HR Business Partner

Catalyst Partners; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Catalyst Partners is seeking a Senior HR Business Partner to lead the HR agenda for the UK Retail division (~600 employees) in a hybrid role across Leeds and Manchester. You will partner with divisional leadership to shape people strategy and drive performance, reward and talent conversations.

You will line manage two HR professionals, develop their capability and ensure day-to-day ER support across sites while maintaining compliance with UK employment law and FCA requirements.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as an HR Business Partner supporting hundreds of employees.
• Background in financial services, insurance, or professional services in a regulated environment.
• Track record of influencing senior leaders and credibility with commercial teams.
• Strong employee relations expertise and solid knowledge of UK employment law.
• Experience leading organisational change and redesign.
• Experience coaching or developing HR team members.
• Confident use of people data to inform decisions.
• CIPD Level 7 or equivalent (or working towards).

Responsibilities

• Act as strategic HR partner to the UK Retail leadership team, shaping people plans.
• Translate priorities into workforce planning, talent, capability and engagement.
• Lead organisational design and change programmes, including restructures and TUPE.
• Coach managers on complex ER cases and handle sensitive matters.
• Drive the annual people cycle: performance, reward reviews, succession and talent conversations.
• Use HR data to spot risks and shape action.
• Champion inclusion, wellbeing and a high-performance culture across Leeds and Manchester.
• Work with HR centres of expertise to deliver joined-up solutions.
• Ensure people practices stay compliant with employment law and FCA conduct requirements.
• Line manage two HR professionals and set clear objectives.
• Coach and develop the team and provide stretch opportunities.
• Balance hands-on partnering with delegation to cover day-to-day ER and advisory work.

Skills

HR Business Partner

Stakeholder management

Employee relations

People analytics

Change management

Team leadership

HR data

Education

CIPD Level 7

Job description

Our client is a respected specialist financial services business with a growing presence in the North of England. They are looking for a Senior HR Business Partner to lead HR for their UK Retail division of around 600 employees.

This is a genuine business partnering role. You will be the trusted HR adviser to the divisional leadership team, shaping people strategy and making sure it supports commercial goals. You will also lead and develop a small team of two HR professionals.

The role is hybrid, with two days a week in the Leeds city-centre office and one day a week in Manchester.

Key responsibilities

• Act as strategic HR partner to the UK Retail leadership team, influencing decisions on people, structure and culture.
• Translate business priorities into a clear people plan covering workforce planning, talent, capability and engagement.
• Lead organisational design and change programmes, including restructures and TUPE where needed.
• Coach managers to handle complex employee relations cases, owning the most sensitive matters personally.
• Drive the annual people cycle for the division: performance, reward reviews, succession and talent conversations.
• Use HR data and insight (turnover, absence, engagement, diversity) to spot risks and shape action.
• Champion inclusion, wellbeing and a high-performance culture across Leeds and Manchester.
• Work closely with HR centres of expertise (reward, talent acquisition, L&D, HR operations) to deliver joined-up solutions.
• Make sure people practices stay compliant with employment law and relevant FCA conduct requirements.

Leading the team

• Line manage two HR professionals, setting clear objectives and priorities.
• Coach and develop the team, building their capability and giving them stretch opportunities.
• Balance hands-on partnering with delegation, so the team covers day-to-day ER and advisory work across both sites.

What you'll bring

• Proven experience as an HR Business Partner supporting a population of several hundred employees.
• Background in financial services, insurance or professional services, ideally in a regulated environment.
• A track record of influencing senior leaders and building credibility with commercial teams.
• Strong employee relations expertise and sound knowledge of UK employment law.
• Experience leading organisational change, restructures or redesign.
• Experience managing, coaching or developing HR team members.
• Confident use of people data to inform decisions.
• Able to work from Leeds 2 days and Manchester 1 day each week.
• CIPD Level 7 (or working towards) or equivalent experience.
• Experience supporting customer-facing, sales or operational teams.