Senior HR Business Partner

Reporting directly to the Head of Operations – UK Cluster, the Senior HRBP will lead the execution of the HR Business Partnering model across their allocated business areas, partnering with senior stakeholders to shape people strategy, drive organisational effectiveness, and deliver outstanding employee experience. The role provides leadership ensuring that people initiatives are aligned with business priorities while fostering a culture of accountability, performance, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

The Senior HRBP will have leadership responsibility for HR Business Partners and will act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on all people-related matters.

Key Accountabilities

Strategic Business Partnering

• Act as a trusted advisor to the Head of Operations and business area leadership team on the people agenda.

• Develop and implement people strategies that enable the achievement of business objectives and operational plans.

• Translate business strategy into actionable people plans and measurable HR outcomes.

• Challenge and influence senior stakeholders to drive effective decision-making and organisational performance.

• Ensure the HR agenda is fully aligned with operational, commercial, and growth objectives.

• Drive a proactive, commercially focused HR partnering approach across the UK Cluster in conjunction with the wider HR senior team

Leadership of the HR Business Partnering Model

• Lead the implementation and continuous enhancement of the HR Business Partner model across the business, ensuring a consistent approach with other business areas.

• Establish clear partnering frameworks that enable the HR team to add strategic value while delivering exceptional employee support.

• Coach and develop HRBPs to operate as credible business partners.

• Promote consistency, best practice, and operational excellence across all HR partnering activities.

• Drive increased utilisation of people analytics and workforce insights to support business decisions.

Stakeholder Management

• Build strong relationships with senior leaders across your business areas (Operations, Commercial, Corporate Functions)

• Influence and challenge stakeholders to ensure people's decisions reflect both commercial and employee considerations.

• Facilitate leadership discussions around culture, capability, talent, succession, and organisational effectiveness.

• Act as a key point of escalation for complex people matters working with the Employee relations team

Talent Management & Succession Planning

• Lead talent review, succession planning, and workforce planning activities across your relevant business areas, utilising frameworks shared by the talent team.

• Identify capability gaps and develop strategies to build organisational capability.

• Partner with leaders to create meaningful development opportunities for high-potential talent.

• Partner with the wider HR Centres of Expertise ( Talent, Resourcing, Reward) to ensure that Ensure robust succession pipelines are in place for critical roles and key talent is attracted and retained

• Support internal mobility and career development initiatives.

Organisational Design & Change

• Lead organisational design and restructuring activities to ensure optimum organisational effectiveness.

• Support business transformation, integration, and change programmes.

• Ensure effective change management practices are embedded across the organisation.

• Support leaders in navigating organisational complexity and change.

Employee Relations & Risk Management

• Work in conjunction with the Employee Relations Manager to oversee complex Employee Relations cases including grievances, disciplinary matters, capability, absence management, restructures, and exits.

• Ensure effective Union relationships and considerations

• Provide expert advice on employment legislation, policy, and best practice.

• Mitigate people-related risks through proactive interventions and sound judgement.

• Ensure legal compliance and adherence to internal governance processes.

• Support a positive employee relations climate built on trust, transparency, and fairness.

Performance & Culture

• Drive a high-performance culture through effective performance management practices, ensuring frameworks are embedded.

• Partner with leaders to improve engagement, productivity, accountability, and team effectiveness.

• Lead initiatives that enhance organisational culture and employee experience.

• Use employee engagement data, feedback, and insights to shape action plans and continuous improvement activities.

• Champion diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives across the business.

Workforce Planning & Analytics

• Lead strategic workforce planning activities to ensure organisational capability aligns with future business requirements.

• Utilise people metrics and analytics to inform decision-making and identify trends.

• Deliver meaningful insights on turnover, absence, engagement, performance, diversity, and talent.

• Recommend and implement actions to address workforce challenges.

HR Leadership

• Provide leadership, coaching, and development to HR team members.

• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

• Contribute to the overall HR strategy and wider People Team objectives.

• Lead key corporate HR initiatives and projects as required.

• Act as a role model for company values and leadership behaviours.

Experience & Qualifications

Essential

• Proven experience operating as a Senior HR Business Partner within a fast-paced environment.

• Proven experience partnering with senior leaders/stakeholders.

• Demonstrated success in leading organisational change and transformation programmes.

• Strong Employee Relations knowledge and employment law expertise.

• Experience leading, coaching, and developing HR teams.

• Commercially astute with the ability to align people's strategy to business outcomes.

• Experience of talent management, workforce planning, and organisational design.

• Experience of Job Evaluation/ application of Reward frameworks 

• Excellent influencing and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred

• CIPD Level 7 qualified or equivalent.

• Experience within operational, corporate, logistics, manufacturing sectors

• Experience of working within a unionised environment

• Experience operating in a multi-site environment.