HR Business Partner

UCL; London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

UCL is seeking an HR Business Partner to drive strategic HR initiatives and act as a reliable advisor to leaders. The role emphasizes enhancing employee relations, promoting diversity and inclusion, and ensuring alignment with UCL's HR strategies. This position offers exciting opportunities to influence HR practices in a vibrant university setting and benefit from a wide array of employee perks.

Benefits

41 Days holiday

Annual leave purchase scheme

Defined benefit pension scheme

Cycle to work scheme

Relocation scheme

On-site nursery

On-site gym

Enhanced maternity and paternity pay

Employee assistance programme

Discounted medical insurance

Qualifications

• Experienced HR professional with success in complex environments.
• Proficient in employee relations and talent management.
• Strong advocate for diversity and ethical practices.

Responsibilities

• Implement strategic HR initiatives and serve as a trusted advisor.
• Navigate complex employee relations and support leadership.
• Translate HR strategies into practical solutions for recruitment and engagement.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Employee relations

Influencing leadership

Equity and diversity advocacy

Communication

Education

Relevant HR qualification

Job description

About us

UCL is London's Global University - a diverse intellectual university committed to excellence, innovation, and inclusion. Our HR division is a dynamic and service-driven team of around 120 professionals who collaborate closely with academic faculties and professional service divisions to ensure our people strategies meet the university's needs. We are proud of our values-led culture and our commitment to removing barriers and actively promoting diversity and inclusion across our community. At UCL change is lead together.

About the role

Please note we will be interviewing on a rolling basis for this role, but we will keep the advert open for a minimum of two weeks. This role can also be considered as a secondment opportunity for internal candidates only.

As an HR Business Partner, you will influence our leaders to implement strategic people initiatives, working as a trusted advisor and collaborator across your stakeholder groups. You will help leaders navigate employee relations cases and make sense of their people data to inform their decision-making. You will be instrumental in translating UCL's HR strategies into practical solutions that support staff recruitment, development, engagement, and retention. Your work will span a full range of activities, from succession planning and organisational change to employee wellbeing and performance management. You will act as the critical bridge between your stakeholders and our Centres of Expertise, providing insight, support, and challenge in equal measure. You will also support the development of inclusive leadership and diverse talent pipelines and play a key role in fostering a culture that prioritises wellbeing, high performance, and continuous development.

About you

You are an experienced HR professional who thrives in complex matrix environments and can demonstrate impact through strategic thinking and operational excellence. Your background includes navigating complex employee relations cases, leading on talent and succession planning, and implementing people-focused initiatives that drive engagement and retention. You are skilled at influencing senior leaders and can bring evidence-based insights to support decision-making. You are a confident communicator, comfortable with ambiguity, and you understand how to balance risk with organisational needs. A strong advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion, you understand the importance of embedding these principles into every aspect of your work. Ideally, you will also have experience in line management and have worked within a matrixed, public sector or higher education environment.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion