People Advisor

At Warburtons, family is at the heart of our business. Five generations' worth of expertise that goes into making our bakery products allows us to continue a tradition of baking inherited over the past 150 years. Warburtons is the largest bakery brand in the UK, but that doesn't allow us to rest on our laurels. We are pioneers of the industry and ambitious market leaders, always seeking to challenge ourselves and convention. It is part of our philosophy to provide honest good sense on issues of health and well-being, helping the whole family to enjoy our products as part of a healthy, balanced diet, through a range of products to suit all meal occasions, lifestyles and tastes.

As the UK's No. 1 Bakery Brand we have been baking bread since 1876. Today, we are proudly a fifth-generation family, with the introduction of the sixth generation, supplying over 18,000 retail customers from 13 bakeries and 16 depots, producing a range of over 70 products including gluten and wheat free. Family and values are what makes us different, and we are a proud bunch, join us and you too could be proud to be Warburtons.

The Recipe

• Supporting the People Partner in the provision of high quality, consistent, efficient advice, guidance and coaching to leaders across the site/sites or Centre functions.
• Delivering added value support and solutions to the business, with a core focus on a range of employee relations matters and case management in line with company people policies and values.

Key Accountabilities and Measures

• Provide clear and consistent advice, guidance and coaching via telephone support or face to face to successfully manage and resolve employee relations cases to deliver right first time.
• With a pragmatic approach to case management in line with company values, fair employment practice, legislative requirements and service expectations.
• Provide expertise to line managers on a range of people issues which enable the effective management of people performance, talent and engagement in line with lead for growth objectives.
• Support all actions required to raise the level of manager capability to manage in line with people policies via coaching and other facilitated development methods.
• Support managers in the execution of change in line with relevant business and legal requirements e.g. redundancy consultation, organisational structural change to ensure the smooth and effective delivery of business change.
• Work with the People Partner to identify and deliver continuous improvement opportunities, using expertise, data and metrics to co-create and recommend solutions that solve key employee and business challenges.
• Work effectively with ER Lead, legal advisors and trade unions at local level on ER related policies and procedures and in the management and resolution of employee matters.
• Take responsibility for maintaining own continuous professional development (CPD), and knowledge of legislative changes and knowledge share.
• Support other ad hoc people management requirements, as and when required in addition to core responsibilities above, as part of the broader People team to ensure full and effective business operation and people services delivery.

Essential Ingredients

• You combine the technical knowledge and organisational understanding needed to offer sound judgement, timely interventions and coaching that is really listened to by senior leaders.
• Experience in an advisory HR/People role ideally gained in a fast paced or blue-chip environment in manufacturing/distribution.
• Excellent knowledge of UK employment law and solid background and expertise of ER case management, handling disciplinary, grievance, performance and attendance management issues at all stages of company procedure in an advisory capacity.
• CIPD qualified/may be working towards.
• A good understanding of business issues and how the identification and delivery of HR/People interventions.
• Experience of using a HRM system/database, ideally SAP Success Factors.
• Good business awareness/knowledge.
• Ability to plan and organise and monitor a diverse workload.
• Strong team working ethic.
• Excellent communication skills: articulate, influential; persuasive; and politically savvy.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently and as part of a wider People Function.
• Excellent relationship builder- collaborative in approach, establishing credible, trusted relationships with both internal and external contacts at all levels.
• Ability to coach, consult and challenge in a constructive manner, with confidence and resilience to influence at all levels from senior stakeholder to team members.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Strong balanced judgement and use a pragmatic common-sense approach.
• Attention to detail and high, consistent levels of accuracy.
• Full clean UK driving license.

Extra Dough

• A slice of the annual profits (discretionary profit share).
• Family time is important to us so as well as your holiday entitlement, we'll give you the opportunity to purchase up to an extra week's annual leave.
• Award winning pension scheme with company contributions of 7%.
• Life assurance.
• Products you will love along with deals and discounts for you and the family through our Extra Dough website.
• Continued investment in your personal development.
• Fully stocked kitchens filled with our delicious products for you to enjoy with your daily brew!
• Support for your health and wellbeing, including access to free physiotherapy, 24/7 access to a confidential helpline for practical advice and a comprehensive occupational health service.

We respect and value difference. We look to create an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. Companies that are diverse in age, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, or any other aspect which makes them unique, are proven to be better companies. More importantly, creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work, is the right thing to do.