Lead People Partner

GREENCORE; Atherstone; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

25 days annual leave

Pension contributions

Life insurance

Share-save scheme

Employee discount platform

Wellbeing platform

Parental-leave & menopause policies

Training & development opportunities

Job summary

Greencore is seeking a Lead People Partner for our Atherstone site to partner with operational leaders and deliver people priorities for a high-performing workforce.

You will lead the site People team, support employee relations, ensure compliance with employment law, and collaborate with Centres of Excellence on talent and development.

This permanent, site-based role requires CIPD qualification and proven HR leadership in a fast-paced operating environment.

Qualifications

• CIPD qualification MCIPD or FCIPD level.
• Proven operational HR leadership experience within a fast-paced environment.
• Current knowledge of employment legislation and employee-relations practice.
• Experience working with a diverse workforce and leading and developing high-performing teams.
• Ability to balance competing priorities, exercise sound judgement and handle sensitive employee-relations matters pragmatically.
• Confidence operating as part of a senior leadership team and influencing operational decision-making.
• A proactive, organised approach and the drive to deliver results.
• Experience within food manufacturing or similar complex operational environments is valuable.

Responsibilities

• Partner with site leaders to deploy people priorities, providing pragmatic advice, challenge and insight to support leadership, team performance and business objectives.
• Lead and support the site People team, ensuring clear priorities, strong capability and consistently high standards of delivery.
• Lead the site colleague-engagement agenda, communication and colleague-voice activity.
• Lead employee-relations activity, including effective engagement with trade unions or colleague representatives, ensuring fair, consistent and timely outcomes.
• Work with our Centres of Excellence to support talent, succession and development activity at site level.
• Ensure compliance with employment legislation, data protection, People policies and our human-rights agenda.
• Build line-manager capability by coaching leaders to manage performance, conduct effective people conversations and apply policies confidently and consistently.
• Experience within food manufacturing or manufacturing or similar is valuable.

Skills

People leadership

HR advisory

Employment law

Stakeholder management

People development

Coaching

Decision making

Education

CIPD MCIPD/FCIPD

Job description

Why Greencore?

Following the combination with Bakkavor in January 2026, we’re one of the UK’s leading creators of convenience food, driven by a simple purpose: to make every day taste better.

As a vibrant and fast-moving business, we’re proud to employ over 28,000 colleagues across 36 manufacturing sites and 21 distribution depots in the UK and US. Together, we bring food to life across every meal occasion, from breakfast through to dinner and dessert, with lunch and snacking in between. In FY25, our combined revenues were approximately £4bn.

Our extensive direct-to-store network allows us to deliver fresh and frozen food—both our own products and those from trusted partners—to thousands of stores every day.

What you’ll be doing

As our Lead People Partner at Atherstone, you’ll be a key member of the site senior leadership team, partnering with operational leaders to deliver the site’s people priorities and support an engaged, capable and high-performing workforce.

You will:

• Partner with site leaders to deploy people priorities, providing pragmatic advice, challenge and insight to support leadership, team performance and business objectives.
• Lead and support the site People team, ensuring clear priorities, strong capability and consistently high standards of delivery.
• Lead the site colleague-engagement agenda, communication and colleague-voice activity.
• Lead employee-relations activity, including effective engagement with trade unions or colleague representatives, ensuring fair, consistent and timely outcomes.
• Work with our Centres of Excellence to support talent, succession and development activity at site level.
• Ensure compliance with employment legislation, data protection, People policies and our human-rights agenda.
• Build line-manager capability by coaching leaders to manage performance, conduct effective people conversations and apply policies confidently and consistently.

This is a permanent, site-based role at Atherstone, working Monday to Friday. Some flexibility will be required to support the operation, including occasional late-night and weekend working.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for an experienced operational People leader who can build trusted relationships, provide practical support and remain calm and effective in a demanding environment.

You’ll bring:

• CIPD qualification at MCIPD or FCIPD level.
• Proven operational HR or People leadership experience within a fast-paced environment.
• Current knowledge of employment legislation and employee-relations practice.
• Experience working with a diverse workforce and leading and developing high-performing teams.
• The ability to balance competing priorities, exercise sound judgement and handle sensitive employee-relations matters pragmatically.
• Confidence operating as part of a senior leadership team and influencing operational decision-making.
• A proactive, organised approach and the drive to deliver results.

Experience within food manufacturing, manufacturing or another complex operational environment would be particularly valuable.

What you’ll get in return

• Competitive salary and job-related benefits.
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Competitive matched pension contributions.
• Life insurance up to four times salary.
• Company share-save scheme.
• Exclusive Greencore employee discount platform.
• Access to a company wellbeing platform.
• Enhanced parental-leave and menopause policies.
• On-the-job training and development opportunities throughout your time at Greencore.

If you’re an operational People leader who enjoys taking ownership, supporting frontline teams and making a practical difference in a fast-moving site environment, we’d love to hear from you.