Head of Employee Relations

Department: Employee Relations

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: South East

Reporting To: People Services Director (Specialist Expertise)

Compensation: £67,000 / year

Employment Type: Full Time (minimum 30 hours per week)

Location: This is a hybrid role where you’ll be based from home with regular travel for meetings. Candidates must be based in the South East or South West of England.

Salary: Starting from £67,000 (FTE) per annum depending on experience and location.

Description: We offer a competitive salary package aligned with current market rates for this role. The final offer will reflect your skills, experience, and qualifications, alongside our commitment to internal equity.

What you’ll be doing:

• As Head of Employee Relations, you’ll be accountable for the quality, performance, reputation and commercial success of Fitzgerald’s Employee Relations service.
• This is a senior, hands‑on leadership role. You’ll balance strategic ownership of the ER function with leading complex casework, developing a high‑performing specialist team, and delivering commercially sound, values‑led outcomes for clients.
• You’ll work closely with our People Services Director (Specialist Expertise) and partner seamlessly with People Partnering, Learning & OD, Talent, Reward and People Technology — ensuring ER is integrated, consistent and impactful across everything we deliver.
• This is a role where your judgment, leadership and calm confidence really matter. You’ll set direction, role‑model excellence, and make sure our ER service continues to grow in strength and reputation.

Leading the Employee Relations function:

• Owning the strategy and roadmap for Employee Relations — setting priorities, focus areas and plans for growth.
• Being accountable for the quality and consistency of all ER advice and delivery.
• Shaping and evolving our ER offer, including propositions, frameworks and toolkits.
• Acting as the most senior ER lead — advising clients, supporting colleagues, and representing Fitzgerald externally.
• Monitoring legal, social and workplace trends to keep our ER approach modern and relevant.

Leading complex client work:

• Acting as a senior advisor to key client accounts, building trust at executive and board level.
• Lead and oversee complex ER matters, including disciplinaries, grievances, investigations, restructures, redundancy, TUPE and changes to terms and conditions.
• Reviewing and quality‑assuring ER work across the team to maintain our high standards.
• Drafting and reviewing contracts, policies and procedures.

Commercial ownership:

• Deliver the ER function’s billable income targets and hold a personal billable target.
• Ensuring work is well scoped, priced appropriately and delivered profitably.
• Support account growth and new opportunities through excellent delivery and trusted relationships.

Leading and developing people:

• Line managing ER Managers and Senior ER Specialists — coaching them to lead confidently and spot risks early.
• Building a positive, high‑performing culture where people feel supported, stretched and proud of their work.
• Identifying future capability needs and leading recruitment as the team grows.
• Sharing expertise and building ER capability across Fitzgerald.

About you:

• You’re an experienced Employee Relations leader with deep technical expertise, strong commercial awareness and a genuinely human approach.
• You’ll bring significant experience leading and developing ER teams.
• Extensive ER expertise, including complex, high‑risk cases (up to and including Employment Tribunal).
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, TUPE, restructuring and redundancy.
• Experience advising senior leaders and influencing at executive or board level.
• Confidence operating in a billable, target‑driven professional services environment.
• Proven ability to manage risk while balancing legal compliance with practical, commercial advice.
• Experience drafting and reviewing employment contracts and policies.

You’ll also be:

• A clear, credible and engaging communicator.
• Calm under pressure and comfortable with ambiguity.
• Highly organised, detail‑focused and able to juggle multiple priorities.
• Collaborative, values‑led and invested in developing others.
• CIPD Level 7 or equivalent employment law qualification (or qualified by experience at that level) is essential. Experience in consultancy or professional services is highly desirable.

You must be based in the South East or South West of England. You’ll also need a UK driving licence and be happy to travel as required for the role.

The Perks:

• Competitive salary (starting from £67,000 per annum FTE).
• 25 days’ annual leave to start, rising to 27 after one year and 29 after two years, plus bank holidays.
• Career qualifications supported and paid for, with real opportunities to grow.
• Monthly homeworking allowance and all equipment provided.
• Flexible working patterns for a healthy work‑life balance.
• Pension scheme options (including salary sacrifice) and 4% employer pension contributions, with a minimum of 4% employee contributions.
• Life assurance at four times basic salary.
• Shopping discounts platform, flu vaccinations, and technology and cycle‑to‑work schemes.
• Medicash health cash plan and wellbeing benefits (including EAP).
• Enhanced family leave and twice‑yearly all‑staff get‑togethers.
• Unlimited remote GP appointments available 24/7.
• A growing, progressive business with people at its heart.

How to apply:

If this sounds like your kind of role, APPLY NOW (you’ll be redirected to our careers site) — we can’t wait to hear from you.

Our application process helps you get to know us just as much as it helps us get to know you. Following an initial call to get to know you better, it includes a written assessment, a virtual interview, psychometric testing, and a concluding in‑person meeting.

We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.