Employee Relations Specialist

Northumbrian Water Group plc; Chelmsford; Hybrid; GBP 41,000 - 49,000; Full time

Job summary

Join Northumbrian Water Group as an ER Specialist, where you'll leverage your experience to guide multi-directorate organisations through complex employee relations challenges. This role supports a diverse team, focusing on innovative solutions and strong partnerships. You will contribute significantly to policy improvements and provide essential training on ER issues.

Benefits

Generous holiday entitlement starting at 26 days

Company pension scheme with double matching contributions

Free access to local attractions

Discount scheme for shopping and travel

Wellbeing support including digital GP access

Financial wellbeing support with community savings scheme

Support for personal development, including qualification loans

Qualifications

• Proven employee relations experience across all business levels.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple cases.
• Experience in developing people policies and engaging with trade unions.

Responsibilities

• Provide advice on complex employee relations issues and compliance.
• Monitor and analyze ER data for training and policy improvement.
• Facilitate negotiations and consultations for change initiatives.

Skills

Employee Relations

Project Management

Mediation

Stakeholder Engagement

Job description

Working hours - 37 hours per week (however we are open to discussing flexible working)

Permanent

Salary - from £41,398

Location Hanningfield, Essex / Hybrid with some travel to visit all NWG locations

About the role

Are you an experienced ER Specialist looking to join an organisation that values colleagues and drives change from the inside?

We are expanding our ER team and looking for a colleague who will work as part of a team providing advice and guidance to a multi directorate organisation whilst using innovative solutions to effectively manage complex ER matters.

As part of this role you will be involved in a variety of ER issues from absence management to supporting early conciliation and tribunal litigation.

The role requires you to provide effective guidance and support on complex employee relations cases including compliance with internal process, supporting on high-risk issues, facilitating mediation, and without prejudice communications. This is often reactionary and your ability to provide swift responses and advice is key.

You will monitor and analyse ER data to inform training, policy improvements, and conflict prevention. In addition, you will deliver targeted ER training, conduct case reviews and identify learning opportunities across the wider business.

You will design consultation processes to support change initiatives and support with TUPE advice, and contract negotiation.

Supporting negotiations, consultations and internal processes will form part of this role as you will prepare materials, co-ordinate meetings, and engage stakeholders. You will also assist with policy drafting and reviews and maintain strong knowledge of the Employee Handbook and related policies.

About you

If you have provenemployee relations experience supporting all business levels then we want to hear from you.

You will have previous experience supporting internal process, managing absence, developing people policies and building strong partnerships, particularly with trade unions, wider stakeholders, and legal professionals.

You will also possess strong project management experience as you will manage a case load and prioritise competing deadlines. You must have the ability to simplify complex issues and ensure advice is given with a clear risk analysis. You will provide support and guidance to peers and more junior colleagues whilst balancing empathy and our core values.

You will be supported to engage in wider projects and provide innovative solutions to any problem you face.

The interview will consist of 2 stages, the first will be over teams and the second will be in person.

In person 1 July – 11 July

Here at Northumbrian Water/Essex & Suffolk Water, we embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, and encourage all colleagues to bring their most authentic self to work.

Our colleague network groups include our Rainbow Support Network (LGBTQIA+), REACH (Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Heritage), WiSTEM (Women in STEM) and Thisability (disability and neurodiversity) networks. They provide a safe space for colleagues from diverse backgrounds, welcoming all colleagues regardless of their personal characteristics to participate in valuable conversation that improves our organisational awareness, understanding and inclusivity.

We encourage and welcome all applications, as we strive to be an equal opportunity employer, committed to having diverse communities represented within all our teams, structures, and organisation.

Please note this role may require a DBS to be completed prior to employment

NWG are an inclusive employer who support the rehabilitation of offenders, we will not, however consider candidates who have certain unspent convictions to ensure our commitment to fostering a safe and secure working environment for all OR colleagues, suppliers, customers and third parties.

About us

Here are NWG we strive to make Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) a Great Place to Work, for all. We embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity and encourage you to bring your full self to work. As an equal opportunity employer we’re committed to having a diverse community represented across our business.

We’re aware that not everyone will have every skill listed in the job description, however if you have some of the skills listed, we'd encourage you to apply

NWG at a glance:

Our purpose at NWG is caring for the essential needs of our communities and environment, now and for generations to come.

We do this by providing reliable and affordable water and wastewater services for our customers.

We make a positive difference by operating efficiently and investing prudently, to maintain a sustainable and resilient business.

Our vision is to be the national leader in the provision of sustainable water and wastewater services. To support us in achieving our vision, we have five core values which are the guiding principles, defining who we are, what we do and how we do it.

We’re a Great Place to Work because of the amazing people who work for us, and to say thank you we offer a range of benefits to colleagues. Our ‘Tap Into’ benefits include:

• Generous holiday entitlement starting at 26 days, plus bank holidays and additional time off on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. There’s also the option to buy or sell holidays.
• Company pension scheme, where we’ll double match your contributions up to an employer contribution of 10%.
• Free access to local attractions.
• A fantastic discount scheme, with savings on days out, shopping, travel and more.
• Award winning ‘Living Well’ wellbeing support, including access to a digital GP service for you and your family members.
• Support with sustainable travel – through salary sacrifice cars and a cycle to work scheme.
• Financial wellbeing support – access our community savings scheme, financial education and low cost loans through Salary Finance. We also provide 4 x Life Assurance and an Income Protection Scheme.
• Support with your development – we offer a range of development opportunities, can support you through an interest free qualification loan and we’ll even pay for any relevant professional body subscription.

About us

NWG (Northumbrian Water Group) provides water and sewerage services to 2.7 million people in the North East of England as Northumbrian Water, and water services to 1.5 million people in the South East of England as Essex & Suffolk Water.

We are proud to serve our customers and we're committed to delivering great service, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.

Our values

Our values describe our main principles, qualities and attributes. They are the guiding principles which define who we are, what we do and how we do it. They make us different from our competitors and guide our decisions and actions to drive us towards our vision.

Our values are:

Results Driven

Results Driven

We take responsibility for achieving excellent business results.

Ethical

Ethical

We are open and honest and meet our commitments with a responsible approach to the environment and our communities.

Customer Focused

Customer Focused

We aim to exceed the expectations of our internal and external customers.

Innovative

We continuously strive for innovative and better ways to deliver our business.

One Team

One Team

We work together consistently, promoting co-operation, to achieve our corporate objectives.

We’re the great company we are because of you – our people. As our way of saying thanks, we offer you a wide range of benefits and discounts to take advantage of.

To find out more about our benefits, see our benefits bookletattached to this advert.