Employee Relations Manager

University of South Hampton; Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Occupational pension

Generous annual leave

Bank holidays and closure days

Employee discounts

Job summary

University of Southampton is seeking an experienced Employee Relations Manager to join the Employee Relations team. You will provide specialist guidance on complex ER matters, support managers, and influence organisational outcomes while upholding employment law and policy.

Based at the Highfield Campus with flexible hybrid working, the role offers the chance to shape ER practice across the University, work with trade unions, and contribute to a positive employee experience.

Qualifications

• Level 5 or Level 6 HR qualification or equivalent experience.
• Strong knowledge of employment law and experience advising on ER issues.
• Experience in a large or complex organisation and engaging with Trade Unions.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert advice on disciplinary, grievance, capability, and absence processes.
• Support hearings and appeals and mitigate risk with stakeholders.
• Analyse casework trends and management information to drive improvements.
• Coach and train managers to build ER capability.

Skills

Employee relations expertise

Employment law knowledge

Communication skills

Influencing skills

Education

Level 5 or Level 6 HR qualification or equivalent

CIPD membership (advantageous)

Job description

1 x 0.8FTE (28hours per week) until 31/12/2027

1 x 1FTE (35hours per week) until 31/05/2027

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Employee Relations Manager to join our Employee Relations (ER) team, providing specialist expertise and support across a wide range of complex people matters. We are particularly keen to hear from candidates with substantial employee relations experience, although we also welcome applications from individuals who have gained significant experience leading complex people management processes and resolving workplace issues within operational or management roles.

Reporting to the Employee Relations Team Manager, you will support high-risk and sensitive casework, provide authoritative advice to managers and stakeholders, and contribute to the development of Employee Relations practice across the University. This is an exciting opportunity to influence organisational outcomes, support management capability and help shape a positive employee experience.

What You’ll Be Doing

You will provide expert advice and guidance on complex Employee Relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, capability, absence, organisational change and redundancy processes. Working closely with managers, employees, HR colleagues and Trade Union representatives, you will help resolve challenging issues while balancing legal, organisational and reputational considerations.

You will support formal hearings and appeals, identify and mitigate risk, and act as an escalation point for complex ER enquiries. You will also contribute to ER process development, analyse casework trends and management information, and use these insights to promote consistency and continuous improvement across the University.

In addition, you will help build management capability through coaching, guidance and training, while contributing Employee Relations expertise to organisational projects and change initiatives.

About You

You will be an experienced Employee Relations professional with substantial experience of managing complex ER casework and advising managers in a large or complex organisation, or an experienced manager with extensive experience of managing complex ER situations.

You will have strong knowledge of employment law, excellent communication and influencing skills, and the ability to handle sensitive and challenging situations with confidence and professionalism. You will be skilled at assessing risk, applying sound judgement and building effective relationships with a range of stakeholders.

A Level 5 or Level 6 qualification (or equivalent experience) is essential. CIPD membership, experience of working with Trade Unions and knowledge of the Higher Education sector would be advantageous.

Why Join Us?

This is an excellent opportunity to join a collaborative HR team and play a key role in delivering a high-quality Employee Relations service.

Based at our Highfield Campus, working across all our campuses, the role offers flexible hybrid working, combining campus and home working. We provide an occupational pension scheme, generous annual leave, bank holidays and University closure days, alongside access to a range of sports, arts, cultural and employee discount benefits.

We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive and are proud to promote equality, diversity and respect in everything we do.