People Partner

Autotrader; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading automotive marketplace in Manchester seeks a skilled People Partner. This role requires a proactive HR professional with a strong knowledge of UK employment law and the ability to influence senior leaders. The successful candidate will drive people strategies, manage complex employee relations issues, and contribute to a hybrid working model. Competitive salary of £50,000 – £55,000 with additional benefits like share options and medical coverage is offered.

Benefits

28 days holiday plus bank holidays

Private medical cover

Pension scheme with contributions

Car salary sacrifice scheme

Qualifications

• Strong experience managing complex employee relations cases.
• Ability to influence and challenge senior stakeholders.
• Willingness to lead specific networks as part of the role.

Responsibilities

• Partner with leaders to shape people strategies aligned to business priorities.
• Drive engagement, inclusion, and organizational performance.
• Act as an escalation point for complex employee relations matters.

Skills

Resilient HR professional

Knowledge of UK employment law

Effective communicator

Analytical mindset

Proactive problem solver

Job description

You’ve probably heard of Autotrader, but do you know what we’re all about?

We’re the UK’s leading automotive marketplace, a heritage brand, and a tech darling of the stock market. We bring together vehicle buyers and sellers to give them real choices. Cars may be what we're best known for but we’re also the place for pretty much everything else on wheels, from e-bikes to caravans.

In the automotive world, change is a constant, that’s why we take our job of untangling the complex car-buying journey very seriously.
At our core, we’re all about people. We go our own way while embracing diversity and celebrating our differences. We dedicate ourselves to the idea that we work better together.

Autotrader is a beautiful, surprising and vibrant place to work. We might not be for everyone, but we could be perfect for you.

About the job

At Autotrader, our people power everything we do. We’re looking for a high-performing, adaptable People Partner who thrives in fast-moving environments, enjoys solving complex challenges, and acts as a trusted advisor to senior leaders.

In this role, you’ll bring credibility, curiosity, and calm under pressure — confidently navigating ambiguity, influencing at senior levels, and making sound judgments when it matters most. You’ll combine strategic thinking with hands‑on HR expertise to drive engagement, inclusion, and organisational performance.

You’ll partner closely with leaders to shape and deliver people strategies aligned to our commercial priorities, supporting workforce planning, organisational change, and transformation initiatives. You’ll lead and contribute to high‑impact projects across performance, succession, manager capability, and engagement, while continuously improving how we work. You’ll also act as an escalation point for complex employee relations matters, providing pragmatic employment law and policy guidance, and using people data and insight to influence decisions and improve outcomes.

You might think being a car enthusiast is a must for this role, but that’s not the case! If you’re driven by impact, energised by change, and ready to operate at pace, we’d love to hear from you.

What we're looking for

• A resilient, proactive HR professional who thrives in complexity and change
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, with experience managing complex ER cases
• Credibility and confidence to influence and challenge senior stakeholders
• Proactive problem solver who can operate independently and guide others
• Effective communicator who can tailor messaging and style for diverse audiences
• An analytical mindset, paired with the agility to adapt when priorities shift
• Willingness to lead the MHFA network as part of stepping into this role

During our application process, you will be asked two questions to help us learn more about you and how you align with our values. These will be used as part of our selection criteria, to determine if we progress your application further.

We’re offering a salary of £50,000 – £55,000, plus an additional 10% of your salary awarded to you in shares each year. These awarded shares will become yours in yearly instalments over the next three years, and you can choose to either sell them or keep them as shares.

You’ll have 28 days holiday per year, and that’s in addition to bank holidays and half day closures on Christmas and New Year's Eve.

That’s not all. You'll be enrolled in our pension scheme, where our standard contributions are 7% and employee contributions are 5%. We also have comprehensive private medical cover, enhanced family leave provisions, a car salary sacrifice scheme, share‑save options, and much more.

We always want to give you the support you need and help prioritise your wellbeing, that’s why we provide access to 24/7 online GP and dentist, as well as specialist support for assisted fertility, gender dysphoria, menopause, period care plans and lots more.

On top of all that, our hybrid model, Connected Working, combines the best of both worlds – office and home working. You'll spend a minimum of 3 days a week in the office with your team, focused on collaboration and connection.

Additionally, we have our remote‑first periods at set times during summer and winter. During these periods, you can work remotely anywhere in the UK and from certain locations abroad.