People Partner in Sunderland

hackajob is collaborating with Tombola to connect them with exceptional professionals for this role. This is a 14‑month fixed‑term contract, covering a period of maternity leave.

The tombola People team is seeking a highly experienced, strategic and self‑motivated People Partner to join the business. The People team operates as an end‑to‑end, commercially focused function, partnering with senior leaders to drive positive cultural change and support long‑term business growth. This role plays a key part in shaping the colleague experience and bringing the People strategy to life across the organisation.

Role Purpose

This role partners closely with business leaders to design and deliver local people plans that align with the wider People strategy and support the organisation’s evolving culture. You will play a key role in shaping and delivering initiatives across talent, organisational design, performance, and engagement. The ideal candidate is confident operating in a fast‑moving environment and combines strategic thinking with a hands‑on approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the relationship with Business Area Directors and Senior Leadership Teams.
• Champion and embed the People strategy, ensuring initiatives are effectively delivered and positively influence culture.
• Build strong, trusted relationships with leaders, providing coaching, organisational design guidance, and team development support.
• Use data, insights, and key metrics to identify opportunities to improve the colleague experience.
• Lead the talent agenda within business areas, including ownership of performance management processes and related actions.
• Champion development initiatives that support career growth and retention of key talent.
• Lead organisational design activity to support future growth and scalability.
• Develop succession planning and learning & development approaches tailored to business area needs.
• Use engagement data (e.g., Peakon) to proactively shape local engagement and culture plans.
• Collaborate across the wider tombola and Flutter People teams to address organisation‑wide challenges and develop people‑focused solutions.
• Partner with colleagues in Talent, Communications, Engagement, and Wellbeing to support attraction, development, and retention strategies.
• Act as a change ambassador, supporting the successful delivery of change initiatives through effective engagement and communication.
• Advise, guide, and support people managers on all people‑related matters, engaging specialist support from People Operations where required to resolve formal employee relations cases.

The Successful Candidate

• Proven experience partnering with Business Directors or senior leaders within complex organisations.
• Experience working across multiple business areas or functions.

Communication

• Highly credible communicator with the ability to influence thinking and shape outcomes.
• Recognised for strong collaboration skills both within and outside the team.

Problem Solving

• Proactively manages interdependencies, risks, and outcomes.
• Builds alignment across teams and encourages shared learning across the organisation.

Autonomy

• Works independently on projects and initiatives with a high degree of ownership.
• Makes decisions within established frameworks while exercising sound judgement.

Stakeholder Management

• Builds trusted relationships with senior stakeholders and delivers innovative, people‑focused solutions.
• Seen as a credible and trusted partner to the business.

Leadership

• Demonstrates leadership through high‑quality output and expertise.
• Supports the development of more junior colleagues and contributes to team capability building.

Tombola Values

Our values define what it means to work at tombola and guide how we work together every day, helping us create a positive, inclusive, and engaging environment.