and Director of People, Transformation and Culture at ActionAid UK, Shade leads change programmes that drive performance, governance, accountability, and culture.

Passionate about equity and inclusion, she champions intersectional feminism, transgender and racial equity, and fosters workplaces where people can thrive. With deep experience in transformation and culture-building, Shade brings a wealth of insight into what it takes to lead at the highest level.

Paul Cann

Paul is an HR Director with over 30 years of experience across real estate, insurance, and investment banking. He has held senior HR leadership roles at CBRE, Ageas, ING, and Groupama, and is currently Interim HR Director UK&I at Greystar, a leading US real estate company. Delivering strategic transformation, operational excellence, and cost efficiencies across global workforces, his expertise spans HR strategy, operations, reward, policy, and organisational development.

Paul has been a trusted partner to executive teams and led high-impact change programmes, including restructures, offshoring, and digital HR transformations. His career reflects a journey from HR practitioner to board-level leader, marked by innovation, influence, and measurable results.

Please note:

1. Webinar joining instructions will be sent to you again one day before the event, with a further reminder, 20 minutes prior to the event starting.
2. The session may be recorded and shared with people afterwards. Please bear this in mind and have your camera off if you do not wish for your image to be shared.
3. The chat function will be used for participants to engage with the webinar, so just be mindful of the login name you use and ensure you are happy for other people to see this.
4. For security reasons, it is requested that participants join the live session 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and with the same name as registered on Eventbrite as not doing so may cause a delay or non-admittance to the event.
5. This event may include an external speaker who has prepared their own presentation. Any views or opinions expressed by the speaker are their own and do not reflect those of the CIPD.
6. If you require any reasonable adjustments to enhance your experience, please get in contact with us by responding to this email and we will do our best to accommodate.