Lead People Partner - Highbridge & Devizes

Greencore (Formally Bakkavor Group); Devizes; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Car Allowance

Share save scheme

Pension contributions

Life insurance

Job summary

Greencore Desserts is seeking a Lead People Partner to drive the site people strategy across our Highbridge and Devizes sites. The role combines strategic HR leadership with hands-on people management in a fast-paced manufacturing setting.

You will partner with site leadership, coach the people team, and lead engagement and change initiatives while ensuring compliance with UK employment law and HR policies. Hybrid working around four days in the office is offered.

Qualifications

• Experience in a senior HR or people leadership role.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and employee relations.
• Ability to lead diverse teams.

Responsibilities

• Partner with site leadership to deploy people priorities and drive engagement.
• Lead the site people team and create a high-performing culture.
• Drive colleague engagement, voice activity and change initiatives.
• Oversee employee relations in collaboration with trade unions or representatives.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Change management

Communication

Education

CIPD MCIPD/FCIPD

Job description

Lead People Partner - Greencore Desserts

Salary: Competitive salary

Benefits: Bonus, Car Allowance, Company share save scheme, competitive matched Pension contributions, Life insurance up to 4x salary

Location: Dual site, Highbridge and Devizes

Ways of Working: Hybrid (Circa 4 days per week in the office)

Hours of work: 08:30am-17:00pm (flexible as per business needs)

Contract Type: Permanent

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 talented colleagues across 36 manufacturing sites and 21 distribution depots in the UK and the US.

We bring delicious food to life from breakfast through to dinner and dessert, with lunch and snacking in between. In FY25, our shared passion helped us achieve combined revenues of approximately £4bn.

Our extensive direct to store (DTS) network, with 17 depots across the UK, allows us to deliver fresh and frozen food both our own and from trusted partners to thousands of stores every day, ensuring consumers enjoy the very best, whenever and wherever they shop.

The Sites You'll be Partnering

Our Highbridge (Somerset) and Devizes (Wiltshire) sites form a key part of our chilled desserts business. Highbridge specialises in cheesecakes, tarts and sponges, while Devizes produces tarts, doughnuts, crumbles, pies and pastries. Together employing over 1,150 colleagues, the sites operate in a fast‑paced manufacturing environment, delivering high‑quality products to all major retail customers across the UK.

What you'll be doing

In this busy and exciting role you will work closely with site leadership to deploy the people strategy, acting as a trusted adviser who drives engagement, capability and high‑impact people solutions that support business performance in a fast‑paced operational environment.

Role Accountabilities

• Partner with site and functional leaders to deploy people priorities, providing pragmatic advice, challenge and insight to support effective leadership and delivery of business objectives
• Lead, coach and develop the site people team, setting clear direction and creating a positive, inclusive and high‑performing team culture
• Drive colleague engagement, communication and colleague voice activity, using feedback and surveys to deliver meaningful site‑level improvements
• Lead day‑to‑day employee relations activity, including effective engagement with trade unions or colleague representatives, ensuring fair, consistent and timely outcomes
• Support talent, succession and development activity at site level in partnership with Centres of Excellence, ensuring strong pipelines for critical roles
• Support and embed organisational change and continuous improvement initiatives, managing people impacts to ensure sustainable adoption
• Ensure compliance with employment legislation, data protection, people policies and human rights standards, proactively managing and escalating people risks
• Build line manager capability through coaching and support, enabling effective performance management and high‑quality people conversations

What we're looking for

• CIPD qualified (MCIPD/FCIPD)
• Proven experience in a senior HR or people leadership role, ideally within a manufacturing or distribution environment
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment legislation and employee relations
• Experience leading and developing high‑performing, diverse teams
• Proactive, organised and able to work flexibly in a fast‑paced environment
• Confident communicator with the credibility to challenge and influence senior stakeholders

What you'll get in return

• Competitive salary and job‑related benefits incl. bonus and car allowance
• Holidays
• Competitive matched pension contributions
• Life insurance up to 4x salary
• Company share save scheme
• Greencore Qualifications
• Exclusive Greencore employee discount platform
• Access to a full Wellbeing Centre platform
• Enhanced parental leave and menopause policies

Throughout your time at Greencore, you will be supported with on‑the‑job training and development opportunities to further your career.

Greencore and its recruitment partners never charge candidates any fees at any stage of the hiring process. Any request for payment relating to a job opportunity should be considered fraudulent.