People Manager
Hybrid – 4 days onsite| Multi-site Environment | Travel Required
We’re delighted to be partnering with a values-led third sector organisation to appoint a People Manager into a highly visible and impactful role within their People team.
This is not a purely strategic HR role sitting behind a desk. It’s a hands-on, operationally focused position where visibility, relationship building and management coaching are at the heart of the role.
The organisation is going through a period of ongoing change and development, and they are looking for someone who can quickly build credibility across the business, support managers confidently through complex people situations, and help drive positive culture and service improvement across operational teams.
This role will suit someone who enjoys being close to the business, working collaboratively with managers and supporting meaningful improvements in employee experience, engagement and management capability.
The opportunity
Working closely with senior operational stakeholders and the wider People team, you’ll play a key role in improving people processes, strengthening management capability and supporting organisational change across services.
This is a varied role with broad exposure across employee relations, coaching, service improvement, engagement and culture-focused initiatives. The successful applicant will need to be comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment, balancing operational delivery with longer-term improvement activity.
You will:
- Coach and support managers through employee relations matters including disciplinaries, investigations, absence management and performance concerns
- Support and quality assure people processes, ensuring compliance and consistency across services
- Build strong relationships with managers and operational teams, acting as a trusted and approachable People partner
- Support change management and service improvement initiatives across the organisation
- Lead and support improvements across induction, communication and employee experience processes
- Translate employee feedback and engagement insights into meaningful actions to improve culture, retention and absence levels
- Design and deliver manager training sessions focused on people management capability
- Support learning and development initiatives across the organisation
- Work collaboratively across People, Operations and wider support functions to drive continuous improvement
- Take a hands-on approach to operational HR support where required
About you
We’re keen to speak with applicants who are confident and highly people-focused, with the ability to quickly establish credibility within operational environments.
You will likely:
- Be operating at HR Business Partner, HR Manager or Senior HR Advisor level
- Have strong experience managing complex employee relations matters confidently and independently
- Enjoy coaching and developing managers to improve capability and confidence
- Be comfortable working in visible, operational and fast-paced environments
- Have experience supporting change, culture or service improvement activity
- Be proactive, pragmatic and solutions-focused in your approach
- Have strong relationship-building and influencing skills
- Be comfortable balancing strategic thinking with hands-on operational delivery
- Have a strong understanding of UK Employment Law and HR best practice
Experience working within multi-site, operational or service-led environments would be highly advantageous but not essential.
What’s on offer
- A genuinely impactful role within a values-led organisation
- The opportunity to influence culture, employee experience and management capability
- A collaborative and supportive People team
- Broad exposure across operational and strategic HR activity
- The chance to join an organisation focused on continuous improvement and positive change
Summary
This is a brilliant opportunity for an experienced HR professional looking for a visible and meaningful role where they can genuinely influence workplace culture, support operational leaders and drive positive people outcomes across the organisation.
If you’d like to discuss the opportunity further, please contact Lynne Friel at Syme Drummond for a confidential chat – lynne.friel@symedrummond.co.uk