Employment Excellence Manager

Job Title: UKI HR Employment Excellence Manager Work Level: 2B Location: Kingston or PSL Reports to: UK & Ireland Employment Excellence Director Role Overview We are seeking an Employment Excellence Manager which is a key leadership role within the UK & Ireland Employment Excellence team, playing a central part in shaping the employment experience for over 5,000 employees across the UK & Ireland geography. The Employment Excellence team develops the employment experience for our people across the UK & Ireland through employment policy and employee relations, while playing a significant role in shaping our employer brand by creating an inclusive, progressive and forward looking HR landscape. This is a broad role which will give you the opportunity to work across every team in the UK&I with a range of stakeholders combining strategic thinking with strong operational leadership. The role is inherently agile, requiring adaptability as business needs and priorities evolve, and offers the chance to shape how employment is experienced across UK & Ireland in an increasingly fast changing internal and external environment. This role is well suited to someone curious about the future of work and looking to deepen and broaden their HR expertise and impact. Key Responsibilities Leadership • Act as a key leadership voice within the UK & Ireland Employment Excellence team. • Partner closely with the Employment Excellence Director as a trusted thinking partner on strategy, priorities and delivery. • Manage and develop a team of three specialist roles: UK Policy Specialist, Immigration Specialist, HR4HR People Partner and EET Project Co-ordinator. • Build HR capability of key responsibility areas through coaching and shared learning. • Role model calm, commercial & values-led, and thoughtful decision-making. • Act as Safeguarding Lead for the UK&I. Drive the agenda for safeguarding initiatives with the Safeguarding Advisor, including oversight and direction of the Safeguarding Representatives, Committee and training. Employment Policy & Practice • Own and manage the UK employment policy and practice framework. • Ensure policies are legally compliant, pragmatic, clear and consistently applied. • Apply a business first, data driven mindset, understanding evolving business needs and translating them into practical, legally compliant and future-fit employment policies and practices. • Lead ongoing review, simplification and evolution of the policy framework to ensure it remains relevant, inclusive and fit for the future. • Maintain an up-to-date understanding of the UK employment and immigration legal landscape, proactively monitoring legislative change and ensuring timely translation into policy, guidance and practice. • Advocate on behalf of Unilever on key employment topics, influencing emerging policy while engaging with external bodies and networks. • Work in close partnership with Legal, Inclusion, Reward, Wellbeing and People Experience teams. • Manage key stakeholder relationships, such as our union partnerships, to develop and deliver policies that reflect our commitment to employee experience. Immigration • Provide leadership and oversight of the UK immigration agenda. • Lead the immigration agenda through the Immigration Specialist, who is responsible for day-to-day operational delivery. • Oversee external legal partner relationships and service quality. • Maintain immigration compliance, ensuring Unilever continues to retain its A rated sponsor licence. • Engage with key stakeholders, such as Talent and HR Business Partnering, on immigration developments and business impact. HR4HR / Employee Relations • Provide oversight of Employee Relations support for the UK-based HR population, with day-to-day operational delivery provided by the HR4HR People Partner. • Act as escalation point for complex and sensitive cases. Change, Transformation & Strategic Partnership • Support organisation change initiatives, partnering with business leaders and People Partners. Stakeholder Engagement & External Orientation Build trusted stakeholder relationships at all levels working closely with UK, European and global HR, Legal and business colleagues.Maintain a strong external orientation and bring best practice into the organisation. • Review external developments and seek opportunities to represent societal change alongside an evolving workforce agenda • Co-ordinate regular engagement opportunities with external HR leads Qualifications & Experience • Proven experience in an HR leadership role with a strong track record of driving policy development, employee relations and change management initiatives. • Strong understanding of employment laws and regulations in the UK. • Excellent leadership and team management skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate others. • Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and influence at all levels of the organization. • Strategic thinker with the ability to translate business objectives into HR strategies and initiatives. Personal Attributes - Great team player. - Passionate about people and development. - Willing to challenge the status quo. - Calm, emotionally intelligent and curious. - Agile and adaptable. NOTES What We Offer Not only do we offer a competitive salary and pension scheme, we also offer an annual bonus, subsidised gym membership, a discounted staff shop and shares. You’ll have the opportunity to work directly with our renowned and exciting brands in a flexible and hybrid working environment. Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We are a key advocate of wellbeing and offer a variety of support for our people including hubs, programmes and development opportunities. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all. Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together for better business performance. We embrace diversity in our workforce. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. We are also more than happy to provide reasonable adjustments during our application and interview process to enable you to be present your best self. To find out more, including about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Unilever | Unilever. Recruitment Fraud Cyber criminals advertise fake job adverts with prestigious employers as a way of stealing information or even defrauding individuals out of money. In the most sophisticated cases, they will set up fake websites, which have a similar address to companies like Unilever. They even conduct fake telephone interviews and then offer candidates a role with the proviso they pay a fee for background checks or to cover work visa costs. These types of attacks are becoming more common as more people are looking for employment in the economic climate. How is Unilever tackling this? Many of Unilever’s recruitment sites publish a warning to candidates about recruitment fraud. The Cyber Security team also proactively scan for signs of people setting up fake Unilever sites and act to close them down. What can I do? If you become aware of potential recruitment fraud, spot fake Unilever recruitment adverts or fake LinkedIn profiles, report them via Una Live Chat. Unilever does not accept responsibility or liability for any candidates who are financially impacted by recruitment fraud. Your vigilance is key! We are one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies with amazing brands, dynamic people and a sustainable vision. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. If you are ambitious, keen to learn and want lo lead, you have come to the right place. Explore our website and apply to be part of a company with more than 400 brands used by over two billion people everyday.