Lead People Business Partner

As the UK's leading Social Enterprise, we move lives forward every day by building, managing and supporting thriving Communities. From new homes, social housing and student accommodation to leisure, education and Community initiatives, our work makes a positive difference to millions of People across the UK. And that takes People who care about doing the right thing. People who are ambitious, ready to grow and motivated to make a difference through the work they do. 

We're looking for Colleagues who bring energy, curiosity and ownership. People who enjoy being challenged, support those around them and want to keep raising the bar. Because when we perform at our best, we create more opportunities to invest in our Customers, our Communities and each other. 

Experience matters, but it's only part of the story. If you share our values and want to build a career where your work has real impact, we'd love to hear from you.  

More about your role 

As our Lead People Business Partner, you'll help senior leaders turn business priorities into practical people plans that improve performance, capability, engagement and organisational effectiveness. You'll lead People Business Partnering activity across your portfolio, using workforce data and colleague insight to guide decisions, manage risk and ensure plans are delivered with pace and consistency.  

You'll lead complex organisational design, workforce planning and people change across multiple functions, locations or business areas. This will include developing structures and workforce requirements, supporting consultation and transformation activity, assessing colleague impact and ensuring change complies with employment legislation and company policy.  

You'll also advise on complex employee relations matters, strengthen talent and succession planning, and work with People specialists to deliver learning, performance and talent initiatives. As an experienced practitioner, you'll coach People Business Partners and Junior People Business Partners, helping to improve judgement, confidence and consistency across the team.  

This role will be based in Camberley 2 days a week and you will be expected to visit our other sites across the UK.  

At Places for People we are committed to a safe working environment so a basic DBS check is mandatory. 

Essential criteria 

• Substantial experience in a People Business Partnering or HR generalist role, supporting Directors or senior leadership teams in a complex organisation,
• Experience of leading large-scale organisational design, operating-model change or workforce transformation across multiple functions, locations or business areas,
• Delivery of complex people change, transformation or consultation activity, including the management of colleague impact, risk and implementation plans,
• Applied knowledge of UK employment law, employee relations and HR practice, including advising on complex or high-risk cases,
• Evidence of using people metrics, workforce trends or colleague insight to influence senior stakeholders and deliver measurable people outcomes.  

More about you 

You're an experienced and commercially aware People practitioner who can build credibility with senior leaders while offering constructive challenge when it matters. You're comfortable working through ambiguity, balancing competing priorities and turning complex information into clear decisions and actions. You use sound judgement, know when to escalate risk and enjoy coaching others to build their capability. A CIPD Level 5 or 7 qualification, or equivalent experience, would be an advantage, as would experience in a large, customer-facing or multi-site organisation.  

The closing date is Friday 30th October with interviews scheduled to take place in London on Wednesday 11th November.  

What you'll get 

We know rewarding work deserves rewarding benefits. That's why, alongside a competitive salary, you'll have access to a package designed to support you at work and beyond. 

You'll receive: 

• Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
• Bonus scheme for colleagues at 2%
• 35 days holiday (including bank holidays) with the option to buy or sell days
• Healthcare cashback plan for everyday medical costs, with private GP and health support services available
• Comprehensive wellbeing support including counselling, flu jabs, our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and access to our Wellbeing Hub, supporting your mental, physical and financial wellbeing
• Access to Our Place Rewards, offering discounts and savings on groceries, travel, shopping, home products and other lifestyle purchases
• Ongoing training, professional qualifications, internal development programmes and career progression opportunities
• Recognition programmes including Star Awards and Colleague Awards, celebrating achievements and recognising great work
• Strong focus on inclusion, wellbeing and colleague engagement
• Free membership to Places Gyms
• Life Assurance to provide financial security for your loved ones, alongside access to will writing services to help you plan for the future with confidence 

What's next?

If you meet the criteria and are ready to make the next step in your career then click apply. You will be redirected to our careers site where you can discover more about the role, read a full job description and apply directly to us.

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we offer a guaranteed interview to candidates who are disabled, neurodiverse, or have served in the Armed Forces, provided they meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in your application. We are dedicated to creating a supportive and accessible recruitment process for all.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview experience, please let us know. We're happy to work with you to ensure you have the opportunity to perform at your best.

If you are a Places for People customer and you're looking for support with your application, please contact our skills and employment team on skillsemployment@placesforpeople.co.uk.

We understand the importance of a supportive and inclusive work culture so please talk to us at interview about flexibility you may need. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we promise not to judge you for asking. For this role we are open to discussing the possibility of reduced hours, flexible start and finish times or compressed hours.  

If you are a recruitment agency please note we operate a PSL and do not take cold calls 

Safeguarding

At Places for People, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to creating safe communities for our customers and colleagues by protecting children, young people, and adults at risk from harm, abuse, and neglect. 

We follow robust safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring all employees, volunteers, and contractors uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and accountability. Our recruitment process includes pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where applicable, to promote a safe and secure working environment. 

By joining Places for People, you are expected to contribute to our safeguarding culture, following our policies and reporting concerns to protect those in our communities