Lead People Partner - Interim

Our Vacancies Ltd.; Hatfield; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave + bank holidays

Pension contributions

Life insurance

Share-save scheme

Employee discount platform

Wellbeing platform

Enhanced parental-leave policies

Training and development opportunities

Job summary

Greencore is seeking an experienced operational People leader for an interim Lead People Partner role based at the Hatfield depot. You will guide the regional People team supporting nine distribution centres across the South of England and South Wales, partnering with site leaders to deploy priorities and drive performance.

You will manage engagement, employee relations, and development activities, while ensuring policy compliance and effective coaching of line managers in a multi-site,

Qualifications

• CIPD qualification at MCIPD or FCIPD level.
• Proven operational HR or People leadership experience in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience in food manufacturing would be particularly valuable.
• Logistics or distribution experience is preferred, although strong transferable experience from another demanding, multi-site operational setting will also be considered.
• 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.
• A proactive, organised approach and the drive to deliver results.

Responsibilities

• Partner with site and functional leaders to deploy people priorities, providing pragmatic advice, challenge and insight to support leadership, team performance and business objectives.
• Provide day-to-day leadership and direction to People team members across the region, ensuring clear priorities, strong capability and consistently high standards of delivery.
• Lead colleague engagement agenda, communication and colleague-voice activity.
• Lead employee-relations activity, including effective engagement with trade unions and colleague representatives, ensuring fair, consistent and timely outcomes.
• Work with our Centres of Excellence to support talent, succession and development activity across the region.
• 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.

Skills

People leadership

HR experience

Regulatory knowledge

Multi-site ops

Change management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

CIPD MCIPD or FCIPD

Job description

Homesite: Hatfield

Interim role - 4 months

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, you’ll lead the regional People team supporting nine distribution centres across the South of England and South Wales.

You will:

• Partner with site and functional leaders to deploy people priorities, providing pragmatic advice, challenge and insight to support leadership, team performance and business objectives.
• Provide day-to-day leadership and direction to People team members across the region, ensuring clear priorities, strong capability and consistently high standards of delivery.
• Lead colleague engagement agenda, communication and colleague-voice activity.
• Lead employee-relations activity, including effective engagement with trade unions and colleague representatives, ensuring fair, consistent and timely outcomes.
• Work with our Centres of Excellence to support talent, succession and development activity across the region.
• 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 an interim role based at our Hatfield depot. The position supports a regional depot network, so regular travel across southern England and South Wales will also be required.

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.
• Experience in food manufacturing would be particularly valuable.
• Logistics or distribution experience is preferred, although strong transferable experience from another demanding, multi-site operational setting will also be considered.
• 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.
• A proactive, organised approach and the drive to deliver results.

What you’ll get in return

• Competitive salary and job-related benefits.
• 25 days annual leave + 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 across a fast-moving regional network, we’d love to hear from you.