Employee Relations Business Partner

Arriva UK Bus Limited; Thurmaston; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Arriva UK Bus Limited is seeking an experienced Employee Relations Partner to shape positive ER across UK depots. You will provide expert guidance on complex ER matters, influence leaders and stakeholders, and drive proactive solutions that support both people and business objectives.

Work closely with Trade Union representatives, HR colleagues, and operational leaders to ensure compliant, fair outcomes and to empower managers through strong ER practices.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in an Employee Relations role.
• Proven experience working in a unionised environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead investigations into complex ER cases with fair outcomes.
• Provide expert advice on disciplinaries, grievances, absence management, and performance issues.
• Support and coach HR and management on ER challenges.
• Analyze ER data and provide trends and insights.
• Develop strategies, policies and manager guidance in ER trends.

Skills

Employee relations

Stakeholder management

Coaching and influence

Data analysis

Employment law

Tools

MS Office

HRIS

Job description

Job Summary

Are you an experienced Employee Relations professional looking to make a real impact in a complex and fast-paced environment? We're looking for an Employee Relations Partner to play a pivotal role in shaping positive employee relations across our UK depots. This is an exciting opportunity to provide expert guidance on complex ER matters, influence key stakeholders, and drive proactive solutions that support both our people and business objectives. Working closely with leaders, HR colleagues, and Trade Union representatives, you'll help create a culture where employee relations issues are effectively managed, risks are mitigated, and managers are empowered to make informed decisions.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead investigations into complex and high-risk employee relations cases, ensuring fair and consistent outcomes while minimising business risk.
• Provide expert advice and guidance on a range of ER matters including disciplinaries, grievances, absence management, and performance issues.
• Support and coach HR and management teams on complex employee relations challenges.
• Analyse employee relations data, identify trends, and provide meaningful management information and insights.
• Develop and implement strategies, policies, manager guidance, and initiatives in response to emerging ER trends.
• Introduce and embed proactive case management frameworks, taking a risk-based approach to case resolution.
• Drive process improvements for managing ER case files and data, helping to reduce case volumes and improve efficiency.
• Build strong working relationships with operational leaders, HR colleagues, and Trade Union representatives to foster positive employee relations.
• Support organisational change programmes and wider people initiatives across the business.
• Promote manager ownership and accountability for employee relations issues.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of employment law and HR best practice to ensure compliance and minimise risk.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in an Employee Relations role, handling complex and sensitive ER cases.
• Proven experience working in a unionised environment and building effective relationships with Trade Union representatives.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment legislation and its practical application.
• Excellent coaching, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.
• A commercially focused approach with sound judgement and the confidence to make balanced decisions.
• The ability to share knowledge, challenge constructively, and drive best practice.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• Analytical capability with experience producing ER metrics, trend analysis, and management reporting.
• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Office applications and HR systems.

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to take a strategic and influential role within employee relations, helping to shape how ER is managed across the business. You'll work with a wide range of stakeholders, contribute to meaningful change initiatives, and play a key role in creating a positive employee experience. If you're passionate about employee relations and thrive on solving complex people challenges, we'd love to hear from you.

About Arriva

Arriva is a leading provider of passenger transport across Europe, employing around 34,400 people and delivering around 1.6 billion passenger journeys. With buses, trains, coaches, trams, waterbuses, bike-sharing systems, on-demand transport solutions and a rolling stock leasing company, Arriva proudly connects people and communities safely, reliably and sustainably across 11 countries, delivering these services in a better way, every day. The activities of Arriva are divided into four business units: UK Bus, UK Trains, The Netherlands and Mainland Europe. Arriva has passenger transport operations in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom, and also operates a rolling stock leasing company in Romania.