HR Manager

Odyssey Social Care; Dublin; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Life Insurance

Health Insurance

Education Assistance

Employee Assistance Programme

Refer a Friend

Team Building Fund

Career Progression

Job summary

Odyssey Social Care, a leading residential care provider in Ireland, seeks an HR Manager to own the People & Culture agenda, lead a HR team, and manage employee relations, onboarding, and HR operations. You will implement policy design, compliance training, and report on people metrics to inform business decisions.

The role requires line management of HR partners/officers, with responsibility for ER governance and high-risk cases, while living Odyssey’s values and Playbook principles.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in a senior HR role with direct line management of HR professionals.
• Proven track record owning complex employee relations casework, including WRC matters.
• Strong knowledge of Irish employment law and HR best practices.
• Experience in the healthcare or social care sector is advantageous but not essential.
• Proficient in HR systems and the Microsoft Office Suite.

Responsibilities

• Own the People & Culture agenda and lead the HR team, including ER governance and manager capability-building.
• Translate strategic priorities into operational HR plans and report on people metrics.
• Manage onboarding, HR operations, and employee experience, ensuring policy design across the organisation.
• Lead policy design, compliance training, and HR systems adoption to support scaling.
• Partner with senior leaders to translate business strategy into a people plan with KPIs.
• Oversee escalation processes for complex grievances, disciplinary matters, and occupational health.
• Drive retention initiatives, My Now/My High5 programmes, and career development frameworks.

Skills

Senior HR leadership

Employee relations

Stakeholder management

HR systems proficient

MS Office proficiency

Education

Degree in Human Resources or related discipline

CIPD membership

Ongoing professional development in employment law and HR best practice

Job description

Location: Dublin or Kilkenny office with national

Weekly Hours: 40

Holiday Entitlement: 25 days per annum

Role: HR Manager

About Odyssey Social Care

Odyssey Social Care is a leading residential care provider, committed to delivering high-quality, trauma-informed care to young people across Ireland. As part of the Broadlake Group, we are on a 3X10X growth journey — growing sustainably while delivering 10X Positive Impact for young people, employees, and communities. Our management tools — The Realiser, the Playbook, and our Family Principles — are central to how we lead, make decisions, and realise potential across the organisation.

Position Overview

The HR Manager owns the People & Culture agenda for Odyssey Social Care, leading a team responsible for employee relations, onboarding, HR operations, and employee experience. This role sets the direction for ER case governance and manager capability-building, has line management responsibility for HR Business Partners/Officers, and acts as the senior escalation point for complex and high-risk employee relations matters. The HR Manager translates the Head of People & Culture's strategic priorities into operational plans, owns HR policy and process design across the organisation, and reports on people metrics that inform business decisions.

This role delivers against our H5 Playbook — the five pillars that define how People & Culture operates day to day — and is expected to actively live our Family Principles, particularly IROAR, Realising Potential, and Super Collaboration, in how it leads and makes decisions.

Key Responsibilities

Happy Places

• Identify, develop, and support Pillar Leads and Culture Carriers across sites, embedding IROAR — Individual Radical Ownership, Accountability and Responsibility — at every level.
• Own physical environment standards, ensuring sites reflect Odyssey Social Care's culture and values.
• Run regular Employee Pulse checks and translate the findings into visible, timely action.
• Lead employee value initiatives such as MyNow and mental health/well-being programmes, measuring their impact on the employee experience.
• Build and maintain the 3X10X structure and resource plan, ensuring the People & Culture team scales in line with the organisation's growth.
• Assess team capability against SWAF — Skill, Will, Ambition, Fit — and close gaps through targeted development plans.

Training & Development

• Own the onboarding programme, integrating The Realiser platform to accelerate new-hire time-to-productivity.
• Ensure compliance training is tracked, current, and completed across the organisation.
• Design and deliver company-specific training that reflects Odyssey Social Care's practice and culture.
• Continuously review and improve the induction experience itself, using new-hire feedback and data to close gaps.

Retention

• Own employee turnover and retention data and reporting.
• Turn retention learnings into insights the business can act on.
• Design, implement, and monitor retention actions and measures.
• Own the My Now goal-setting cycle across the organisation.
• Embed My High5 — helping every employee build the personal clarity that protects their time, our most valuable resource.
• Own My Development: 4 Ps, supporting structured career and capability growth.
• Drive organisation-wide adoption of The Realiser platform, making it the default way people plan, review, and grow — not just a tool that exists.
• Lead, coach, and performance-manage the People & Culture team, ensuring consistent quality and workload balance.
• Partner with the Head of People & Culture to translate business strategy into a people plan with clear priorities and metrics.
• Own the People & Culture reporting cycle, tracking H5 Playbook KPIs and giving senior leadership clear visibility of emerging people risk.
• Build direct exposure to complex, sensitive, and high-risk employee relations matters and to senior leadership decision-making, developing sound judgement over time.

Employee Relations (Escalation & Governance)

• Act as the senior escalation point for complex grievance, disciplinary, performance improvement, and occupational health matters.
• Own insurance claims and Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) case strategy, working with external legal advisors where required.
• Set ER policy direction and monitor case-trend data to identify root causes and reduce recurring issues.
• Oversee absence management processes, including occupational health referrals, ensuring consistent application across the organisation.

HR Operations & Policy

• Oversee corporate payroll accuracy and compliance, working closely with Finance.
• Drive implementation and adoption of HR systems and processes that support operational scalability as the workforce grows.
• Lead the design, governance, and version control of HR policies and job descriptions as the organisation scales.
• Ensure all policies and processes remain compliant with Irish employment law and reflect best practice.
• Identify and remove inefficiencies in day-to-day HR operations.
• Build and maintain core HR toolkits and templates — manager guides, case-management templates — that make policy usable in practice.
• Benchmark HR practices, pay, and benefits against sector competitors to maintain Odyssey Social Care's position as an employer of choice.
• Manage relationships with key external HR partners and providers, ensuring service quality and value for money.

Capability Building

• Design and deliver workshops for managers on HR policy, performance management, and legislative compliance.
• Build people-management capability across the leadership population, reducing reliance on HR for routine matters.

Education

• Degree in Human Resources or a related discipline.
• CIPD membership.
• Ongoing professional development in employment law and HR best practice.

Experience

• Significant experience in a senior HR role, including direct line management of HR professionals.
• Proven track record owning complex employee relations casework end-to-end, including WRC matters.
• In-depth knowledge and practical application of Irish employment law and HR best practices.
• Experience in the healthcare or social care sector is advantageous, but not essential.
• Proficient in HR systems and the Microsoft Office Suite.

Exposure

• Experience influencing senior leaders and managers to shape people-related decisions.
• Comfortable managing highly sensitive, high-risk cases requiring sound judgement and discretion.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust-based relationships while maintaining strict confidentiality.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, and negotiation skills in challenging interpersonal situations.
• Life Insurance (Death in Service)
• Health Insurance on completion of probation
• Education Assistance Programme
• Employee Assistance Programme (VHI) for you and your family
• Refer a Friend Scheme
• Team Building & Social Fund
• Continuous Professional Development & Career Progression

Odyssey Social Care is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.