HR Manager

Lookers Motor Group Limited; Newcastle upon Tyne; Hybrid; GBP 41,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salaries with structured,+

Generous annual leave

Enhanced family leave

Techscheme for discounted technology

Eyecare vouchers

Job summary

Lookers Motor Group Limited seeks an experienced HR Manager on a 12-month fixed term contract to partner with leaders and deliver expert HR guidance across the business.

You will drive employee engagement, support organisational change, and manage complex employee relations cases, ensuring HR best practice is applied and aligned with strategic objectives.

Qualifications

• Experience in HR leadership or advisory roles.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and compliance.
• Ability to manage complex employee relations and provide expert guidance.

Responsibilities

• Partner with business leaders to provide commercially focused HR support.
• Manage complex employee relations, including disciplinary and grievances.
• Support organisational change activities and restructures.
• Coach and develop leaders to enhance people management capability.
• Contribute to employee engagement initiatives and culture improvements.
• Analyze people data to inform business decisions.
• Ensure compliance with legislation and HR policies.
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development and Reward teams.
• Support delivery of key HR projects and initiatives.

Skills

Employee relations

Stakeholder management

Change management

Coaching

Strategic thinking

UK employment law

Education

CIPD Level 5 or above

Tools

HR systems

People data analytics

Job description

About us:

We are one of the top three automotive retailers in the UK, proudly representing 32 manufacturer brands, selling a huge range of new and used vehicles from over 150 dealerships across the UK and Ireland.

We believe our people are our greatest asset, and we’re committed to recognising the valuable contribution each person makes. That’s why we continue to invest in a leading rewards and benefits package designed to support your career, wellbeing, and life outside of work.

HR Manager (12-Month Fixed Term Contract - Maternity Cover)

Location:

Flexible / Hybrid Working Available

Contract:

12-Month Fixed Term Contract

Salary:

Up to £45,000.00 pa + Excellent Benefits

The Role

As HR Manager, you will act as a trusted partner to leaders across the business, providing expert HR advice, guidance and support on a wide range of people matters. You'll play a key role in driving employee engagement, supporting organisational change, managing complex employee relations cases and ensuring HR best practice is consistently applied.

Working closely with operational leaders and the wider People Team, you'll help deliver people initiatives that support business performance while enhancing the colleague experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with business leaders to provide commercially focused HR support and guidance.
• Manage complex employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, absence management and performance cases.
• Support managers with organisational change activities, restructures and consultations where required.
• Coach and develop leaders to enhance people management capability.
• Contribute to employee engagement initiatives and culture improvement programmes.
• Analyse people data and provide insights to support business decision-making.
• Ensure compliance with employment legislation, company policies and HR best practice.
• Collaborate with Centres of Excellence including Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development and Reward teams.
• Support the delivery of key HR projects and strategic people initiatives.

About You

We're looking for a confident and credible HR professional who can build strong relationships at all levels and thrive in a dynamic environment.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Previous experience in a HR Manager, Senior HR Advisor or HR Business Partner role.
• Strong employee relations knowledge and experience managing complex cases.
• Up-to-date understanding of UK employment law.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Strong coaching and problem-solving abilities.
• Experience supporting organisational change and business transformation activity.
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with operational delivery.
• CIPD Level 5 or above (or equivalent experience).

Desirable

• Experience working within a multi-site or customer-focused environment.
• CIPD Chartered Membership.
• Experience using HR systems and analysing people data.

Core Benefits

• Competitive salaries with structured pay scales and progression as you grow within the business
• Generous annual leave that increases with your length of service
• Enhanced family leave, including 6 months’ full pay for maternity and adoption leave, and 2 weeks’ full pay for paternity leave
• Access to Techscheme for discounted technology purchases with flexible payments

Health & Wellbeing

• Eyecare vouchers to help cover vision care needs
• Smart Health – 24/7 access to GP services to support your mental and physical wellbeing
• Dental insurance for everyday dental care and unexpected treatments
• Optional critical illness cover for peace of mind during life's most challenging moments

Financial Wellbeing

• MyView PayNow – access a portion of your pay as you earn, with features to stream, save, and track your money through a user-friendly app
• Free will writing services to help plan for the future
• Flexible life assurance options and partner life assurance for added protection

Leisure & Lifestyle

• Discounted gym memberships to support an active lifestyle
• Travel insurance to help you explore with confidence
• Access to home and technology vouchers
• bYond card and a wide range of exclusive retail and lifestyle discounts

We strongly believe in nurturing and providing our people with specific manufacturer brand and management training to enhance career development opportunities. We have a great bunch of people, and we like to celebrate and encourage success at all levels.

Lookers and Charles Hurst are an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to a working environment that is free from discrimination, is inclusive, and empowers our people to bring their whole self to work and reach their full potential.

If your application is successful, we will conduct relevant employment checks prior to you commencing employment with us. These will include verifying your recent employment, address, credit history and a standard criminal record check. For roles that require you to drive, a driving licence check will also be carried out. Please note, all offers of employment are made subject to a 6 month probation period commencing from your start date.

We take our data protection responsibilities very seriously and are committed to upholding and respecting your privacy rights. Information about how we will process your data including the types of data we collect, the purposes for which we use it, who we may share it with and how long we keep it are set out in our privacy notice. It also includes information about your individual privacy rights. Please make sure you read our Privacy Notice so that you understand how we may collect and use your data.