People Services Manager

Impact Food Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading school catering company based in Woking is seeking a talented People Services Manager. You will lead the Shared Services team, supporting managers with expert guidance and ensuring smooth human resource processes. Ideal candidates have experience in HR advisory roles and strong leadership skills. Join us to help shape a positive workplace culture and make a genuine difference in students' lives across the UK.

Benefits

Flexible salary

Fantastic benefits

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a People/HR Advisory role, ideally in a fast-paced, operational setting.
• Leading a team and establishing best practices.
• Strong knowledge of TUPE processes.

Responsibilities

• Provide guidance to empower managers in leading.
• Coach on sickness cases and support employees.
• Collaborate to shape proactive people strategies.

Skills

Excellent communication

Leadership skills

Knowledge of UK employment law

Coaching and guiding

Job description

Role: People Services Manager

Salary: Flexible & Fantastic Benefits

Location: Woking

People Services Manager

At Impact Food Group, we re more than just a school caterer. We re on a mission to create a positive food culture and help more students enjoy healthier, better-quality food. Making a positive social impact is at the heart of everything we do. We re constantly learning, evolving, and improving every way, every day.

Through our industry-leading brands Innovate, Hutchison, Cucina, and Chapter One we cater for over 550,000 students and operate in more than 800 schools nationwide, growing every year.

We re now looking for a talented and highly organised People Services Manager to lead our Shared Services team and support our operational managers with expert people guidance. If you re ready to make a real impact in a company that s redefining what it means to work in catering, this is your moment.

Guided by our values, integrity, bold, impactful, integrity, and community; you will help us shape a workplace and culture we can all be proud of.

What you ll be doing

As People Services Manager, you ll play a dual role: working with a Head of People / People Director and acting as a trusted advisor to a new operational region in our business, and leading our People Services Coordinators to deliver exceptional service across the employee lifecycle. You ll ensure our people processes run smoothly, our team is supported and developed, and our managers are empowered to lead brilliantly.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Providing timely, practical guidance to empower managers to lead fairly, consistently, and brilliantly.
• Advising and supporting managers through formal investigations and hearings, ensuring every step is handled with care and integrity.
• Guiding and coaching on short- and long-term sickness cases, including Occupational Health referrals and reasonable adjustments to contribute to a positive culture where employees feel supported.
• Supporting capability procedures and performance improvement plans that help people grow and succeed to make a difference and improve knowledge.
• Collaborating with People Business Partners to spot trends and shape proactive people strategies that are decisive and challenge the norm.
• Taking the lead, collaborating with the wider People department to process employees transferring via TUPE at peak periods and succeeding as a team.
• Lead and support the development of the team of People Coordinators. Ensure the timely response to general employee enquiries and action taken on maternity, paternity, flexible working, and probationary period enquiries from employees and managers across our entire operation.

More about you -

• Proven experience in a People/HR Advisory role, ideally in a fast-paced, operational setting.
• Proven experience in leading a team setting objectives, leading by example and establishing best practices.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills you know how to coach, guide, and inspire.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and people practices, including TUPE processes.
• Confidence in managing ER cases end-to-end, including disciplinary, grievance, absence, and capability.
• Considerate and ready to both learn from and share your knowledge with colleagues to be part of a fantastic People Team.

If you re a collaborative, solution-focused HR professional who thrives in a busy and purposeful environment, we d love to hear from you. Join us and be part of a team making a genuine difference in the lives of students across the UK.