Operational Business Partnering - People Advisor Ops

Operational Business Partnering - People Advisor Ops

24 April 2025

People Advisor - Operations

Location: Dunstable, hybrid working, minimum 3 days per week in the office. Role will require some occasional travel and overnight stays across the UK.

We’re Whitbread, home of Premier Inn, the UK’s largest hotel chain, as well as some of the nation’s favourite go-to restaurants: Beefeater, Brewer’s Fayre, and Bar + Block. But we’re more than that. We’re the 38,000 people who make every day experiences special that delight over 5 million guests every month.

We are now recruiting a People Advisor who will play a key role supporting our Hotel and Restaurant management teams across 600 sites in the UK, working closely with regional People Partners to provide generalist advice to Line Managers in all people processes, through coaching and upskilling.

You’ll also work in partnership with our wider People team at our Dunstable support centre including Reward, L&D, Resourcing, and centralised functions; Internal Communications, Insight, and Central Operations to provide a proactive, commercial service that will deliver our people plan supporting a great guest experience.

Why you’ll love it here:

• Bonus: Annual Whitbread performance incentive worth up to 10% of base salary
• Discounts: Up to 60% discount on Premier Inn stays and 25% discount on our Restaurant brands
• Pension: Up to 10% Matched Pension, 25 Days holiday and Company Share Save Scheme

What you’ll do:

• Act as a business partner to our Hotel and Restaurant Management teams providing generalist People advice and support on HR systems, processes, induction, and development.
• Support the People Partners with all cyclical HR activities; Yearly reviews, Pay Review, Talent reviews and Calibration, Employee engagement surveys working with relevant centre of excellence in delivering these activities.
• Act as liaison point between the operational Hotel and Restaurant teams and HR specialists’ teams including Employee Relations, Occupational Health, and Recruitment.
• Work closely with People Partners and Employee relations team supporting ER cases as required, including case management, whilst coaching and supporting Line Manager up-skilling in performance and capability conversations.
• Have ownership for updating the People Plan and coordinating the agenda and minutes for key meetings, such as People topics at Divisional meetings, PP meetings, and calls.

What we need:

• Ideally, you will be an individual with a generalist people background, used to working in a large multi-site operational business (hospitality/retail/leisure and tourism) working closely with operational front-line teams.
• A general understanding of ER policies and UK employment law is desirable, as is working towards or interested in studying for a CIPD qualification.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Excel.
• Have excellent communication skills and the ability to engage and influence across multiple internal customers.
• Flexible and adaptable, you have the ability to manage your own workload yet respond to changing business priorities.
• You are naturally a self-motivated individual who is keen to make a difference, and also has the ability to challenge and question making objective recommendations.

Be part of our HR team at Whitbread. People are at the core of our business. Making memorable experiences for guests takes skill, understanding, and adaptability, all skills that our people bring. It’s thanks to them that we’re where we are, and we want that to continue. Bringing the right people into the business and supporting their development is in the hands of the HR team. Getting it right means creating an environment where everyone can thrive: individuals, teams, our guests, and our brands.