People Partner

The Bread Factory; Milton Keynes; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

50% discount at GAIL’s

40% off at The Bread Factory

25 days holiday + bank holidays

24-hour GP service

Cycle to work scheme

24-hour GP service

Cycle to work scheme

Job summary

A leading artisan bakery in the UK seeks a Regional People Partner for maternity cover. The role involves building strong partnerships with Regional Managers, driving employee engagement, and providing expert advice on complex employee relations cases. Candidates should have experience as a People Partner and enjoy coaching. A hybrid working model includes 3 days in Milton Keynes and the possibility of working from home. Attractive benefits include discounts at bakery locations and generous holiday.

Qualifications

• Experience in a People Partner role within a growing business, preferably manufacturing.
• Confidence in stakeholder engagement across diverse backgrounds.
• Comfort with using data to inform discussions.
• Enjoy facilitating practical workshops that drive development and behavioural change.
• Comfortable analysing data to inform discussions and initiatives.
• Strong employee relations experience and coaching across various cases.

Responsibilities

• Build partnerships with Regional Managers to deliver the people strategy.
• Analyse and interpret data for informed decision-making.
• Drive the annual performance appraisal process.
• Own and drive the annual performance appraisal and calibration programme.
• Support management to improve engagement, reduce turnover and increase retention.
• Collaborate with the wider People team on projects shaping future strategy.
• Lead projects supporting the overall strategic plan.
• Mentor the Talent Advisor and support succession planning.
• Work with Talent and Learning & Development to ensure consistent approaches.
• Provide expert support on complex and high-profile employee relations cases.

Skills

Coaching and mentoring

Employee relations

Analytical thinking

Stakeholder engagement

Workshop facilitation

Job description

Overview

The Bread Factory is London’s leading Artisan Bakery, known for award-winning breads, pastries, and cakes, supplying top-quality products across e-commerce, grocery, food services, and retailers such as our GAIL’s Bakeries nationwide.

As our teams grow, we seek our next Regional People Partner - Maternity Cover to join our team.

As a Regional People Partner, you will work closely with each Regional Manager on all people-related activities. You will be responsible for delivering and embedding the people strategy, providing expert employee relations advice and support where required, and driving positive cultural change across our Milton Keynes, Manchester, Bath and the Flour Station locations.

Every day is different at The Bread Factory, but here are some of the things you will be doing:

• You will build strong, trusted partnerships with Regional Managers to deliver the people strategy through effective challenge and coaching.
• You will work with managers to ensure robust people and succession plans are in place for their teams.
• You will analyse and interpret data to inform decision-making.
• You will own and drive the annual performance appraisal and calibration programme.
• You will support management teams to improve engagement, reduce employee turnover and increase retention. You will own the relevant data, tracking progress and holding managers to account where required.
• You will collaborate with the wider People team on projects that shape future strategy and drive business excellence.
• You will lead key projects that support the overall strategic plan.
• You will manage and mentor the Talent Advisor, supporting succession planning and regional talent capability.
• You will work closely with the Talent and Learning & Development teams to ensure a consistent approach, supporting and constructively challenging one another to enable continuous growth and development.
• You will provide expert support on complex and high-profile employee relations cases, offering front-line advice and coaching to managers.

Qualifications

• You have experience working within a growing business in a People Partnering role; manufacturing experience is desirable but not essential.
• You view coaching and mentoring as key elements of your People toolkit and have experience working directly with operators, leadership teams and across entire organisations.
• You are confident engaging with a diverse range of stakeholders, each with differing interests, perspectives and personalities.
• You enjoy facilitating practical, experiential workshops that drive meaningful development and behavioural change.
• You are comfortable analysing and using data to inform discussions and initiatives.
• You have a strong level of employee relations experience and are confident coaching managers across a range of cases.

Benefits

• Hybrid: 3 days in Milton Keynes, 1 day in Hendon and 1 day WFH
• 50% discount at GAIL’s and 40% off at The Bread Factory & The Flour Station Markets.
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays
• Discounts and Savings from high-street retailers and restaurants
• 24-hour GP service
• Cycle to work scheme

We Care about a Job Well Done:

Since 1993, we have been champions in traditional baking with the finest ingredients and techniques. We always do things the right way, not the easy way.

We Care about Baking:

At The Bread Factory, all our teams take pride in crafting beautiful, freshly baked loaves, pastries, and cakes. We are all passionate about our products and share knowledge among us all.

We Care about Each Other:

We always act with respect, empathy, and support to our employees, neighbours and customers.

We Care about Community:

We believe in minimising unsustainable practices and reducing waste. While ensuring we continue to provide everyone with nutritious high-quality food.

We Care about Nature:

We’re committed to sustainability across our supply chain—from reducing waste and reusing surplus to supporting regenerative farming that helps restore the planet.