Assistant HR Business Partner

Ipsum Utilities Limited; England; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days leave + bank holidays

Professional qualifications

Virtual GP and mental health support

Cycle to Work scheme

Life assurance

Long service recognition

Local social committees

Job summary

Ipsum Utilities Limited is seeking an experienced Assistant HR Business Partner to partner with Senior Leadership Teams and operational leaders. You will own the full employee lifecycle, balance hands-on delivery with data-led insight, and help drive the divisional people agenda.

Working with the Head of HR, you will influence workforce effectiveness, strengthen leadership capability, enhance engagement, and support growth activities including acquisitions and TUPE transfers, ensuring compliant,

Qualifications

• Strong generalist HR background across the employee lifecycle.
• Experience leading complex change initiatives, including restructures and TUPE.
• Solid knowledge of employment law and its practical application.
• Ability to build relationships and influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Track record of delivering commercially focused, strategic HR solutions.

Responsibilities

• Develop robust workforce and succession plans with leaders.
• Use people data and insights to drive performance and engagement.
• Lead organisational design, transformation, and change initiatives end-to-end (incl. TUPE and acquisitions).
• Provide pragmatic HR and employment law guidance in SLT and management forums.
• Support engagement surveys, culture programmes, and leadership development.
• Hands-on support across the full employee lifecycle: attraction, onboarding, probation, ER, reward, restructures, offboarding.

Skills

HR generalist

Change management

Employee relations

Employment law

Stakeholder management

People data analytics

Job description

Location: Home based with regular travel to our North based locations

Travel: Regular travel across the North of England required

Working Hours: Monday – Friday

What’s in it for you…

We believe in looking after our people, and it shows. When you join Ipsum, you’re not just taking a job — you’re starting a career with real support behind it.

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays with the option to buy more

Career development & progression with the opportunity to earn professional qualifications

24/7 access to a virtual GPand Mental health support & counselling services

Cycle to Work scheme

Life assurance cover

Long service recognition

Active local social committees

About the Role

We’re looking for an experienced and commercially minded Assistant HR Business Partner to join our Power division, partnering closely with Senior Leadership Teams and operational leaders to deliver impactful people solutions.

In this role, you’ll act as a trusted advisor, owning the full employee lifecycle and ensuring that our people strategy drives performance, enhances culture, and builds long‑term organisational capability. This is a highly visible role where you will balance hands‑on operational delivery with strategic, data‑led insight.

Working alongside the Head of HR, you’ll play a key role in delivering the divisional people agenda, aligned to the wider HR strategy. You’ll influence workforce effectiveness, strengthen leadership capability, enhance engagement, and support critical business change initiatives.

This role also provides the opportunity to lead on the people aspects of growth activity, including acquisitions, TUPE transfers, and integration programmes, ensuring they are delivered smoothly, compliantly, and with strong commercial outcomes.

What You’ll Be Doing

As an Assistant HR Business Partner, you will:

Partner with leaders to develop robust workforce and succession plans, ensuring effective performance management frameworks are in place

Use people data and insights to drive performance improvements and enhance employee engagement

Lead and support organisational design, transformation, and change initiatives end‑to‑end, including TUPE and acquisitions

Act as a trusted voice within SLT and management forums, providing pragmatic HR and employment law guidance

Support the delivery of key HR initiatives, including engagement surveys, culture programmes, and leadership development

You’ll also provide hands‑on support across the full employee lifecycle, including:

Attraction, onboarding, and induction

Probation reviews and performance management

Employee relations (disciplinaries, grievances, absence, and performance concerns)

Reward, pay reviews, and benefits

Restructures, redundancy processes, and offboarding

Alongside this, you’ll:

Coach and empower managers to build leadership capability and accountability

Drive consistency and best practice in people management across the business

About You

You’re a confident and credible HR professional who thrives in a fast‑paced, matrix environment. You may already be operating at HR Business Partner level, or you’re an experienced Senior HR Advisor ready to step up into your next challenge.

You’ll bring:

A strong generalist HR background with solid experience across the employee lifecycle

Proven experience of leading complex change initiatives, including restructures, TUPE, and contract variations

A strong working knowledge of employment law and its practical application

The ability to build relationships and influence stakeholders at all levels

A track record of delivering commercially focused, strategic HR solutions

You’ll also be:

An excellent communicator with strong interpersonal skills

Resilient, adaptable, and comfortable navigating change

Proactive in your approach to both business challenges and your own development

Our commitment to Equal Opportunities...

We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and experiences, and we’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive

workforce.Before applying, please review our Privacy Policy to understand how we process your data in line with GDPR.