Employee Relations (ER) Lead

Cartrefi Cymru Co-operative; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 39,000 - 40,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training & development

Annual leave up to 30 days

Health & wellbeing programme

Company pension

Cycle to work

Discount platform

Hybrid working

Blue Light discount card

Job summary

Cartrefi Cymru Co-operative is seeking an experienced Employee Relations Lead to join the People and Culture Team in Cardiff, with hybrid working. The role leads ER and guides managers across Wales, ensuring compliant, fair HR practice and strong data-driven insights.

You will provide expert advice on disciplinary, grievance, capability and absence matters, coach managers, oversee ER workload, and help shape the People Strategy with your ER expertise.

Qualifications

• CIPD Level 5 qualification or equivalent.
• Experience delivering an effective HR service within a high-volume Employee Relations environment.
• Strong generalist HR experience including disciplinary, grievance, absence management and capability processes.
• Thorough knowledge of current UK employment legislation.
• Experience developing and implementing HR policies and procedures.
• Experience developing, analysing and reporting HR and ER data.
• Strong organisational, planning and prioritisation skills.
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• The ability to exercise sound professional judgement and make informed decisions using available information and data.
• A proactive, self-motivated approach with a passion for continuous improvement.
• Experience leading and managing a team.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert guidance on complex employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, capability and absence management.
• Coach and support People Managers and Senior Managers through HR cases to build confidence and capability.
• Oversee ER workload and ensure timely progression of cases.
• Keep policies up to date with current employment law and best practice.
• Review and develop HR policies and ER procedures.
• Produce and analyse regular ER reports and metrics to identify trends.
• Support managers through organisational change, service redesign or reorganisation.
• Collaborate with Learning & Development to strengthen managers' HR knowledge and skills.
• Lead ER workload across the HR Advisory and Administration team.
• Contribute to People Strategy projects using ER insights.

Education

CIPD Level 5 qualification

Job description

We're looking for an experienced and proactive Employee Relations Lead to join our People and Culture Team. This is an exciting opportunity for a confident HR professional with strong employee relations expertise who enjoys coaching managers, influencing best practice and driving continuous improvement.

At Cartrefi, we're dedicated to supporting people with learning disabilities and their families across Wales, helping people live fulfilled and enriched lives in their communities.

As our Employee Relations Lead, you'll play a key role in creating a positive colleague experience and supporting managers to confidently and effectively manage employee relations. Your expertise will help ensure fair, consistent and legally compliant practice across Cartrefi, enabling our colleagues to make #EverydayRemarkable for the people we support.

Role: Employee Relations Lead
Location: Cardiff, covering the full Cartrefi geography, with hybrid working available
Hours: 37 hours per week
Salary: £39,000 – £40,000 per annum
Contract: Permanent

What you'll do

As our Employee Relations Lead, you'll be the lead point of contact and subject matter expert for Employee Relations, providing specialist advice and guidance to managers and senior stakeholders across the organisation.

You'll proactively manage and oversee ER cases, ensuring they progress effectively, consistently and in line with employment legislation and best practice. You'll also use ER data and insights to identify trends, improve processes and support the ongoing development of our People Strategy.

You will:

• Provide expert advice and guidance on complex employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, capability and absence management.
• Coach and support People Managers and Senior Managers through complex HR cases, helping them build confidence and capability.
• Oversee the volume and distribution of ER cases, ensuring workloads are managed effectively and cases are progressed in a timely manner.
• Keep up to date with employment legislation and ensure HR policies and procedures reflect current best practice.
• Review and develop HR policies and procedures, particularly in relation to Employee Relations.
• Produce and analyse regular ER reports and metrics, identifying trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Support managers through organisational change, including service redesign, reorganisation and consultation processes.
• Work closely with Learning & Development to identify and deliver opportunities to strengthen managers' HR knowledge and skills.
• Lead and manage the ER workload across the HR Advisory and Administration team.
• Contribute to People Strategy projects and use ER insights to help shape future People initiatives.
• Work collaboratively across the People Team to ensure effective HR processes and compliance.

What we're looking for

We're looking for someone who combines strong technical HR knowledge with excellent judgement, communication and relationship-building skills. You'll be confident working with complex and sensitive situations, influencing stakeholders at all levels and providing practical, solutions-focused advice.

You'll bring:

Essential

• CIPD Level 5 qualification or equivalent.
• Experience delivering an effective HR service within a high-volume Employee Relations environment.
• Strong generalist HR experience, including disciplinary, grievance, absence management and capability processes.
• Thorough knowledge of current UK employment legislation.
• Experience developing and implementing HR policies and procedures.
• Experience developing, analysing and reporting HR and ER data.
• Strong organisational, planning and prioritisation skills.
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• The ability to exercise sound professional judgement and make informed decisions using available information and data.
• A proactive, self-motivated approach with a passion for continuous improvement.
• Experience leading and managing a team.

Desirable

• Experience working within the Not-for-Profit sector.
• Experience of TUPE.
• Experience supporting organisational change, service redesign or reorganisation.
• Experience contributing to HR or People Strategy projects.

What you'll bring

You'll be a people-focused and results-driven HR professional who can build credibility and trust at every level of the organisation. You'll enjoy working collaboratively, developing others and finding practical ways to improve the colleague experience.

Most importantly, you'll share our commitment to Honesty, Trust, Kindness, Respect and Wellbeing, and understand the important role our People Team plays in helping colleagues deliver outstanding support.

Other requirements

• Full, clean driving licence with access to a vehicle.
• Ability to travel to Cartrefi sites across Wales.

Our Benefits

• Training and development opportunities

• 25 days annual leaverising to 30 days after 5 years’ service with theoptionto buy and sell leave

• Health and Wellbeing programme -24 houraccess to our Employee Assistance Programme

• Company pension

• Cycle to work scheme

• Benefits and discount platform

• Hybrid working arrangements

• Eligibility to apply forBlue Light discount card

About Us
Our mission is to build a better future by focusing on people with learning disabilities and their families.We’rea Cooperative, which means putting people at the heart of our decision making and support. You can find out more about this here

Applicationprocess

Closing Date:Midnight on21st September

Proposed interview dates:29thand 30th Septemberin person at our Cardiff office