Employee Relations & Learning and Development

LUSH; Poole; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading ethical cosmetics company based in Poole is seeking an Employee Relations & Learning specialist to manage complex employee relations cases and create development initiatives. The role requires expertise in UK employment law, excellent communication skills, and a proactive approach. Benefits include 25 days holiday, parental leave pay, and discounts on Lush products.

Benefits

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

6 months of full pay for parental leave

Bonus scheme

50% discount on Lush products

Employee assistance programme

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a fast-paced employee relations role.
• A strong understanding of UK employment law.
• Experience designing and evaluating learning & development initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Manage and resolve complex employee relations cases.
• Design and deliver learning and development initiatives.
• Build trusted relationships aligning people practices with business priorities.

Job description

Application Deadline: 1 December 2025

Department: People Services

Location: Poole

Compensation: £34,000 - £42,000 / year

Diversity matters

We are building a brand that represents the people of the world. It’s what you do that counts, and we are always looking to expand perspectives and voices to shape our future.

We see you, we celebrate you, we want you!

Who we are

You might know us as the inventors of the bath bomb, but there’s more to this great‑smelling, partly employee‑owned, family‑run company than pioneering cosmetics. We believe our business should put more back into the world than it takes and demonstrate that capitalism can be a force for good.

The Living Wage Foundation’s statement ‘a hard day's work deserves a fair day's pay’ is one that we are proud to commit to in the UK. As an accredited Living Wage employer, we put our people first and fight cruel practices like animal testing, promote regeneration, and show that it is what’s inside that counts – whether that’s an ingredient in a product, or the minerals in a smartphone.

Overview

The Employee Relations & Learning role provides expert advice and support on all employee relations matters, including complex cases like disciplinaries and investigations, requiring a strong understanding of employment law and high discretion. The role also takes the lead in developing manager capability through creating and delivering learning and development initiatives focused on people management, employee relations, and leadership confidence, blending advisory expertise with learning creation, coaching, and facilitation skills.

Team

Our People Services teams work across our key business areas of Support, Manufacturing and Retail, and provide tailored support through experienced partnerships.

The team can advise and assist on all employee relations issues. We seek to guide and empower our colleagues to manage employee relations matters as independently as possible. You would be working as part of a small, dynamic and supportive team who are mainly based in Poole.

Please note: We may close this vacancy early if we receive an overwhelming response or our business requirements change.

Key Responsibilities

Employee Relations: Manage and resolve complex employee relations cases such as grievances, disciplinaries, providing expert guidance and ensuring all people practices are commercially sound and compliant with UK employment law.

Manager Capability and Learning & Development: Design, deliver, and track strategic learning and development initiatives, including workshops and coaching, to build manager confidence and capability in people management including employee relations and performance management.

Strategic Partnership: Build trusted relationships to align people practices with business priorities. Taking a commercial approach when dealing with complex employee situations through robust people practices and complying with employment law legislation. Provide guidance across the full employee journey, and proactively work to enhance the overall employee experience and promote accessibility.

Data & Operational Support: Handle employee enquiries, maintain accurate and confidential employee relation records, and capture/analyse detailed data to produce reports and recommendations for continuous improvement. Supporting enquiries through the central inbox, to provide relevant and current information for all employees.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Proven experience in a fast‑paced employee relations role, including managing complex cases (grievances, disciplinaries, investigations).
• A strong, up‑to‑date understanding of UK employment law.
• Experience in designing, delivering, and evaluating L&D initiatives, particularly focused on people management and employee relations capability.
• Proven ability to coach, mentor, and develop managers through structured and informal guidance.
• Confident facilitation and presentation skills.
• Ability to manage own workload and prioritise.
• A proactive, self‑motivated, strategic thinker.
• Solutions‑focused approach to problem solving.
• Excellent communication and relationship‑building skills.
• A high level of discretion, professionalism, and integrity is essential.
• A CIPD (Level 7) qualification or equivalent in HR, and formal/informal training in Learning & Development, Coaching, or Facilitation is preferred.

Benefits

• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
• 6 months of full pay for parental leave (primary caregiver must qualify for SMP)
• Enhanced paternity leave*
• Bonus scheme
• Day off for weekday birthdays
• Holiday purchase scheme
• 50% discount on Lush products and spa treatments
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounted rail and bus season tickets
• Employee assistance programme
• We’re 10% Employee Owned – all colleagues play a role in protecting our ethics, our independence, contributing ideas for the future and share in the rewards of success when the company is doing well.
• Support groups, film nights, yoga, meditation sessions and much more
• *Tailored gender affirming care

*qualifying period/hours required

We believe that your information is yours and that it is Lush's responsibility to process your personal information in a secure, fair and accurate manner. Every individual processed by LUSH has certain rights over their data, which are detailed in our Privacy Notice here.