Senior Employee Relations Manager

VIA MATCH LIMITED; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

VIA MATCH LIMITED is recruiting a Senior Employee Relations Manager to lead its ER agenda across the UK and Ireland. This senior People leadership role combines employee relations, industrial relations, employment law, trade union relationships and people leadership.

You will own the ER strategy across a large, complex workforce, advising senior leaders on high-risk matters while driving a proactive approach and consistent, commercially balanced responses.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in Employee Relations within a large, complex or multi-site organisation.
• Extensive experience in Employee Relations or Industrial Relations and knowledge of trade unions.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and ER best practice.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Employee Relations and Industrial Relations strategy across the UK and Ireland.
• Act as a senior adviser on complex and high-risk employee relations matters.
• Manage tribunal, litigation and other sensitive cases.
• Build constructive relationships with recognised Trade Unions.
• Lead negotiations and support wider industrial relations activity.
• Partner with senior leaders on ER risks and business decisions.
• Develop ER policies, processes, guidance and manager toolkits.
• Ensure policies and practices remain compliant with evolving UK and Irish employment legislation.
• Coach managers to handle employee relations matters confidently and consistently.
• Lead and develop a team of ER specialists and advisers.

Skills

Employee Relations

Industrial Relations

UK employment law

Trade Union relations

Stakeholder management

Education

CIPD qualification or degree in HR, Business or related discipline

Job description

Salary: £80,000-£100,000 + benefits (DOE)

Location: Milton Keynes

UK & Ireland remit

Full-time Permanent

About the opportunity

Via is partnering with a major multi-site consumer business to recruit a Senior Employee Relations Manager to lead its Employee and Industrial Relations agenda across the UK and Ireland.

This is a senior People leadership position combining employee relations, industrial relations, employment law, trade union relationships and people leadership.

You'll take ownership of the ER strategy across a large, complex workforce, advising senior leaders on high-risk and sensitive matters while developing a more proactive approach to employee relations.

You'll also lead a team of ER specialists and advisers, helping managers become more confident handling people matters while ensuring employees receive a consistent and commercially balanced approach.

What you'll be doing

• Lead the Employee Relations and Industrial Relations strategy across the UK and Ireland
• Act as a senior adviser on complex and high-risk employee relations matters
• Manage and provide guidance around tribunal, litigation and other sensitive cases
• Build constructive relationships with recognised Trade Unions
• Lead negotiations and support wider industrial relations activity
• Partner with senior leaders on employee relations risks and business decisions
• Develop ER policies, processes, guidance and manager toolkits
• Ensure policies and practices remain compliant with evolving UK and Irish employment legislation
• Coach managers and leaders to handle employee relations matters confidently and consistently
• Lead and develop a team of Employee Relations specialists and advisers
• Oversee the quality and consistency of ER support provided across the organisation
• Use ER data to identify trends, emerging risks and opportunities for improvement
• Develop employee engagement initiatives, colleague forums and survey activity
• Support organisational change, transformation and other major people projects
• Provide specialist ER input during restructures and wider business change
• Balance employee experience, legal risk and commercial priorities when recommending solutions

What we're looking for

You'll need significant experience in Employee Relations within a large, complex or multi-site organisation.

We're particularly interested in candidates with:

• Extensive Employee Relations or Industrial Relations experience
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and ER best practice
• Hands-on experience managing complex, sensitive and high-risk ER cases
• Trade Union and collective employee relations experience
• Experience managing tribunal or litigation matters
• Experience operating across a large, geographically dispersed workforce
• Strong commercial judgement with the ability to balance people outcomes and business risk
• Confidence advising and influencing senior stakeholders
• Experience developing ER policies, processes and frameworks
• Experience using employee data and trends to identify organisational risks
• Strong negotiation and relationship-management skills
• Experience leading, coaching and developing ER or HR professionals
• The credibility to operate as a senior subject-matter expert within a People function

Experience within retail, hospitality, logistics, manufacturing, distribution, food & beverage or another large multi-site workforce would be particularly relevant, although we're open to candidates from other complex organisations.

A CIPD qualification or degree in HR, Business or a related discipline is preferred.

Why apply?

• Estimated £75,000-£90,000 salary depending on experience
• Senior leadership position with a UK & Ireland remit
• Take ownership of Employee and Industrial Relations strategy
• Significant exposure to senior business leaders
• Lead and develop an established ER team
• Work on complex and commercially significant employee relations matters
• Opportunity to shape policies, processes and manager capability
• Influence employee engagement and organisational change initiatives
• Join a large, recognisable organisation with a complex multi-site workforce
• Learning, development and longer-term career progression opportunities

If you're an experienced ER leader with strong trade union, employment law and complex case-management experience, this is an opportunity to take strategic ownership of Employee Relations across a major UK and Ireland workforce.