People Business Partner in Chelmsford

Job Type: Full-time or part-time (minimum 30 hours per week)

Salary: Starting from £55,000 (depending on experience). 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.

Location: South East. This is a hybrid role where you’ll mainly work from home, with regular travel across the South East of England for client and internal meetings.

A bit about us: We’re the full-service HR consultancy that synchronises seamlessly with our clients’ businesses — an outsourced team that feels like an in-house superpower. We believe expert guidance on how to recruit, retain, develop and lead people should be available to every business, big or small. The right advice, at the right time, from the right specialist, can be game-changing. We make those conversations happen. We help our clients recruit, manage, and retain the best people for their organisations — whether as a one-off project or an ongoing partnership. Our work helps them create cultures where everyone can bring the best version of themselves to work. Ultimately, people are the foundation of our clients’ success. With the right environment and support, they can do amazing things — and we’re here to help make that happen.

What you’ll be doing: You’ll be the key link connecting our HR expertise with our clients. Your mission? To be their HR superpower — providing practical advice, solving challenges, and supporting their growth. You’ll manage a portfolio of clients, becoming their go-to person for all things people. Here’s a snapshot of what your day-to-day might include:

• Working closely with clients and colleagues to manage a wide variety of people matters.
• Advising across the full employee lifecycle, from tricky ER issues to employee engagement initiatives.
• Owning your clients’ HR projects and partnering with colleagues to find smart, compliant, and practical solutions.
• Building strong, long-term client relationships through trusted advice and proactive account management, making every client feel supported and valued.
• Getting to know your clients’ industries and challenges so your advice always adds real value.
• Responding quickly to client queries and escalating where needed to keep things running smoothly.
• Collaborating with colleagues across Fitzgerald to deliver a joined-up, brilliant service.
• Spotting opportunities to add value and help our clients — and our business — grow and thrive.

No two days will be the same, but they’ll all be rewarding. It’s a hands-on role where you’ll be making a real difference every day.

About you: We’re looking for someone who combines brilliant HR expertise with great judgement, empathy, and a commercial mindset. You’ll need to be:

• Experienced in an HR Business Partner, People Partner, HR/People Consultant role, ideally across a range of sectors.
• Confident advising on complex people issues and leading projects from start to finish.
• Able to weigh up risks and benefits, think creatively and logically, and develop practical solutions.
• Skilled at building trusted relationships with senior leaders and your colleagues.
• Highly organised, with strong spoken and written communication skills, plus an eye for detail.
• Commercially aware — you understand how great people decisions drive business success.
• Comfortable using Microsoft Office and digital systems.

Ideally, you’ll be CIPD Level 7 qualified (or working towards it), but what really matters to us is that you bring the practical experience and confidence to deliver great HR advice. You’ll also have a full UK driving licence and be happy to travel to clients when needed. Experience working in an HR consultancy would be a bonus.

The Perks: We might be biased, but we think this role is exciting, fun, challenging, and full of opportunities to grow. And because we like to look after our people, here’s what you can look forward to when you join us:

• Competitive salary (starting from £55,000 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 where relevant with progression and development opportunities
• Monthly homeworking allowance and all equipment provided
• Flexible working patterns to make sure you have a good balance between your work and home life
• Strong internal and external support and a friendly, collaborative team
• 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 salary sacrifice schemes
• Medicash health cash plan
• Enhanced family leave
• Twice yearly all staff get-togethers.
• Access to a 24/7 employee assistance programme for emotional and practical support
• Unlimited remote GP appointments available 24/7
• A range of other health and wellbeing benefits
• A growing, progressive business with people at its heart

Why join us? At Fitzgerald, we think one-size-fits-all doesn’t make anyone look good. Instead, we promise to make space for you to bring your whole self to work, not just your job title. Job titles change, after all. Working here, in time yours might too. We’re betting the future of our business on each of us, so we don’t just talk about development – we invest in it. Specifically, we invest in you. So if you want to learn something new or deepen your expertise, you do the work and we’ll support you all the way. Because when you get better at what you do, so do we. And when life throws curveballs - which it always will - we’ll make sure you’ve got the flexibility and support you need. We understand that time to rest and recharge is important and we’ll make sure you get it, along with a work/life balance that always treats you like an adult (and trusts you accordingly). Because we want everyone here to play a big part in what comes next for Fitzgerald, to build our future, be involved in decisions, and be valued for your input.

How to Apply: There are a few stages in our application process which help you get to know us as much as it helps us get to know you. This includes a written assessment, a virtual interview, psychometric testing and a concluding in-person meeting. If this sounds like your kind of place, APPLY NOW (you'll be redirected to our careers site) — we can’t wait to hear from you. We really want our workforce to be representative of all sections of society, so we actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.