Fitzgerald
Head of Employee Relations (South East)
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Head of Employee Relations (South East)
Location: Hybrid working, with occasional travel for client and team meetings. Candidates must be based in the South East of England.
Job Type: Full-time (minimum 30 hours per week)
Salary: Starting from £67,000 FTE per annum (final offer reflects skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity).
About Us
We’re a full-service HR consultancy that partners with clients to help their people and businesses thrive. We act as either an in-house HR team, an extension of their existing people team, or a trusted partner that genuinely cares.
We believe people are the foundation of every business’s success. Our mission is to create workplaces where everyone can do their best work.
The Opportunity
We are seeking a Head of Employee Relations (South East) to join our growing Employee Relations leadership team.
Working alongside our Head of Employee Relations (South West), you will:
- Lead our Employee Relations service across the South East region, ensuring clients receive exceptional advice, support, and outcomes.
- This is a senior, hands-on leadership role, directing a talented ER team, building trusted client relationships, and managing some of the most complex and high-risk employee relations work.
You will also drive the ongoing development of Fitzgerald's wider Employee Relations service, strengthening capability, quality, and growth.
What You’ll Be Doing
Leading a High-Performing ER Team
- Lead and develop Senior ER Specialists and ER Specialists.
- Create clarity, focus, and accountability across the team.
- Support colleagues in developing technical expertise, confidence, and professional growth.
- Manage workload, capacity, and delivery quality.
- Foster a positive, high-performing culture where individuals feel supported, challenged, and valued.
Leading Complex Client Work
- Act as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders.
- Oversee complex employee relations matters, including:
- Investigations, disciplinary and grievance processes
- Appeal hearings
- Restructuring, redundancy and TUPE projects
- Support clients through high-risk and sensitive people challenges.
- Review and quality-assure advice and documentation.
- Draft and review employment contracts, policies, and procedures.
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Driving Quality and Commercial Success
- Deliver agreed billable income and performance targets.
- Ensure work is appropriately scoped, priced, and delivered.
- Manage risk and uphold high professional standards.
- Support client retention, account development, and new opportunities.
- Collaborate with colleagues across People Partnering and Talent & People Solutions to provide joined-up client support.
About You
You are an experienced Employee Relations leader who blends technical expertise, sound judgement, commercial awareness, and a genuinely people-centred approach.
Required Skills & Experience
- Significant experience leading complex Employee Relations work.
- Strong working knowledge of UK employment law.
- Experience supporting:
- Disciplinary and grievance processes
- Investigations
- Restructuring
- Redundancy
- TUPE processes
- Leadership experience in people development.
- Confident in building relationships with senior stakeholders.
- Strong commercial awareness and ability to manage competing priorities.
Desired Traits
- Clear, credible, and engaging communicator.
- Composed under pressure and at ease with ambiguity.
- Highly organized, detail-focused, and able to juggle multiple priorities.
- Collaborative, values-led, and invested in developing others.
Qualifications
- CIPD Level 7 or an equivalent employment law qualification (or qualified by experience).
- Preferable: Experience in consultancy or professional services.
Location & Logistics
- Based in the South East of England.
- Must hold a UK driving licence.
- Willingness to travel as required for client and team meetings.
The Perks
This role is exciting, purposeful, and full of opportunity. Here’s what you can look forward to when you join us:
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- Competitive salary (starting from £67,000 per annum FTE).
- 25 days’ annual leave (rising to 27 after one year and 29 after two years), plus bank holidays.
- Support for career qualifications, with real opportunities to grow and advance.
- Monthly homeworking allowance and all equipment provided.
- Flexible working patterns for a healthy work-life balance.
- Pension scheme options (including salary sacrifice) with 4% employer contributions and a minimum 4% employee contribution level.
- Life assurance at four times basic salary.
- Shopping discounts, flu vaccinations, technology schemes, and cycle-to-work schemes.
- Medicash health cash plan, general wellbeing benefits (including an Employee Assistance Programme).**
- Enhanced family leave policies.
- Unlimited remote GP appointments available 24/7.
- A growing, progressive business rooted in people-centred values.
Why Join Us?
At Fitzgerald, we believe in diversity and inclusion. Our team thrives on flexibility and growth.
Working here, you have opportunities to reshape your career. Our commitment to you includes:
- Purposeful work with impact.
- Investment in your growth—skills, expertise, and evolution.
- Support during challenges with flexibility and trust.
- Contribution to the future of Fitzgerald, empowerment in decision-making, and valued input.
Because we want you to be part of what’s next for Fitzgerald. Let’s build it together.
#Workthatworksforyou
How to Apply
If this opportunity resonates with you, APPLY NOW—we’d love to hear from you!
Our application process helps both you and us get to know each other. It includes:
- An initial call to understand your background.
- A written assessment.
- Virtual interview.
- Psychometric testing.
- A concluding in-person meeting.
We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, fostering a diverse, inclusive team.
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