HR Manager in Newport

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step beyond by developing solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges, like protecting the environment, making sure our food is safe or helping find cures for cancer.

The HR Manager partners with business leaders to deliver both strategic and operational HR support across a complex, multi-site environment. The role focuses on enabling organisational performance through effective people strategies, strong leadership capability, and a high-quality colleague experience. Acting as a trusted advisor, the HR Manager uses data, insight, and influence to support decision-making, drive change, and ensure alignment between business priorities and people outcomes. This role will primarily be responsible for supporting the Swindon and Newport sites.

Responsibilities

• Strategic HR Partnership
  • Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders, providing expert guidance across talent management, organisational development, performance, employee relations, and change management.
  • Support the delivery of UK and regional people strategies, aligning HR priorities with business objectives.
  • Work across multiple sites and functions to ensure consistent and effective deployment of HR initiatives.
• Leadership & Capability Building
  • Attract, develop, and retain diverse, high-performing talent aligned to organisational needs.
  • Set clear performance expectations and hold individuals accountable for delivering results.
  • Coach and support leaders to build capability in performance management, engagement, and career development.
  • Lead meaningful talent and succession planning discussions to support long-term organisational growth.
• Culture & Employee Experience
  • Foster an inclusive, high-performing culture where individuals feel valued, respected, and able to contribute.
  • Create an environment of psychological safety where employees can raise challenges and share ideas.
  • Promote a culture of continuous learning, feedback, and recognition.
  • Enhance the overall colleague experience through strong leadership and effective HR practices.
• Organisational Effectiveness & Change
  • Act as a change agent, supporting organisational design, transformation, and key business initiatives.
  • Diagnose organisational challenges using data, insights, and stakeholder input, identifying root causes and implementing effective solutions.
  • Lead and support change management activities in a complex, matrixed environment.
• Performance, Data & Continuous Improvement
  • Use HR data and metrics to identify trends, risks, and opportunities related to engagement, retention, performance, and diversity.
  • Drive continuous improvement through the application of structured methodologies (e.g. PPI), improving processes and outcomes.
  • Regularly review priorities and resource allocation, focusing on high-impact activities and eliminating low-value work.
• Operational Excellence
  • Ensure effective delivery of core HR processes across the employee lifecycle.
  • Collaborate with HR Business Partners, Centres of Excellence, and shared services to deliver seamless HR support.
  • Maintain compliance with employment legislation, company policies, and best practices.

Minimum Requirements/Qualifications

• Ideally CIPD qualified (or equivalent) with significant HR generalist experience in operational and commercial environments.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, HR policies, and best practices.
• Proven experience working within a complex, matrixed organisation.
• Demonstrated ability to build effective relationships and influence stakeholders at all levels, acting as a trusted advisor to business leaders.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, with the ability to use data and insights to inform decision-making and identify trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and deliver results within tight and conflicting deadlines.
• Resilient and adaptable, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and lead through change in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience driving organisational initiatives, including performance management, talent development, and employee engagement.
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement, including experience applying structured improvement methodologies (e.g. PPI or equivalent) to enhance processes and outcomes.
• Values-driven mindset, consistently demonstrating the ability to foster an inclusive, high-performing culture where individuals feel valued, safe, and empowered to contribute.
• Experience within manufacturing, scientific, or similarly complex environments preferred.
• Willingness and ability to travel across multiple UK sites as required.