Via
Senior Employee Relations Manager
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Salary: £80,000–£100,000 + benefits (DOE)
Location: Milton Keynes
UK & Ireland remit
Full-time | Permanent
About the opportunity
Via is partnering with a major multi-site consumer business to recruit a Senior Employee Relations Manager to lead its Employee and Industrial Relations agenda across the UK and Ireland.
This is a senior People leadership position combining employee relations, industrial relations, employment law, trade union relationships and people leadership.
You'll take ownership of the ER strategy across a large, complex workforce, advising senior leaders on high-risk and sensitive matters while developing a more proactive approach to employee relations.
You'll also lead a team of ER specialists and advisers, helping managers become more confident handling people matters while ensuring employees receive a consistent and commercially balanced approach.
What you'll be doing
- Lead the Employee Relations and Industrial Relations strategy across the UK and Ireland
- Act as a senior adviser on complex and high-risk employee relations matters
- Manage and provide guidance around tribunal, litigation and other sensitive cases
- Build constructive relationships with recognised Trade Unions
- Lead negotiations and support wider industrial relations activity
- Partner with senior leaders on employee relations risks and business decisions
- Develop ER policies, processes, guidance and manager toolkits
- Ensure policies and practices remain compliant with evolving UK and Irish employment legislation
- Coach managers and leaders to handle employee relations matters confidently and consistently
- Lead and develop a team of Employee Relations specialists and advisers
- Oversee the quality and consistency of ER support provided across the organisation
- Use ER data to identify trends, emerging risks and opportunities for improvement
- Develop employee engagement initiatives, colleague forums and survey activity
- Support organisational change, transformation and other major people projects
- Provide specialist ER input during restructures and wider business change
- Balance employee experience, legal risk and commercial priorities when recommending solutions
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What we're looking for
You'll need significant experience in Employee Relations within a large, complex or multi-site organisation.
We're particularly interested in candidates with:
- Extensive Employee Relations or Industrial Relations experience
- Strong knowledge of UK employment law and ER best practice
- Hands-on experience managing complex, sensitive and high-risk ER cases
- Trade Union and collective employee relations experience
- Experience managing tribunal or litigation matters
- Experience operating across a large, geographically dispersed workforce
- Strong commercial judgement with the ability to balance people outcomes and business risk
- Confidence advising and influencing senior stakeholders
- Experience developing ER policies, processes and frameworks
- Experience using employee data and trends to identify organisational risks
- Strong negotiation and relationship-management skills
- Experience leading, coaching and developing ER or HR professionals
- The credibility to operate as a senior subject-matter expert within a People function
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Experience within retail, hospitality, logistics, manufacturing, distribution, food & beverage or another large multi-site workforce would be particularly relevant, although we're open to candidates from other complex organisations.
A CIPD qualification or degree in HR, Business or a related discipline is preferred.
Why apply?
- Estimated £80,000–£100,000 salary depending on experience
- Senior leadership position with a UK & Ireland remit
- Take ownership of Employee and Industrial Relations strategy
- Significant exposure to senior business leaders
- Lead and develop an established ER team
- Work on complex and commercially significant employee relations matters
- Opportunity to shape policies, processes and manager capability
- Influence employee engagement and organisational change initiatives
- Join a large, recognisable organisation with a complex multi-site workforce
- Learning, development and longer-term career progression opportunities
If you're an experienced ER leader with strong trade union, employment law and complex case-management experience, this is an opportunity to take strategic ownership of Employee Relations across a major UK and Ireland workforce.
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