Employee Relations

You’ll take the lead on complex employee relations cases, ensuring matters are handled fairly, consistently, sensitively and in line with legislation and our policies. You’ll also identify themes and trends within ER activity and use these insights to help us prevent issues and improve the employee experience.

HR Operations, Payroll & Compliance

You’ll ensure the smooth running of our core HR operation, with oversight of key processes including:

• Weekly and monthly payroll.
• HR systems and data.
• Recruitment and onboarding processes.
• HR policies and procedures.
• GDPR and employee data.
• HR compliance and legislative requirements.
• Internal and external HR-related audits.

Accuracy and attention to detail will be important, but so will the ability to make HR processes feel straightforward and supportive for our managers and people.

People Data & Continuous Improvement

We want our People & Culture function to keep evolving. You’ll use people data and insight to identify trends, understand what’s happening across the organisation and recommend improvements. You’ll:

• Produce and analyse people metrics including absence, turnover, recruitment and employee relations.
• Develop and maintain People dashboards and management reporting through our HR System Bob.
• Identify opportunities to improve HR systems, processes and ways of working.
• Support the People & Culture Director with the delivery of the People Plan and wider organisational projects.

Learning & Development

You’ll play an important role in developing capability across the business, including supporting the rollout of our training programme. You’ll work with managers and colleagues to identify development needs, support learning initiatives and help create opportunities for people to grow and progress. You’ll also monitor training completion, maintain accurate records and help us understand the impact of our learning and development activity.

Engagement, Wellbeing & Culture

Our people and culture are at the heart of what we do. Working alongside the People & Culture Director and leadership team, you’ll help create an environment where people feel supported, valued and able to thrive. You’ll contribute to:

• Employee engagement initiatives.
• Wellbeing activities and support.
• A positive, inclusive and supportive workplace culture.
• Listening to our people and turning insight into meaningful action.
• Promoting initiatives that improve the employee experience.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for someone who is confident, approachable, commercially minded and genuinely passionate about people. You’ll ideally have:

• CIPD Level 5 or Level 7 qualification, or equivalent HR experience.
• Solid experience working in a broad HR role, ideally with experience of operating at HR Manager level.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment legislation and HR best practice.
• Experience managing complex employee relations cases and workplace investigations.
• Experience coaching and developing managers.
• Experience leading or developing an HR/People team.
• Good understanding of HR systems, processes and payroll.
• Strong organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritise in a busy environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail and a high level of accuracy.
• Confidence using Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• Experience handling sensitive and confidential information with discretion.
• The ability to build positive relationships and influence at all levels.

But most importantly…

We’re looking for someone who gets people. Someone who listens, uses good judgement and can be relied upon. Someone who can have the difficult conversations when needed, but does so with empathy and respect. Someone who can challenge constructively, coach with confidence and build strong relationships with managers and colleagues. And someone who will embrace the Emma Bridgewater culture — bringing energy, authenticity, warmth and a genuine desire to make a difference.

You’ll be a person of trust within the organisation and an important part of our People & Culture team.

Why join us?

This is a brilliant opportunity to join a passionate and talented team at an exciting time for our business. You’ll have the opportunity to make a real impact, develop our HR operation, support our managers and help shape the experience of our people. No two days will be the same, and you’ll have the opportunity to work across all areas of HR while being part of a team that genuinely cares about its people and its culture. If you’re an experienced HR professional looking for an exciting 12-month opportunity where you can make a real difference, we’d love to hear from you. Come and be part of the Emma Bridgewater story.