Senior People Business Partner in Southend-on-Sea

Focus Group is one of the UK’s fastest-growing independent business technology providers, and our Operations teams are powering that growth. We’re backed by Hg Capital and in the midst of an exciting transformation—scaling sustainably, delivering commercially, and creating experiences that colleagues and customers rave about.

We need a Senior People Business Partner who understands that great people strategy isn’t just about engagement surveys and learning programmes—it’s about driving operational excellence, commercial performance, and building the capability that turns ambition into revenue. This isn’t a traditional HR role. You’ll be a strategic operator who partners with our Operations leaders to make 'One Focus Group' real—turning people plans into commercial outcomes, building talent pipelines that fuel growth, and leading transformation that sticks.

You’ll also lead Employee Relations across the group and manage two People Advisors, ensuring we handle complexity with pace, care, and commercial common sense.

What You’ll Own

• Strategic Business Partnering
  • Partner with Operations leadership to diagnose what the business needs and deliver people strategies that drive efficiency and performance.
  • Translate commercial targets and operational KPIs into workforce plans and talent strategies that actually deliver.
  • Provide data-led insights on productivity, capacity utilisation, and people ROI.
• Talent & Capability at Scale
  • Build career pathways for operational roles that keep our best people engaged and developing.
  • Design resource plans that ensure we have the right skills mix for today and tomorrow.
  • Lead talent identification, assessment, and succession planning for critical operational and commercial roles.
• Change That Lands
  • Lead operational restructures, automation implementation, and service delivery model evolution with minimal disruption.
  • Drive adoption of new systems and ways of working across high-performing teams.
  • Support acquisition integration and commercial transformation initiatives.
• Performance & Employee Relations
  • Manage and report on ER across the group, coaching managers through complex issues in fast-paced, high-pressure environments.
  • Coach, guide, and develop two People Advisors to handle the full spectrum of people challenges.
  • Keep us compliant, commercial, and consistent—balancing operational needs with doing the right thing.
• Culture That Scales
  • Embed OneFocus values across operational teams without losing pace or commercial edge.
  • Drive engagement in high-pressure environments where operational delivery never stops.
  • Champion diversity, inclusion, and belonging across operational hiring and team composition.

What You Bring

• Must-Haves:
  • HR Business Partnering experience in operations environments (ideally technology, telecoms, or professional services).
  • Commercial mindset: You understand P&L, margin, and operational efficiency metrics—and know how people strategy impacts them.
  • Talent & capability building: You’ve built career frameworks, succession plans, and workforce plans for scaling operational teams.
  • Change leadership: You’ve led restructures, automation rollouts, or operational model changes with measurable success.
  • Influence & impact: You build credibility quickly, challenge constructively, and bring a commercial lens to people decisions.
  • Data-driven approach: You’re comfortable with workforce analytics and operational metrics, and you use them to drive decisions.
• Nice-to-Haves:
  • ICT/Telecoms/Technology services sector experience.
  • Experience with shift-based operations, field engineering teams, or technical service delivery.
  • Led people aspects of automation/AI implementation.
  • Workforce planning and capacity modelling for demand-driven operations.
  • Private Equity-backed business experience.

Why Focus Group?

• Growth trajectory: Hg-backed and scaling fast—this is your chance to shape people strategy in a business that’s going places.
• Impact from day one: You’ll own the people agenda for Operations and Commercial—high visibility, high impact.
• Brilliant people: Work alongside leaders who value strategic thinking, commercial acumen, and getting stuff done.
• Flexibility: Hybrid working from any of our offices—Shoreham, Exeter, Manchester, Birmingham, or Glasgow.
• Culture that matters: We’re building OneFocus Group—a place where people love to work, grow, and deliver.

Ready to Make Your Mark? If you’re a commercially minded people leader who thrives on pace, scale, and operational complexity—and you want to build something brilliant—we want to hear from you. Apply now and let’s talk about how you’ll help us scale sustainably, profitably, and brilliantly.