Talent Acquisition and workforce planning

• Oversee the Talent Acquisition Lead and the delivery of recruitment activity across the Group.
• Monitor recruitment activity, time to hire, vacancies and agency use, providing clear management information.
• Support workforce and succession planning with senior leaders and managers.

Employee life cycle, on-boarding and HR operations

• Oversee effective on-boarding, contract changes, family leave, benefits administration and off boarding processes.
• Ensure employment records, right-to-work documentation and HR system data are accurate and maintained appropriately.
• Support the consistent on-boarding of senior hires and colleagues joining through acquisitions.
• Review and improve HR processes, templates and controls to support a growing Group.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality and data protection standards across all people activities.

Payroll, pensions and benefits

• Oversee the accurate and timely provision of HR information for payroll processing.
• Work closely with Finance, payroll providers and internal stakeholders to resolve payroll queries and improve controls.
• Support pension administration, auto-enrolment and employee benefit processes.
• Review payroll and people data for accuracy and ensure changes are appropriately authorised.
• Support annual benefit reviews and employee communications.

Acquisition integration and organisational change

• Support the people workstream for acquisitions, including due diligence, TUPE, consultation, onboarding and post-acquisition integration.
• Coordinate the transfer and validation of employee data, contracts, benefits and HR records.
• Work with leaders to align acquired businesses with Group people policies, systems and processes.
• Track integration actions, risks and dependencies and provide clear updates to relevant stakeholders.
• Support employees and managers through change with clear, timely and practical communication.

Learning, development and employee engagement

• Support the delivery of the Group people plan, learning and development priorities and employee engagement activity.
• Work with managers to identify development requirements and practical training solutions.
• Oversee HR compliance training and learning management system activity.
• Support performance review, objective-setting and talent development processes.
• Promote a positive, inclusive and consistent employee experience across all locations.

HR reporting, governance and compliance

• Produce regular people reports covering headcount, turnover, absence, recruitment, employee relations and other key measures.
• Provide concise updates to the Chief Financial Officer and senior leadership team on priorities, risks and progress.
• Ensure people-related risks and compliance requirements are identified, recorded and addressed.
• Support internal and external audit requirements and maintain appropriate evidence and documentation.
• Monitor changes in employment legislation and recommend practical updates to policies and processes.

Essential skills and experience

• CIPD Level 5 qualified or equivalent demonstrable experience.
• Strong generalist HR experience, including managing complex employee relations matters.
• Experience operating in a multi-site, multi-entity or similarly complex organisation.
• Sound and current knowledge of UK employment legislation and HR good practice.
• A practical, hands-on and commercially aware approach.
• Strong organisation, judgement, communication and stakeholder management skills.

Desirable skills and experience

• Experience within a growing SME or medium-sized business.
• Experience supporting acquisition integration, TUPE and organisational change.
• Experience using HR, recruitment and learning management systems.
• Experience producing meaningful people reporting and management information.