People Partner

Salary: £39,000 - £43,000

Contract Type:  Permanent, full time (37.5 hours)

Team: People Team

Reports to: Director of People

Location: Hybrid working available - candidates must be a commutable distance to Accrington with travel to other offices when required

Our People Partner delivers high quality, proactive people support across their designated business area as part of our People Advisory Team. This role acts as a trusted and approachable source of guidance for both managers and employees. The role provides informed, practical advice across the full employee lifecycle - including recruitment, onboarding, performance, wellbeing, development, employee relations and exit processes. With a strong focus on policy application, employee relations and operational consistency, our People Partners ensure managers feel confident and supported in handling people matters effectively.

Play your part in our team succeeding

Success in this role means creating and sustaining a positive, collaborative employee relations climate by managing casework (such as disciplinary, grievance, capability and absence) professionally, consistently and in line with legislation, policies and organisational values. You work in partnership with managers to secure fair, well‑reasoned and business aligned outcomes, actively managing risk while ensuring employees are treated with respect and feel supported throughout. By communicating clearly, applying sound judgement and offering practical, solution focused guidance, you enhance operational effectiveness, strengthen our employee experience and contribute meaningfully to the overall success of the People function.

Core Responsibilities:

Business Partnering and People Advisory Support

·       Act as the primary HR contact for allocated service areas, providing day-to-day HR support across the full employee lifecycle.

·       Build strong relationships with managers, acting as a trusted advisor on all people matters.

·       Develop a strong understanding of the full HR landscape within the designated department, ensuring key activities such as training, KPIs and casework are effectively managed and coordinated.

·       Act as the voice of the business, ensuring teams are up to date with key organisational messages, feeding insights into HR strategy and service improvement.

·       Attend team meetings and remain fully integrated with operational teams.

·       Promote positive culture, inclusion and employee experience initiatives.

·       Act as a cultural ambassador, reinforcing organisational values.

·       Use people data and insights to inform business decisions (e.g. turnover, absence, engagement trends).

Employee Relations and Case Management

·       Manage a varied and complex ER caseload including disciplinary, grievance, absence and performance cases.

·       Manage and lead restructures, organisational change and workforce issues.

·       Provide expert advice on employment law, policy and risk, ensuring sound decision making.

·       Ensure early interventions, identify and mitigate risks and preventing escalation to formal processes where possible.

·       Maintain positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders

Wellbeing and Attendance

·       Oversee and manage sickness absence cases ensuring the correct procedures are followed and OH advice is sought where needed.

·       Deliver the wellbeing strategy through hands on support and implementation of wellbeing interventions.

·       Promote a culture of proactive health, wellbeing and engagement.

Coaching and Manager Capability

·       Coach and support managers on key HR processes including performance management, absence and wellbeing, team dynamics and conflict resolution

·       Support delivery and quality of the appraisal cycle.

·       Deliver training and guidance on HR policies and best practice ensuring managers are fully equipped to deal with people issues.

·       Identify capability gaps and work with L&D to design targeted interventions.

·       Deliver or support management training sessions.

·       Promote a continuous learning culture.

·       Provide constructive challenge and influence decision-making.

Workforce Planning and Organisational Development

·       Play an active role in workforce planning and organisational design, ensuring managers receive consistent and accurate guidance on the recruitment process.

·       Act as the HR representative in interviews within your designated service area, promoting consistency and ensuring a fair, equitable recruitment experience.

·       Support organisational change initiatives including M&As, restructures and TUPE where relevant.

·       Partner with leaders to improve team effectiveness and structure.

Compliance and Governance

·       Ensure compliance with employment law, data protection (GDPR), internal HR policies and procedures.

·       Provide consistent interpretation and application of company HR policies and statutory guidance.

·       Keep fully to date with employment law changes and statutory requirements.

·       Attendance at key employment law updates and training opportunities.

Change and Projects

·       Support and deliver people-related change initiatives

·       Contribute to HR and organisational projects, driving continuous improvement

·       Use data and insight to identify trends and recommend solutions for department areas, providing key KPIs to managers.

International

·       Provide HR support to EU-based teams where there is no local HR presence, acting as the primary point of contact for people-related matters.

·       Work closely with local legal advisors to ensure compliance with country-specific employment law and regulations.

·       Support managers with employee relations casework in EU locations, ensuring a pragmatic and legally compliant approach.

·       Build effective relationships with key stakeholders across international locations, maintaining visibility and consistency of HR support.

The Essentials:

·        Significant experience as a Senior HR Advisor or HR Business Partner role, supporting managers across the full employee lifecycle.

·        Proven track record managing complex ER casework including disciplinary, grievance, capability and absence.

·        Strong, up‑to‑date knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice, with confidence applying this in real situations.

·        Experience supporting organisational change such as restructures, redundancies and TUPE.

·        Demonstrated ability to coach, influence and build capability in managers at all levels.

·        Strong stakeholder relationship skills with experience working in fast‑paced, operational environments.

·        CIPD Level 5 or Level 7 (equivalent experience or currently working towards).

About You:

You are a credible and trusted people professional who builds strong, authentic relationships at all levels and maintains a highly visible presence within your business areas. You take a hands‑on, people‑focused approach to partnering by regularly engaging with teams, attending sites and travelling as needed to stay connected to the realities of the organisation. With strong situational awareness and a proactive mindset, you naturally spot emerging issues early and take steps to address them before they develop into problems.

Your natural influencing style, commercial thinking and balanced judgement enable you to provide clear, pragmatic guidance that supports both our people and organisational priorities. Behaviourally you bring confidence, humility and emotional intelligence, allowing you to coach, support and constructively challenge managers in a way that builds capability and strengthens trust.

You demonstrate resilience, adaptability and a calm approach under pressure, enjoying a role with shifting priorities, competing demands and able to support the growth of the business. You are proactive, solutions focused and comfortable taking ownership, drawing on strong analytical thinking and sound risk assessment to reach fair, pragmatic outcomes.

With a commitment to professionalism, discretion and continuous improvement, you role model organisational values, foster a positive and inclusive culture, and consistently demonstrate behaviours that encourage collaboration, accountability and high performance across the organisation.

Interested in Applying?

If this role sounds like the right next step for you, please send your CV and a covering letter to recruitment@cmacgroup.com by Monday 6th April 2026.

Tell us what makes you stand out and the skills and experience you’d bring to the role, we’re excited to learn more about you and what you can bring to CMAC Group.

£39,000 - £43,000

Hybrid working

Company profit sharing bonus

Paid volunteer days

Cycle to Work Scheme

Death in Service

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

EAP

Social events

*We're currently reviewing our benefits package as part of a Pay and Reward project which incorporates staff survey feedback.*