HR Business Partner (6-Month Fixed-Term Contract)

Location: West Bromwich based with occasional travel involved
Contract: 6-Month Fixed-Term Contract, 5 days a week on site
Salary: £50,000 - £52,000 FTE

Our client is a leading UK food manufacturing organisation with a rich heritage, recognised brand portfolio and a significant operational footprint across the country. Operating within a fast-paced, high-volume manufacturing environment, the business employs a diverse workforce across production, engineering, operations and support functions.

The business operates within a highly unionised environment and places significant importance on maintaining positive working relationships with employee representatives and Trade Union partners. As such, the successful candidate will be comfortable navigating collective employee relations matters and working collaboratively with unions to support both business objectives and employee wellbeing.

This is a hands-on HR Business Partner role supporting a busy operational workforce. The successful candidate will take ownership of complex employee relations matters, manage the full recruitment lifecycle for a variety of positions, and work closely with managers to develop their people management capability. The role requires a pragmatic and commercially minded HR professional who is comfortable balancing strategic business partnering with operational delivery in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a high volume of employee relations cases including disciplinaries, grievances, absence management, performance management and investigations.
• Support managers through complex and sensitive people issues, ensuring compliance with employment legislation and internal policy.
• Deliver the full recruitment lifecycle for operational and support function vacancies, including briefing, sourcing, interviewing, offer management and onboarding.
• Partner with hiring managers to improve recruitment outcomes and workforce planning activity.
• Design and deliver management training on key people topics including performance management, absence management, employee relations and employment law.
• Coach and upskill managers to increase confidence and capability in handling people matters.
• Build strong relationships with operational teams to ensure consistency in the application of HR policies and procedures.
• Support organisational change, restructures and business improvement initiatives.
• Analyse workforce trends and HR metrics to identify risks and opportunities.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with Trade Union representatives and employee forums.
• Provide guidance to managers on collective agreements, policies and best practice within a unionised environment.

Requirements:

• Proven experience operating as an HR Business Partner, Senior HR Advisor or equivalent.
• Strong employee relations experience, including managing complex casework.
• Experience supporting operational, manufacturing, logistics, distribution or FMCG environments.
• A strong understanding of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Experience working with Trade Unions or within a unionised environment.
• Excellent stakeholder management and coaching skills.
• A commercially minded and pragmatic approach to problem-solving.
• CIPD qualification (Level 5 or above), or equivalent experience.

If you're an experienced HR professional looking for your next interim challenge apply today!