HR Partner (Commercial)

Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd; Broxburn; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading spirits producer in the UK is seeking an experienced HR Partner to support its commercial and support services teams. The role entails shaping business agendas, managing governance models, and enhancing employee engagement. Ideal candidates will bring strong HR generalist experience along with excellent communication skills. A proactive and commercial mindset is essential for success in this role, which offers an opportunity to be pivotal in a team culture focused on growth, accountability, and trust in a dynamic work environment.

Qualifications

• Extensive HR experience including governance models and recruitment.
• Comfortable in fast-paced, commercially minded environments.
• Skill in balancing strategic thinking with detailed execution.

Responsibilities

• Support department leadership in shaping and delivering business agendas.
• Manage various governance and contractual engagement models.
• Plan recruitment strategies and engage in talent mapping efforts.
• Coach managers to facilitate effective decision-making.
• Create a culture of engagement, feedback, and recognition.
• Use insights for continuous improvement in support of people development.

Skills

Strong HR generalist experience

Great communication and influencing skills

Highly commercial mindset

Ability to work independently

Curiosity and proactivity

Job description

HR Partner Opportunity – based in West Lothian.

Are you an experienced HR professional, looking to bring heart, soul, hustle and a whole lot of fun and experience to helping shape our business across our commercial and central support services teams?

Setting the Scene

Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd… ‘An international, entrepreneurial, brand‑led, successful, sustainable, and respected, family business’
We are Ian Macleod Distillers (IMD), a fourth‑generation family owned and managed whisky and spirits business operating across the UK and internationally. We are producers of multi award winning premium whisky and gin with many other whiskies and spirits as part of our portfolio. Crafting Spirits With Passion, is what we do best… not only are we producers of exquisite brands, but we are also distributors and suppliers in B2B and B2C channels. We are a brand led, successful family business with our spirits (people and brands), at our very core. Driven by passion, enthusiasm and solid business values, we are now expanding our B2C offering and continuing to invest in each of our brand homes as our brands continue to evolve and grow.

Our Opportunity

Here in Ian Macleod Distillers, we believe that in the right environment, people can and do thrive. It is a simple and straightforward belief. Through curiosity, clarity, and connection, it is all about working ‘in good company’.

As our business continues to evolve in scale and complexity, we are now looking for an HR Partner to join our small team. The role will suit someone who brings strong commercial understanding and business acumen. The role will support a number of our commercial teams across sales, brands, and central support services, helping to shape and deliver our business agenda and our people plans that are aligned, agile, and ambitious. We are specifically looking for an experienced HR professional who has breadth and depth of HR experience related to scoping out, setting up and managing a variety of governance models such as Employer of Records (EoR), registered offices and subsidiaries.

This is a visible and hands‑on role. Working alongside department leaders, the role of HRP (commercial) will support and enable leaders, encouraging ongoing passion and energy around performance and culture. The HRP will have a part to play in the development and refinement of people strategies alignment to department needs and overall business ambition. The significance of the role will be to support the business right size and scale internationally, combined with actively hiring well, embedding succession planning, and contributing to the growth of both individual and team capabilities and strengths, navigating change, and building strong, healthy and engaged departments and overall working environments.

What the role looks like

You will work as a true partner to the department leadership teams – trusted, proactive, and always aligned to the commercial goals. Your days will be a blend of strategic thinking and significant practical outputs and actions, including:

• Governance & Structure:Scoping out and embedding different governance and contractual engagement models across various international markets, making sure opportunities are contractually and legally compliant, commercially viable, financially sound and right sized.
• Recruitment & Talent: Planning ahead, advising on the best approach, proactively headhunting, reducing reliance on agencies, talent mapping and shaping compelling, values‑led hiring and retention campaigns.
• Learning & Development: Identifying needs, building internal capability, and supporting succession plans that are authentic and culturally aligned.
• Employee Relations & Change: Coaching managers, supporting fair and confident decision‑making, and helping teams through periods of growth and transition.
• Engagement, Culture & Reward: Creating an environment within key departments where people feel empowered and inspired. Owning the engagement process and working with department leads to turn insights into action. Partnering with managers to build strong, two‑way communication, and supporting a culture where feedback flows, and progress is shared. Assisting managers with the development of meaningful reward and recognition initiatives to help celebrate effort and impact in ways that reflect who we are and not just what we do.
• Data, MI & Systems: Using insights to spot patterns, making smart decisions, and continuously improving how we support and develop our people and the commercial viability of the department goals and ambitions.

Who you are

You are likely to be someone who already has lots of similar experiences and who has worked for growing and expanding small and medium sized businesses operating which have operated in the UK and internationally. You will enjoy being close to the beating heart of the business – talking, listening, advising, and building. You know that greatness is built on relationships. You will have worked in a fast‑paced, commercially minded environment, and you will be comfortable with balancing big‑picture thinking with roll your sleeves up detail and delivery, in an agile, resilient and tenacious manner.

You will bring:

• Strong HR generalist experience across governance models, recruitment, learning, employee relations, and engagement (ideally experience with TU negotiations and relationships)
• A roll your sleeves up attitude and desire to get stuck right into the detail
• A confident, calm presence, especially in moments of change or challenge
• A highly commercial mindset
• Great communication and influencing skills
• Curiosity, accountability and proactivity in spades
• Clarity of thought, structure, and a drive for continuous improvement
• The ability to work independently without the need for detailed management oversight

Why join us?

Our overarching people ambitions are all about helping people do their best work. We nurture curiosity, empower individuals, and provide space to grow. We believe success comes from agility, accountability, and relationships built on trust, respect and integrity, sprinkled with a dash of good humour and kindness.

We aspire to have a high‑performance culture where people also enjoy the journey. We all work hard, but we laugh and have fun along the way. We focus on results, but we care about the experiences.

You will be given room to own and lead, be encouraged to challenge the norm, and be supported by a collaborative team that values variety, curiosity and energy. You will be more than just an HR professional – you will be a key part of how we grow, develop and thrive as a business.

This is a place where curiosity sparks growth, accountability drives outcomes, and proactivity powers progress. A place where you will always be ‘in good company’.

Ready to join us?

To apply for this HR Partner role, please send an email enclosing a copy of your CV and a short note about why this role feels right for you, along with details of what you can bring to the role. In addition, please send us details of your salary expectations and any notice period information. Please note that if you create a record on our portal, you will only have provisionally registered your interest. In order to apply formally, you must then ensure that you submit all requested application details directly to the dedicated application email address for this specific role (detailed above). Candidates who do not formally apply to the email address will not be able to be considered.

Please note, that this is also an open application window therefore we may close the advert at any point depending on the candidate applications received, so our recommendation is that you apply early to ensure you do not miss out! In addition, we can only accept applications for this role from candidates who currently already have eligibility to live and work in the U.K.

***No Agency Contact***