Employee Relations Specialist

Anchor; Bradford; Hybrid; GBP 34,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Anchor in the United Kingdom is seeking an experienced Employee Relations Specialist to join our People Services Delivery team. You will deliver a coaching-led Employee Relations service across the organisation, acting as a trusted advisor to managers and helping ensure fair, consistent handling of people matters under employment law.

You’ll work with managers, colleagues and stakeholders to build manager capability, support positive colleague experiences and drive commercially focused ER

Qualifications

• Significant Employee Relations experience in a large organisation.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and ER best practice.
• Experience independently managing complex ER cases.
• Excellent coaching, listening and problem-solving skills.
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building abilities.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert Employee Relations advice and practical support to managers across a broad range of people matters, helping them navigate complex situations with confidence while balancing business needs, colleague experience and legal compliance.
• Coach and guide managers through people challenges, enabling them to assess risks, consider options, make informed decisions and take ownership of managing employee relations matters effectively and consistently.
• Manage a varied portfolio of complex and sensitive Employee Relations cases including disciplinary, grievance, absence, capability, conduct and organisational change matters, ensuring outcomes are fair, timely, well-documented and legally compliant.
• Support managers throughout formal people processes, helping them prepare high-quality documentation including investigation reports, hearing packs, outcome letters and management case files that stand up to scrutiny and reflect best practice.
• Apply your employment law knowledge and professional judgement to provide pragmatic, commercially focused advice, helping to minimise organisational risk and ensure decisions are aligned to both legislation and company policies.
• Champion a coaching-led Employee Relations culture, encouraging early intervention, manager ownership and proactive people management approaches that reduce repeat issues and improve colleague experiences.
• Contribute to continuous improvement and service development, supporting the enhancement of Employee Relations processes, policies, guidance and ways of working to create a more efficient, consistent and customer-focused service.
• Use ER data, case insights and management information to identify trends and opportunities, helping to drive organisational learning, improve manager capability and support evidence-based decision-making across the business.
• Support colleagues within the wider People Services team, sharing knowledge and contributing to the development of a collaborative, high-performing team culture.

Skills

Employee relations

UK employment law

Case management

Stakeholder management

Coaching

Communication

Education

CIPD Level 5

Job description

Location: Hybrid – 1-2 days per week in our Bradford office with flexibility to attend as required.

Contract: Full Time | Permanent

Salary: £38,000 per annum

We're looking for an experienced Employee Relations Specialist to join our People Services Delivery team and play an important role in delivering a high-quality, coaching-led Employee Relations service across the organisation. Working in a fast-paced and collaborative environment, you'll be a trusted advisor to managers, supporting a positive colleague experience and helping to ensure people matters are managed fairly, consistently and in line with employment law and best practice.

This is an exciting opportunity for an Employee Relations professional with strong employment law knowledge, excellent relationship-building skills and a pragmatic approach to problem-solving. You'll work closely with managers, colleagues and stakeholders across the business, contributing to a customer-focused People Services Delivery function that builds manager capability, promotes effective people management and supports successful business outcomes. This role is ideally suited to someone with Care sector experience.

What You'll Do

• Provide expert Employee Relations advice and practical support to managers across a broad range of people matters, helping them navigate complex situations with confidence while balancing business needs, colleague experience and legal compliance.
• Coach and guide managers through people challenges, enabling them to assess risks, consider options, make informed decisions and take ownership of managing employee relations matters effectively and consistently.
• Manage a varied portfolio of complex and sensitive Employee Relations cases including disciplinary, grievance, absence, capability, conduct and organisational change matters, ensuring outcomes are fair, timely, well-documented and legally compliant.
• Support managers throughout formal people processes, helping them prepare high-quality documentation including investigation reports, hearing packs, outcome letters and management case files that stand up to scrutiny and reflect best practice.
• Apply your employment law knowledge and professional judgement to provide pragmatic, commercially focused advice, helping to minimise organisational risk and ensure decisions are aligned to both legislation and company policies.
• Champion a coaching-led Employee Relations culture, encouraging early intervention, manager ownership and proactive people management approaches that reduce repeat issues and improve colleague experiences.
• Contribute to continuous improvement and service development, supporting the enhancement of Employee Relations processes, policies, guidance and ways of working to create a more efficient, consistent and customer-focused service.
• Use ER data, case insights and management information to identify trends and opportunities, helping to drive organisational learning, improve manager capability and support evidence-based decision-making across the business.
• Support colleagues within the wider People Services team, sharing knowledge and contributing to the development of a collaborative, high-performing team culture.

You’ll Bring:

• Significant Employee Relations experience within a large, complex organisation, with a proven track record of supporting managers across a wide range of employee relations matters and navigating complex organisational environments.
• Strong and up-to-date knowledge of UK employment law and Employee Relations best practice, with the ability to interpret legislation, assess risk and provide practical, commercially focused advice that supports effective decision-making.
• Proven experience independently managing complex and sensitive Employee Relations cases, including disciplinary, grievance, absence, capability, conduct and organisational change matters, ensuring fair, balanced and legally compliant outcomes.
• Excellent coaching, listening and problem-solving skills, with the ability to build manager confidence, encourage ownership of people issues and support effective resolution of challenging situations.
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills, with the ability to establish credibility quickly, develop trusted partnerships and work effectively with managers, colleagues, employee representatives and People teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex people and employment law matters clearly, prepare high-quality case documentation and communicate confidently with a range of audiences.
• A customer-focused and solutions-driven approach, committed to delivering a positive colleague and manager experience while ensuring consistent application of policy, process and employment legislation.
• The ability to manage multiple priorities and competing demands in a fast-paced environment, maintaining high levels of accuracy, responsiveness and professionalism while handling a varied caseload.
• Experience working collaboratively across multiple teams and functions, building effective working relationships to deliver joined-up people solutions, improve service delivery and achieve positive organisational outcomes.

Qualifications

• CIPD Level 5 qualification or working towards (or Equivalent relevant experience)

We are unable to offer sponsorship for this position. Therefore, candidates must be able to demonstrate their legal right to work in the UK without requiring sponsorship now or in the future.