HR Business Partner

Irwin Mitchell LLP; Sheffield; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Annual bonus review

Health & wellbeing support

Competitive pension

Volunteer days

Job summary

Irwin Mitchell LLP, a leading UK law firm, seeks an HR Business Partner to act as the people specialist within your business area's leadership team, shaping talent, engagement and productivity. You’ll develop localised people plans and partner with leaders to address priorities while ensuring clear communication of HR initiatives.

You’ll drive behavioural and cultural change, lead organisation design changes, manage employee relations with leaders, and use data to inform decisions.

Qualifications

• Strong relationship and stakeholder management skills.
• HR generalist knowledge with employee relations experience.
• Data-driven with ability to inform decisions.
• Understanding of employment law and organisational design.
• Experience advising leaders on complex employee relations matters.
• Coaching and mediation accreditation are advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Act as People specialist within the leadership team and drive talent and productivity.
• Develop localised people plans to address leaders' priorities.
• Collaborate on organisational design changes to improve structure.
• Implement and embed high-performance organisational changes.
• Work with the People Team to deliver people plans and initiatives.
• Assess commercial challenges and partner to develop solutions.
• Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory obligations in change delivery.
• Represent the voice of the customer for people activities.
• Identify external market trends relevant to people strategy.
• Diagnose skill and capability needs and drive talent management.
• Lead by example within the People Team.
• Analyse HR metrics to provide insights and recommendations.
• Contribute to HR priorities and projects.

Skills

Relationship management

HR generalist

Employee relations

Data-driven decision making

Organisational design

Employment law

Project management

Mediation accreditation

Coaching

Professional services experience

Mental health awareness

Tools

PowerPoint

Excel

Job description

As one of the UK’s leading law firms, we’re here for the people and businesses who rely on us at life’s important moments - made possible by our colleagues who bring the expertise, judgement and care that makes the difference.

Our colleagues bring Irwin Mitchell to life every day, so it matters that you feel valued from the very first day and aretrusted with the responsibility, in the right culture, to do the best work of your careers. Everyone’s path here is different, but we share a desire to help our business make a real impact.

Where possible we will support our colleagues to work in a way that works for them, for us and most importantly our clients.

Your Role and What You'll Be Doing

As a HR Business Partner, you'll act as the People specialist within your business area's leadership team, providing support on people-related matters and leading cyclical activities. Your goal is to optimise talent, engagement, and productivity. You'll develop a localised people plan to address leaders' concerns and priorities, sharing data to inform decisions. Additionally, you'll ensure HR initiatives and resources are effectively communicated and embedded within the business area.

• Drive behavioural and cultural change with leaders, developing their skills
• Collaborate on Organisational Design changes to improve structure and ways of working
• Implement and embed organisational changes for high performance
• Work with the People Team to deliver people plans and initiatives
• Assess commercial challenges and risks, partnering to develop solutions
• Ensure people change delivery meets legal and regulatory obligations
• Represent the voice of the customer for people activities
• Identify and raise awareness of external market trends
• Diagnose skill and capability needs, driving talent management
• Set an example of positive behaviour within the People Team
• Analyse HR metrics to provide insights and recommendations
• Contribute to HR priorities and projects

About You

• Strong relationship and stakeholder management skills
• HR generalist knowledge and experience
• Experience of advising Leaders on complex Employee Relations matters
• Resilient and change focused, with the ability to use data for strategic decision making
• Knowledge of business planning processes
• Awareness of organisational design including workforce impacts (capabilities, roles, culture, ways of working, structure)
• Good understanding of employment law
• Strong organisational, communication, and time management skillsProficient in PowerPoint and Excel
• Excellent attention to detail
• Project management skills for leading people change projects
• Accredited in mediation skills
• Coaching expertise
• Experience of working within professional services (legal, financial or consulting)
• Mental health trained

Our Approach to Reward and Wellbeing

• 25 days' holiday as standard, rising to 28 days depending on role level, plus bank holidays and the option to purchase additional leave.
• Opportunities to share in our success through annual pay and bonus review processes for eligible colleagues.
• Health and wellbeing support, including Westfield Health and Digital GP access.
• Competitive pension arrangements to help you plan for the future.
• Two paid volunteering days every year to support causes that matter to you.
• Access to a range of colleague discounts and lifestyle benefits to support you both inside and outside of work.

We also offer a wide range of well-being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace and to make sure you’re fully supported.

In 2026, Irwin Mitchell was recognised in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work guide and was the only law firm included in the 'Very Big' organisation category

Our responsible business programmes are fundamental to who we are and our purpose. We’re committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where our colleagues can flourish, and we have established a number of inclusion network groups across our business to support this aim.

Our commitment to Social Responsibility, community investment activity and tackling climate change is a fundamental part of who we are. It’s made up of four strands: Our People, Our Community, Our Environment and Our Pro Bono.

As part of joining the Irwin Mitchell Group, all successful applicants are required to complete our employment screening process. We carry out pre employment screening to establish your eligibility to work in the UK, and understand any criminal records or adverse financial history.

Our onboarding processes are designed to help us maintain the high standards of trust, integrity and professionalism expected by our colleagues, to protect the interests of the Group, clients, partners and other stakeholders.

Checks are conducted by trusted 3rd parties and the employment screening process will fully comply with Data Protection and other applicable laws.

Irwin Mitchell LLP is an equal opportunity employer.