Senior HR Business Partner in Milton Keynes

Senior HR Business Partner – Reading, UK

Location: Reading with free onsite parking. Regular travel to our Aldermaston and Burghfield sites may be required.

This role plays a crucial part in driving a high‑performance culture, leading organisational change, and enabling impactful leadership and talent management.

The Senior HR Business Partner will serve as a strategic partner to senior leaders and shape people plans that deliver business objectives across short, medium and long‑term.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a strategic partner and trusted adviser to senior leaders, coaching leaders to achieve high‑performance outcomes, aligning people priorities with business strategy and enabling informed decision‑making.
• Develop, influence and deliver integrated, multi‑year people plans that support organisational objectives.
• Lead organisational design and health activity, ensuring operating models, structures and capability are fit for future strategy.
• Shape and sponsor complex change initiatives, ensuring effective adoption and sustained outcomes.
• Champion business priorities within the People Function to influence strategy, service design and delivery.
• Drive senior‑level engagement with enterprise people programmes, operating models and cultural initiatives.
• Lead end‑to‑end talent and succession strategy, including capability building, skills planning and critical role coverage.
• Maximise talent brokerage, pipeline development and succession tools to build resilience and future capability.
• Own and evolve performance frameworks, embedding a high‑performance, outcome‑focused culture.
• Use insight, data and customer feedback to ensure the voice of the business informs People Function priorities and impact.

Qualifications and Requirements

• CIPD qualified to Level7 or equivalent experience covering the full HR spectrum.
• Strong business partnership experience, proven ability to lead organisational change and engage senior leaders.
• Experience coaching senior leaders to enhance performance.
• Experience driving effective talent management and succession activity.
• Knowledge of reward, talent/succession planning methodologies.
• Strong technical knowledge in restructure, redundancy and TUPE.
• Experience working with trade unions.
• Ability to present confidently even when information is ambiguous.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team.
• Highly resilient and able to adapt to changing stakeholder needs.
• Ability to work calmly and constructively in a priority‑changing environment, manage own workload using initiative, and demonstrate enthusiasm and flexibility.
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative way and develop actionable people plans to address strategic workforce challenges.
• Must be a British Citizen and have lived in the UK for the past 5 years (SC clearance) or 10 years (DV clearance).
• Must obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for the role; this will be funded by AWE.

Benefits

• 9‑day working fortnight (every other Friday off) with 270 hours of annual leave.
• Market‑leading contributory pension scheme (9–13% of pensionable pay).
• Maternity Leave – 39 weeks full pay; Paternity Leave – 4 weeks full pay.
• Professional development funding for membership of a relevant professional body.
• Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health Services.
• Life assurance (four times annual salary).
• Discounts on everyday spending.
• Special Leave Policy: paid time off for volunteering, public service (including reserve forces) and caring.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a genuine culture of openness and inclusion and encourage diverse applicants.

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