Barbara Bigsby

Background

About Barbara Bigsby

I’m a strategic and pragmatic People leader with a track record of building and scaling HR functions in high-growth, international environments — from biotech and global retail to manufacturing and FMCG. I’ve worked across the UK, US, and EMEA, partnering with CEOs, Boards, and senior leadership teams to design People strategies that enable business growth while supporting strong cultures. Whether I’m navigating organisational change, shaping reward frameworks, or embedding values into daily practices, my focus is always on creating clarity, fairness, and momentum. Some of the work I’m most proud of includes- Designing and implementing a full Performance, Development, and Reward framework in a UK/US biotech scale-up - Leading equity, bonus, and remuneration strategy through Board-level governance - Building job families, promotion pathways, and recognition programmes that reflect both values and impact - Supporting organisational design and workforce planning through periods of growth and restructuring - Championing psychological safety, wellbeing, and inclusive leadership I’m curious, commercially minded, and people-focused and I bring calm structure to ambiguity. I love working in organisations that are mission-driven and evolving fast, where People strategy is genuinely part of how the business moves forward.