Danone
Senior HR Advisor
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About The Job
The Senior HR Advisor plays a pivotal role in delivering a professional, proactive, and customer-focused HR service across the business. Acting as a key partner to HR Business Partners (HRBPs), the role provides expert guidance on employee relations matters, supports the delivery of the people agenda, and ensures the consistent application of HR policies, procedures, and employment legislation.
Responsibilities
- End-to-end management and triage of all Employee Relations casework, ensuring risks are identified, cases are managed effectively, and managers receive timely and commercially focused advice.
- Day-to-day supervision and development support to the HR Advisor, helping to ensure a consistent and high-quality HR service across the site.
Key Accountabilities, Deliverables & KPIs, Impact On Business Results
Employee Relations Leadership
- Lead and oversee all Employee Relations activity across the business, acting as the primary point of contact for complex and high-risk employee relations matters.
- Lead the weekly ER case review meeting and ensure all case information is up to date.
- Managing and triaging all ER cases, assessing risk, determining appropriate ownership, and ensuring cases are progressed in line with company policy and employment legislation.
- Independently manage complex investigations, disciplinary, grievance, capability, absence management cases.
- Coach and support managers through formal and informal employee relations processes, building their confidence and capability in people management.
- Provide expert interpretation of employment legislation, company policies, and best practice, ensuring consistent and legally compliant decision-making.
- Escalate significant people risks and complex cases to HRBPs as appropriate, providing recommendations and proposed solutions.
- Analyse ER trends and provide proactive recommendations to reduce risk, improve employee experience, and support business performance.
HR Business Partner Support
- Act as a trusted partner to HRBPs, providing operational support and insights to help deliver business and people objectives.
- Produce regular people metrics, dashboards, and trend analysis to support data-driven decision making across business areas.
- Identify emerging risks and themes across employee relations, engagement, wellbeing, recruitment, and absence management.
- Lead and support key HR projects and continuous improvement initiatives aligned to business priorities.
- Deputise for HRBPs where required, representing HR in meetings and stakeholder forums.
Leadership and Supervision
- Provide day-to-day supervision, guidance, and support to the HR Advisor.
- Allocate and prioritise workload across the HR Advisory team to ensure service levels are achieved.
- Coach and develop the HR Advisor through regular reviews, knowledge sharing, and on-the-job training.
- Review the quality and consistency of HR advice, documentation, and case management activity.
- Support the development of HR processes, procedures, and service standards to enhance the effectiveness of the HR function.
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Absence Management and Wellbeing
- Lead on attendance management processes, ensuring consistent application of absence management procedures across the business.
- Monitor absence trends and provide recommendations to HRBPs and managers to improve attendance and reduce absence-related risks.
- Oversee Occupational Health, Physiotherapy, and Medical Welfare referrals and interventions.
- Support managers in implementing reasonable adjustments and wellbeing recommendations whilst balancing operational requirements.
- Contribute to site wellbeing initiatives and employee engagement activities aimed at improving workforce health and employee experience.
Employee Engagement and Communications
- Support the delivery of employee engagement strategies and action plans, including Danone People Survey (DPS) initiatives.
- Partner with managers to identify opportunities to improve engagement, retention, and employee experience.
- Support the delivery of key people initiatives, including wellbeing campaigns, recognition programmes, and culture-building activities.
- Lead and support site communications activity, ensuring key HR messages are communicated clearly and effectively.
Compliance, Governance and Reporting
- Ensure all employee records, case files, and HR systems are maintained accurately and confidentially.
- Provide regular and accurate Employee Relations reporting and workforce insights to HR Business Partners, supporting informed decision-making and proactive people management.
- Maintain oversight of HR trackers and ensure compliance with internal policies, employment legislation, and data protection requirements.
- Support policy development, implementation, and ongoing review to ensure alignment with legislative and business requirements.
Stakeholders
Internal
- HR Business Partners
- HR Advisor
- Site Leadership Team
- Line Managers
- Recruitment and Shared Services Teams
- Employees
- Trade Union Representatives
- HR representatives from partner organisations
External
- Recruitment/agency providers
- Employment solicitors
- Occupational Health and Wellbeing Providers
- Physio Providers
About you
Candidate profile (leadership & functional competencies)
Essential
- Significant generalist HR experience within a fast-paced operational environment.
- Proven experience managing complex Employee Relations casework from initial assessment through to resolution.
- Strong knowledge of UK employment law and employee relations best practice.
- Experience coaching and influencing managers on people matters.
- Experience supervising, mentoring, or developing junior HR team members.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret people data and identify trends.
- Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and exercise sound judgement in complex situations.
- CIPD Level 5 qualified or equivalent experience.
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Desirable
- CIPD Level 5 or 7 qualification or working towards.
- Experience within manufacturing, FMCG, supply chain, or operational environments.
- Experience supporting organisational change, restructuring, and consultation activities.
- Experience leading HR projects and continuous improvement initiatives.
About us
Danone is a major FMCG company in the UK, with market leading brands across three divisions: Waters (Evian, Volvic), Dairies (Actimel, Activia, Shape), Specialized Nutrition (SN) (Aptamil, Cow & Gate and Neocate, Fortisip).
The Specialized Nutrition category offers nutritional solutions with the shared goal of improving the health and well-being of vulnerable individuals. This ambition stretches from the first day of pregnancy into old age, with similar activities in terms of innovation and scientific research. Specialized Nutrition focuses on allergies, from prevention to treatment, with Early Life Nutrition and Advanced Medical Nutrition working hand-in-hand to foster synergies and strengthen Danone's leading position in this sector. The Nutricia brand is a key asset for both businesses, thanks to a medical legacy of more than 120 years and a recognition of health leaders around the world.
Nutricia is Europe’s largest specialist nutrition company and the market leader in the UK. We specialise in the delivery of medical nutrition for the very young, the old and the sick, supplying high quality feeds to patients and consumers. Our purpose is to pioneer nutritional discoveries that help people live longer, healthier lives.
When it comes to finding a great place to work, there are plenty of things to look for: inspirational colleagues, freedom in your job to make a real difference, and a shared ethos you can truly believe in. Throw in top perks, a responsive and dynamic environment, and unrivalled opportunities to develop personally and professionally, and you’ve found something pretty special. You’ve found Danone.
Here at Danone we put people at the centre of everything we do – whether we’re developing ground-breaking new products, taking care of individual patients, or supporting the community. And if you join us, you can expect exactly that sort of attention too.
Nutricia medical nutrition products have a strong market share. The business is operating within a mature market but there is still scope for expansion both within local and global markets, and the emphasis in the coming years will be on maintaining volume growth, whilst ensuring we drive our cost targets in the right direction.
Selling points of the role
- This role will be critical to enabling the HR team to meet the demands of the business.
- Establishing processes and working practices that are efficient, streamlined, automated, robust, and repeatable.
- Feeder role into HRBP Roles or specialist roles within the wider Danone Group.
What does future career progression look like?
- Next possible positions: HR Business Partner or specialist roles within the wider Danone Group.
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