HR Business Partner in Southampton

CooperVision is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of soft contact lenses with a presence in over 100 countries. Being part of CooperVision means helping improve the way people see each day. It’s more than making contact lenses, it’s about giving lens wearers freedom and confidence to move about their daily lives.

Scope: To provide proactive, value adding, strategically aligned support to managers, leaders and key stakeholders in their area in the development and the delivery of people strategies. This role is based in a fast-paced environment, and will support particular business areas within CooperVision, with expertise across a wide range of disciplines and activities. The HR Business Partner will be empowered to work with their business unit(s) and to have an active part to make a difference to our success.

Job Summary: The HR Business Partner (HRBP) works closely with managers and leaders to align people strategies with organisational goals, acting as a trusted advisor on workforce planning, talent, culture, and employee experience. This role provides strategic guidance on people matters, supports leadership capability, and drives initiatives that enhance performance, engagement, and organisational effectiveness. The HRBP collaborates with centres of excellence including Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, HR Business Services, Total Rewards and others to deliver integrated HR solutions, using data and insight to influence decision making and improve outcomes.

A key focus of the role is to build strong relationships with stakeholders, championing organisational values, and ensure people practices are fair, consistent, and aligned with long term business priorities; ensuring all advice given is compliant with legislation adhering to company policies and best practice. The role has many diverse features and requires a high degree of flexibility and multi-tasking to ensure a brighter future for all our employees, customers and stakeholders.

Essential Functions & Accountabilities:

• Proactively partnering and supporting managers in driving strategic HR discussions.
• Contributing to the development of their business area by ensuring that the local HR is aligned to the overall business strategy.
• Provide advice and support to business leaders and managers on HR matters, including policies, procedures, best practice, employment legislation, employment relation issues, organisation design, Learning and Development, Total Reward as well as employee wellness initiatives.
• Working collaboratively with L&D to support and implement development and training solutions to retain and develop our internal talent.
• Working closely with the Talent Acquisition team to ensure talent resourcing plans are met and interviewing managers are provided with the necessary tools and training to successfully attract, assess and select candidates in line with business needs.
• Working with the ER team to provide expert case guidance to ensure fair, consistent and legally compliant advice on people decisions.
• Liaising with Occupational Health as necessary on absence and capability case management.
• Driving manager development and capability through supporting them by coaching on people related decisions and providing clarity on appropriate actions.
• Identifying improvements to Policies, Procedures and practices to support the business in managing people issues more effectively.
• Producing and processing any necessary correspondence, on behalf of managers, relating to all areas of Human Resources and Employee Relations cases to ensure that all documentation is accurate, aligned with best practice and is maintained and updated to reflect outcomes/situational circumstances.
• Recommend and implement processes that aid the communication and dissemination of the corporate vision and values with any ad hoc duties and projects, specifically in identifying and driving improvement projects aim at attracting, maintaining and developing an exceptional CooperVision team and at improving the UK Manufacturing HR function.
• Analyse trends and metrics for the business units to support the wider HR Team to develop solutions, strategic objectives and any amendments to policies to support the business.
• Supporting and driving employee engagement by creating a positive employee experience through strong leadership support, meaningful listening, fair people practices, and opportunities for growth and recognition including facilitating engagement action plans and projects.
• Act as a trusted CooperVision employee by adhering to our company values, as well as driving our commitment to Inclusion and Diversity and Employee Engagement.
• Any other related duties connected with the Company’s business as may be required.

Travel Requirements: This role does not require any frequent foreign travel, but this role does require travel to local sites for operational meetings within the UK and therefore own transport is preferred.

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities:

• Core competency – Individual Contributor level: Project Management, Teamwork, Results, Departmental Impact, Self-Awareness.
• Proficient in MS Office, including Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint, Outlook.
• HR information systems experience (Oracle HCM would be advantageous).
• Extensive and up to date knowledge of UK employment law.
• People focused with the ability to build and develop strong working relationships with stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills are essential, along with the ability to analyse complex issues and recommend and implement practical solutions.
• Able to develop and implement a HR strategy aligned with the business and internal HR guidelines.
• First class attention to detail.
• Strong influencing skills and the ability to challenge managers and senior stakeholders.
• Strong organisational and time management skills with the ability to organise and prioritise own workload with minimal supervision.
• Able to work under pressure and maintain focus, make effective decisions and deliver strong results.
• Able to work independently and as part of a team.
• Demonstrates a can-do attitude, responds positively to change and is solution focused.
• Full driving licence is preferred.

Work Environment: Able to work additional hours as necessary to achieve required performance. Requirement to work irregular hours and in different locations to suit the needs of a 24/7 business. Requirement to occasionally work in a clean room environment.

Experience And Education:

• Extensive relevant HR experience (min 5 years) ideally gained in a fast moving, 24/7, manufacturing/operations environment.
• Experienced in coaching and developing managers across the employee life cycle and in supporting complex ER cases.
• Proven experience of participating or leading HR and People Change projects.
• Excellent coaching, influencing and relationship management skills.
• Handling high volume case work, BAU activities and supporting complex strategic projects.
• Experience of working with Centre’s of Excellence, in a matrixed organisation.
• CIPD professional qualification at level 7 as a minimum, is desirable.
• A high level of general education including demonstrable literacy and numeracy skills.

What we offer: You’ll receive competitive compensation and a fantastic benefits package including bonus, 25 days holiday, pension scheme, access to our Wellness Platform to support you in mental health and wellbeing, a discounted contact lens scheme and much more! We are committed to our employees’ personal and professional development and offer extensive training to support your career growth and help every individual to reach their full potential. To help us achieve our goals, we’ll give you everything you need to help you achieve yours. We also provide access to LinkedIn Learning to help you develop in your career and grow with CooperVision.

What you can expect: As a CooperVision employee, you’ll be welcomed into a diverse and progressive global business. We appreciate how important fostering an inclusive culture is and how different perspectives add value and contribute to our success. If you like what you see, take the first step towards your Brighter Future and apply today! All suitably qualified applicants will receive equal consideration and opportunities from CooperVision.