Employee Relations Leader

Kainos; Belfast City District; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Kainos seeks an experienced Employee Relations leader to guide and develop the ER team, ensuring a modern, consistent service across the organisation. You will manage complex cases, advise senior stakeholders, and drive improvements in processes, policy, and tooling.

Join a people-focused culture that values growth, collaboration, and delivering fair outcomes for employees and managers alike.

Qualifications

• Significant hands-on Employee Relations experience with complex casework.
• Proven experience leading and developing an ER/People team.
• Experience advising senior leaders including Executives and C-suite with balanced judgement.
• Strong employment law knowledge with practical application.
• Experience as ER Manager, ER Lead or similar with substantial ER responsibility.
• Confidence in building relationships with managers and senior stakeholders, with clear recommendations.
• Experience leading continuous improvement projects using technology/data.
• Structured, evidence-led approach to case management and reporting.
• Experience handling ER matters across more than one jurisdiction.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Employee Relations team, setting priorities and growing capability.
• Oversee delivery of a consistent, high-quality ER service across Kainos.
• Provide guidance on complex or sensitive ER matters in line with law and policies.
• Partner with managers and People Partners to offer practical, balanced advice.
• Support managers to address workplace issues with early, constructive resolution.
• Drive continuous improvement across ER services and processes.
• Lead projects to strengthen ER capability, policy, reporting and service delivery.
• Champion use of technology and data to simplify processes and increase insight.
• Identify themes from ER activity to improve guidance and processes.
• Ensure alignment with employment law and best practice.

Skills

Employee Relations

Leadership

Senior stakeholder advising

Employment law knowledge

Case management

Multi-jurisdiction experience

People leadership

Continuous improvement

Change management

Data/automation in HR

Education

CIPD Level 7

Employment law qualification

Tools

Workday

Jira

Microsoft 365

Job description

Kainos seeks an experienced Employee Relations leader to guide and develop the ER team, ensuring a modern, consistent service across the organisation. You will manage complex cases, advise senior stakeholders, and drive improvements in processes, policy, and tooling.

Join a people-focused culture that values growth, collaboration, and delivering fair outcomes for employees and managers alike.