Strategic Employee Relations Leader | Change & Compliance

Wessex Water Services; Bath; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension up to 20%

Career progression & development

25 days holiday rising to 28

Sell/transfer up to five days of leave

Buy up to ten days of holiday

Healthcare package

Life assurance up to 8x salary

Electric car salary sacrifice

Cashback & discounts

Volunteering day

Enhanced family leave & pay

Wellbeing platform

Mental health first aiders

Referral bonus £1,000

Job summary

Wessex Water is seeking an experienced Employee Relations Manager to lead and continuously develop the Group Employee Relations framework. You will provide strategic guidance on complex people matters and workforce governance across the organisation.

In this role, you will partner with senior leaders, trade unions and HR colleagues to drive employee engagement, governance and effective decision-making within a high-performing culture.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in Employee Relations or senior HR advisory roles.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and handling complex employee relations cases.
• Experience supporting organisational change, including restructures, redundancy and TUPE.
• Experience working with Trade Unions and employee representatives.
• Excellent coaching, influencing, negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
• Experience leading and developing HR teams and building manager capability.
• Strong analytical skills to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
• CIPD Level 7 qualification is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Lead and continuously develop the Group Employee Relations framework with governance, compliance and consistency.
• Manage and develop the HR Adviser team delivering a high-quality ER service across the Group.
• Act as the Employee Relations expert, guiding on complex and high-risk people matters.
• Build manager capability through coaching, training and practical ER support.
• Lead complex cases and change activities including disciplinary, grievance, absence, restructures, redundancy and TUPE.
• Partner with Trade Unions and employee representatives, supporting consultation and managing IR risks.
• Use data and insights to identify trends, manage people risks and drive improvements.
• Review and develop policies, processes and governance to support continuous improvement.

Skills

Employee Relations

UK employment law

Stakeholder management

Coaching

Negotiation

Conflict resolution

People management

Data analysis

Education

CIPD Level 7

Job description

Wessex Water is seeking an experienced Employee Relations Manager to lead and continuously develop the Group Employee Relations framework. You will provide strategic guidance on complex people matters and workforce governance across the organisation.

In this role, you will partner with senior leaders, trade unions and HR colleagues to drive employee engagement, governance and effective decision-making within a high-performing culture.