People (HR) & Recruitment Manager in Ipswich

Reporting to the People Director, the People & Recruitment Manager will play a key role in delivering the People Strategy and building a positive, inclusive workplace culture.

This is a hands‑on leadership role, with an initial focus on driver recruitment, ensuring the business attracts, hires and retains high-quality talent to support growth and client delivery.

You’ll lead the People Team, drive recruitment activity, and manage employee relations, including investigations, disciplinary and grievance cases, and absence management.

In the first two years, you’ll focus on embedding robust employee relations processes while ensuring recruitment keeps pace with business growth.

Duties include

• Leading and managing the recruitment team to deliver the required establishment, selecting for personality first.
• Working with the People Directorto createan effective recruitment strategy to meet the business needs and support the People Strategy.
• Working with the operations team to ensure that we have up to date forecasted establishment figures and that the recruitment pipeline meets these requirements in terms of any increase in driver numbers.
• Ensuring an effective and robust process of recruitment from start to finish, including supporting department managers to produce effective job descriptions and ensuring they are fit for purpose.
• A fair and consistent process in line with all legislation.
• All Right to Work, DVLA, Safety Critical Medicals and other critical recruitment processes being followed.
• Adhering to all SPSpolicies and procedures at all times.
• The Applicant Tracking System and on‑boarding section of Workday.
• Ensuring Employee Relations (ER) cases are handled in a consistent, fair, andtimelymanner, adhering to employment law and regulatory requirements
• Chairing weekly ER Case meetings with People and Operations Management teams to ensure alignment and compliance with SPS policies and industrial regulations
• Conducting weekly reviews of long‑term absence cases to ensure all timescales arein accordance withboth legislation and SPS policies
• Working with the Learning and Development Manager to ensure all managers receive the necessary training to perform their roles effectively
• Conducting regular reviews of HR processes and policies to ensure theyremaincompliant with current employment legislation and industry regulations
• Getting out into the community to promote SPS as a great employer and talent developer.
• Working with the Communications team to find inventive ways of advertising roles to attract great people.

Criteria

Essential

• Proven experience delivering high‑volume, in‑house recruitment using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), with excellent knowledge of recruitment best practice and employment legislation.
• Experience managing employee relations cases, Trade Union relationships, payroll, and HR systems.
• 2 years plus experience of working within a people function.
• Up‑to‑date knowledge of employment law and a minimum CIPD Level 3 qualification.
• Strong IT skills, including Microsoft Office, and experience using recruitment advertising and attraction strategies.
• Full UK driving licence.
• Flexible approach to working hours to support a 24/7 operation.

Desirable

• Experience of managing recruitment within a complex business environment.
• Occupational Health management
• Colleague Survey implementation and outcomes
• Equivalent to A level or Level 3 education.
• Knowledge of the transport sector.
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