Senior Business Partner, UK Job title in Haywards Heath

• Haywards Heath
• Hybrid

Job Description

Epassi is wellbeing that works. We're on a mission to be Europe's leading digital employee-benefits platform — and getting there depends on great leaders, well-organised functions, and a People team that acts as a business partner, not a support service.

Epassi operates across 9 European markets with 1,100+ people, moving from a federation of country businesses into one unified operating model with land-and-expand growth. This role sits at the heart of that shift, reporting to the Global Director People within our People Partnerships team.

The Role

You will partner Go-to-Market leadership on organisation design, talent, performance and change — bringing a people, organisation and culture lens into the business agenda from the start, not after decisions are made. You will sit in the business conversation, not alongside it, thinking about how your function operates as one organisation across markets: applying group consistency where it adds value, and tailoring to local context where it matters.

As the most senior member of the People team in the UK and a member of the local Management Team, you're also the senior People contact point for the market on employee relations, employment law, engagement and organisational health.

Location & Working Model

• Full-time role, based in Haywards Heath, UK
• Working model: Hybrid
• Reports to the Global Director People, People Partnerships team

Key Responsibilities

This role has two focus areas: business partnering for GTM, and being the senior People contact point for the UK.

Business Partnering — Primary Focus

• Partner senior leaders as a trusted advisor on organisation, talent, performance and change — shaping decisions, not translating them after the fact
• Contribute to functional strategy through a people, organisation and culture lens, framing options commercially
• Lead organisation design and role-clarity work as the function scales, proposing structural change where needed
• Own workforce planning and for your area, including the people budget and headcount plan with Finance
• Own talent and succession: identify high-potential talent and, separately, manage critical-role risk and retention plans
• Prepare and facilitate performance and promotion calibration, holding consistent standards across markets
• Own employee relations cases for your function — accountable for outcomes and judgement on complex matters, with People Operations handling admin and documentation; consult the country hat on complex local matters
• Pressure-test group policies against your function's perspective, local law and culture before they land, then make sure they land well

Senior People Contact Point for the UK

• Be the senior People contact point for the UK: a coach and advisor to the local Management Team, bringing challenge, feedback and guidance
• Advise other Functional Business Partners on UK employee relations cases — they own the case for their function, you bring the local law and context
• Lead local consultations, negotiations and works council or union meetings, with People Operations preparing documentation and correspondence
• Hold the local statutory bodies and duties that sit with the People team — e.g. the works council, safety committee, or local commission structures

How You'll Operate

• Bring constructive challenge to senior leaders and hold standards on culture, performance and ways of working — surface hard truths early
• Use people data to lead conversations, not just respond to requests
• Lead with AI and automation by default, freeing your time for the judgement only a human can bring
• Apply group frameworks where they add value, tailoring to local legal, cultural and market realities
• Work as one People team — partnering closely with other Business Partners, People Operations & Architecture, and specialist teams (Talent, Reward)

You'll Be a Great Fit If You Have

• Senior experience as a strategic business partner in a fast-moving, commercially driven environment
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and employee relations
• Proven change and project leadership — you drive an agenda and deliver, not just advise
• Sharp critical thinking and commercial fluency, connecting people decisions to business performance
• Credible functional People expertise across organisation design, talent, performance and reward
• A strong grasp of when to apply group standards versus tailor to local context
• A hands-on strategic thinker who challenges senior leaders directly, brings real energy to AI, and genuinely cares — warmth alongside rigour

Why You Should Join Us

• Join at the inflection point: Epassi is scaling from a federation of acquired businesses into one growth company, backed by two of the world's leading growth investors
• Join a People team being rebuilt around modern ways of working, strong data and AI as a genuine multiplier
• Real influence, fast — you shape organisation, talent and culture decisions with senior leaders, in the room, not downstream of it
• Breadth and ownership: you shape the people agenda for Go-to-Market, and hold the country hat for the UK too

Ready to Make an Impact?

Apply with your CV and Cover Letter, applications are reviewed on ongoing basis.