HR Manager

Daniel Owen Ltd; Manchester; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

Daniel Owen Ltd is seeking an experienced HR Manager to lead the people function across the business in Salford. You will own all HR activities, deliver practical guidance to managers, oversee recruitment and onboarding, and ensure compliance with UK employment law.

In this hands-on role you will balance employee wellbeing with commercial objectives, manage employee relations, and drive continuous improvement of HR systems and reporting.

Qualifications

• Must have CIPD Level 5 or equivalent with solid HR generalist experience.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and best practice.
• Experience leading recruitment and onboarding processes end to end.
• Ability to provide practical HR guidance to managers and staff.
• Experience handling complex employee relations scenarios.

Responsibilities

• Manage full employee lifecycle from recruitment to exit.
• Lead recruitment campaigns including offers, references and checks.
• Coordinate onboarding: contracts, induction, access, equipment and documentation.
• Advise managers on disciplinary, grievance, investigations, performance and attendance matters.
• Oversee absence reporting, return-to-work, and attendance monitoring.
• Maintain accurate HR records and ensure policy compliance.
• Develop and update HR policies and procedures.
• Produce HR reports and KPI metrics for Directors and SLT.
• Support workforce planning and retention initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve HR systems and reporting.

Skills

UK employment law

Recruitment & onboarding

Stakeholder management

HR policies & reporting

Education

CIPD Level 5 or equivalent

CIPD Level 7 (desirable)

Job description

HR Manager

Location: Salford
Salary: 35,000- 39,000 per annum + benefits
Contract: Permanent, Full-Time

Are you an experienced HR professional looking for the opportunity to take ownership of a growing organisation's people function?

We are recruiting on behalf of an established and expanding business. Following continued growth, they are looking to appoint a proactive and commercially minded HR Manager to lead and develop their HR function.

The Role

In this role, you will take responsibility for all aspects of HR and recruitment across the business.

Acting as the primary point of contact for people-related matters, you will provide managers with practical HR guidance, oversee recruitment and onboarding, manage employee relations cases and ensure the organisation remains compliant with UK employment legislation.

This is a varied, hands-on position suited to someone who enjoys taking ownership, building strong internal relationships and balancing employee wellbeing with commercial objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the full employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding through to employee exits.
• Lead recruitment campaigns, including candidate selection, offers, references and pre-employment checks.
• Coordinate all new starter requirements, including contracts, induction plans, equipment, system access, uniforms, mobile phones, vehicles and supporting documentation.
• Advise and support managers with disciplinary, grievance, investigation, capability, conduct, attendance and performance matters.
• Manage absence reporting, return-to-work processes and attendance monitoring.
• Maintain accurate employee records and ensure compliance with company policies and employment legislation.
• Review, develop and update HR policies, procedures and documentation.
• Produce HR reports and people-related metrics for the Directors and senior leadership team.
• Support workforce planning, employee retention and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen HR systems, processes and reporting.

About You

You will be an experienced and confident HR professional who can operate independently while building trusted relationships across all levels of the organisation.

Essential Requirements

• CIPD Level 5 qualified or equivalent.
• Previous experience working as an HR Manager, HR Business Partner or Senior HR Advisor.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and current HR best practice.
• Experience managing complex employee relations cases.
• Previous responsibility for recruitment and onboarding processes.
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Comfortable working autonomously and taking ownership of the HR function.

Desirable Experience

• CIPD Level 7 qualification.
• Previous experience working within an SME environment.
• Experience supporting a workforce of more than 100 employees.
• Experience implementing or improving HR systems, processes and reporting.

What You'll Bring

• Professionalism, integrity and discretion.
• A proactive, practical and solutions-focused approach.
• The confidence to advise and appropriately challenge managers.
• The ability to balance employee wellbeing with wider business objectives.
• A genuine passion for improving people processes and creating a positive employee experience.