HR Business Partner in Heath

As a highly experienced and dynamic HR Business Partner, you will play a key role in shaping the future of our Materials Testing Division as we continue to grow. Reporting directly to the HR Director, you will partner with the Director of the Materials Testing Division. In this position, you will provide strategic and operational HR support across the Division, serving as a trusted advisor to leadership and HR teams. You will lead complex employee relations matters, implement people initiatives, and contribute to workforce planning, talent management, and organisational development. Collaborating closely with leaders, you will help foster a high-performance, inclusive, and compliant culture. This hands‑on, versatile role will balance operational HR delivery with business‑focused HR partnering. This role can be based across the central belt of North Midlands / Manchester.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Partnering: Collaborate closely with leadership and managers across the organisation to understand business needs and translate them into effective people initiatives that drive performance and engagement.
• Deliver the MT People Function: Take ownership of the entire employee lifecycle, ensuring a seamless and positive experience from onboarding to offboarding.
• Workforce Planning & Talent Acquisition: Lead recruitment campaigns to build the site’s workforce through both internal talent and new external hires, working closely with talent acquisition teams and external partners. Demonstrate an innovative and collaborative approach to attracting, selecting, and onboarding high‑calibre talent.
• Employee Relations Expertise: Provide expert guidance and hands‑on management for all employee relations matters, ensuring fair, consistent, and legally compliant processes. Coach managers on best practices in performance management, conflict resolution, etc.
• Operational Excellence: Oversee and continuously improve all core People Operations processes, including but not limited to: Onboarding and integration programs that ensure new hires are set up for success; Performance frameworks focused on continuous feedback and development; Compensation & benefits administration, ensuring market competitiveness and fairness; D365 /HRIS management and data integrity; Compliance with all relevant employment laws and regulations.
• Culture & Engagement: Champion and evolve our company culture, developing initiatives that enhance employee engagement, wellbeing, and DEI.
• Learning & Development: Identify development needs and implement impactful learning initiatives that support employee growth and career progression.
• People Analytics: Leverage data to inform decision‑making, identify trends, etc.

Skills / Qualifications

• Strong Generalist Background: Over 10 years of extensive experience across all aspects of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment support and onboarding to performance management, compensation, benefits, and offboarding. Ideally, experience with start‑ups, site launches, or large‑scale change environments.
• Proven Employee Relations (ER) Expertise: Demonstrated experience managing complex ER cases, providing sound advice, and implementing effective resolutions. A strong understanding of UK employment law is essential.
• Strategic Partnering Acumen: Ability to build strong relationships with senior leaders and managers, acting as a trusted advisor who can align people strategies with business objectives.
• Communication & Influence: Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills, with the ability to articulate complex information clearly and concisely.
• Problem‑Solving: A proactive, solutions‑oriented mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguity and adapt to changing priorities.
• Empathy & Integrity: A high degree of empathy, emotional intelligence, and unwavering integrity in handling sensitive employee matters.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to shape the culture and people strategy of the Division.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Career development in a high‑growth environment.

Company Overview

Element is one of the fastest growing testing, inspection and certification businesses in the world. Globally we have more than 9,000 brilliant minds operating from 270 sites across 30 countries. Together we share an ambitious purpose to ‘Make tomorrow safer than today’. When failure in use is not an option, we help customers make certain that their products, materials, processes and services are safe, compliant and fit for purpose. From early R&D, through complex regulatory approvals and into production, our global laboratory network of scientists, engineers, and technologists support customers to achieve assurance over product quality, sustainable outcomes, and market access. While we are proud of our global reach, working at Element feels like being part of a smaller company. We empower you to take charge of your career, and reward excellence and integrity with growth and development. Industries across the world depend on our care, attention to detail and the absolute accuracy of our work. The role we have to play in creating a safer world is much bigger than our organization.

Diversity Statement

At Element, we always take pride in putting our people first. We are an equal opportunity employer that recognizes diversity and inclusion as fundamental to our Vision of becoming “the world’s most trusted testing partner”. All suitably qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment on the basis of objective work related criteria and without regard for the following: age, disability, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, race, religion, responsibility of dependents, sexual orientation, or gender identity or other characteristics in accordance with the applicable governing laws.