HR Manager

apetito UK; Portbury; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Living Wage employer

25 days holiday + bank holidays

Discretionary annual bonus

Pension: employer matched up to 4%

Job summary

apetito UK is seeking an HR Manager for Customer Services & Distribution to partner with CS&D leaders, shaping the people agenda across workforce planning, employee relations and engagement. This on-site role requires driving leadership capability, coaching managers, and delivering HR guidance aligned with business goals.

You will support the CS&D Investment Project, manage complex employee relations, and ensure consistent governance across multiple sites in the UK.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as HR Manager, HRBP or Senior Generalist in a multi-site operation.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, governance and risk management.
• Experience managing complex employee relations and organisational change.

Responsibilities

• Be the dedicated HR Manager for CS&D, partnering with CS&D leaders to identify workforce challenges and opportunities.
• Provide pragmatic, commercial HR advice while ensuring compliance with policies and employment law.
• Lead employee relations, risk management and TUPE-related activities as required.
• Coach managers to strengthen capability and drive accountability across performance and engagement.
• Support organisational change, workforce planning, and communication for the CS&D Investment Project.

Skills

HR management

UK employment law

employee relations

workforce planning

change management

coaching and development

Education

CIPD Level 5+

Job description

Are you a HR Manager looking for a role where you can partner closely with leaders? Do you give commercially focused, pragmatic HR guidance that drives accountability, business performance and people outcomes? As a key member of the HR Management Team, the HR Manager for CS&D will support organisational effectiveness, employee relations, workforce planning, change management, leadership capability and employee engagement across the Customer Services & Distribution workforce. A central part of your role is to ensure that people management responsibilities are owned by line managers, with HR providing professional advice, coaching, guidance and challenge. You'll need to be confident coaching and challenging managers to build leadership capability, manage employee relations, support organisational change, and deliver effective workforce planning and engagement initiatives. A significant focus will be on the people agenda for the CS&D Investment Project, supporting the development of the new Avonmouth distribution centre and the transition of the workforce into the new facility. This includes workforce planning, organisational design, communications, consultation, change management and employee engagement. You'll also oversee employee representative and Trade Union relationships within the Warehouse and Transport functions, ensuring matters are handled constructively and consistently. Regular travel between Trowbridge, Portbury and Avonmouth offers the opportunity to build strong relationships across the business.

Why join us?

• Strategic and operational HR influence within a growing business
• A leading role in a major business transformation project
• Exposure to senior leaders and key operational functions
• Opportunity to shape organisational capability, culture and engagement

This role is based on-site 5 days a week. You will need a driving licence and access to your own transport and be prepared to travel to support operational requirements.

apetito is the UK’s leading food supplier to the health and social care sectors serving more than 1,300 care homes, health care and education settings.

Our meals are expertly crafted by our dieticians and chefs, and then frozen to lock in the goodness.

Wiltshire Farm Foods, our sister company, is the UK’s largest ready meal supplier cooking and delivering over 330 different delicious frozen ready meals across the UK.

HR Partnership, Governance & Alignment

• Be the dedicated HR Manager for Customer Services & Distribution. Maintain a visible presence and building strong relationships with CS&D leaders to identify workforce challenges and opportunities, including workforce planning, organisational design, succession planning, retention and talent development.
• Collaborate with the Director of HR and wider HR team to deliver a consistent people agenda, ensuring all activity aligns with company policies, values, governance standards and employment legislation.
• Provide balanced, commercial and pragmatic HR advice and challenge that supports operational objectives while maintaining compliance, organisational standards and best practice.
• Escalate and manage significant people risks, complex employee relations matters and strategic workforce issues in line with agreed HR direction.

Leadership Capability & Manager Accountability

• Coach and support managers to confidently lead their teams, strengthening capability across performance, engagement, conduct, absence and employee development.
• Promote a culture of manager accountability by providing guidance and challenge.
• Challenge behaviours, requests or working practices that undermine manager accountability

Employee Relations

• Provide expert advice and support on employee relations (including disciplinary, grievance, capability, performance, absence, flexible working and appeals) to enable managers to resolve people issues promptly, fairly and in line with company policy and employment law, with minimal risk to the business.
• Lead complex and high-risk cases, ensuring fair, legally compliant and well-documented outcomes.

Organisational Change

• Work with managers to identify and manage people related risks.
• Develop and implement people plans that support business change.
• Support organisational change initiatives (restructures, consultations, TUPE activity and transformation projects) including documentation, communication and supporting materials.

CS&D Investment Project

• Act as the lead HR representative for the CS&D Investment Project to ensure people implications are considered and planned for throughout the project lifecycle - including transition to the new facility
• Partner with project leaders to develop and deliver people plans covering organisational design, workforce planning, recruitment, retention, engagement and change readiness.
• Lead HR activity relating to consultation, organisational transition and employee support, ensuring alignment with HR governance and business objectives.

HR Team Leadership

• Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching and development support to the Portbury-based HR Advisor.
• Work collaboratively with the wider HR team to ensure effective deployment of advisory resources, consistency of approach and shared learning across the business.
• Support the delivery of consistent HR standards, documentation, processes and a joined-up service delivery.

Policy, Process & Continuous Improvement

• Ensure HR activity is delivered in line with company policies, procedures, values and governance requirements, including contributing to the review and development and improvement of process and practice.
• Monitor and use HR data and people insights to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
• Support evidence-based decision making through clear analysis, reporting and insight.

Recruitment, Development & Wider HR Contribution

• Support recruitment, onboarding, succession planning and retention activities across CS&D in partnership with Recruitment and Learning & Development teams.
• Contribute to wider HR projects, strategic priorities and other responsibilities appropriate to the role.

Essential

• Proven experience as an HR Manager, HR Business Partner or Senior HR Generalist within a complex, multi-site operational environment.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, HR best practice, governance and people-related risk management.
• Significant experience managing complex employee relations cases and supporting consultation, organisational change and business transformation.
• Track record building trusted partnerships while maintaining professional objectivity and appropriate challenge.
• Excellent coaching and influencing skills, with the confidence to build manager capability, encourage accountability and challenge appropriately.
• Commercial awareness and the ability to build credibility with senior stakeholders while maintaining professional objectivity.
• Experience using HR data, metrics and insight to support effective decision-making.
• Strong communication and organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, work independently and occasionally support out-of-hours requirements.
• Committed to consistency, strong governance and alignment across the wider HR function.
• Full driving licence and willingness to travel between operational locations.

Desirable

• CIPD qualified, ideally Level 5 or above, or able to demonstrate equivalent experience.
• Experience within logistics, distribution, customer service, manufacturing, food production or a similarly operational environment.
• Experience of TUPE, collective consultation, trade union relationships or large-scale organisational change.
• Experience supporting major projects, site moves or operational transformation programmes.
• Experience developing HR team members and contributing to HR policy, process or systems improvement.

Personal qualities

• Credible, resilient and confident within a demanding operational environment.
• Calm under pressure and able to manage conflict, ambiguity and competing priorities effectively.
• Approachable and self-motivated, with the determination to follow issues through to conclusion.
• Pragmatic and solutions focused, with sound judgement and discretion.

Although out-of-hours attendance is infrequent, you must be willing and able to respond flexibly to operational requirements.

• Competitive salary - accredited Living Wage employer
• 25 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays
• Option to purchase up to 5 additional days holiday per year
• Discretionary annual bonus scheme
• Pension scheme - employer matched contributions up to 4%
• Life assurance scheme worth at least 1x annual salary
• Subsidised canteen
• Free parking
• Free turkey or voucher at Christmas
• apetito perks scheme including salary sacrifice options and retail discounts

As a family-owned business, we take great pride in being a company that makes a real difference and is dedicated to creating outstanding meals to be proud of.

We develop a range of products designed to enhance health and well-being for all our customers.

We are driven by a passion for service and dedicated to feeding some of the UK's most vulnerable people.

We proudly support British food and farming, focusing on using the best ethical and sustainable produce in alignment with our goal to reach Net Zero by 2040.

Our ethical standards are recognised by the ETI and we are an accredited Living Wage employer.

Learn more about apetito’s commitment to a more sustainable future.

We embrace inclusion, empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Our commitment to making a real difference extends to customers, communities, and staff and we're on a mission to build an inclusive workplace where everyone reaches their full potential.