People Partner

🚀 Ready for your next People Partner opportunity?

Join Hobbycraft and play a key role in building great leadership, strengthening culture and creating an exceptional colleague experience. You'll partner with leaders, influence business decisions and help our people do their very best work every day.

If you're passionate about people, performance and purpose, this could be the perfect role for you.

✨ Shape culture. Develop talent. Make an impact.

People Partner

37.5 hours a week

£50 - £55k

Permanent

Covering North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Key Purpose of Role

In this role you will partner with the Head of Area and their leadership teams to shape and deliver the people plan, ensuring it supports both commercial performance and a positive colleague experience. You will act as a partner and trusted coach, using data, insight and strong relationships to influence decisions, build leadership capability, and make sure people activity is practical, consistent and aligned to our values.

Key Accountabilities

Strategic HR Partnership

• Partner with Area Managers and store leadership teams to translate commercial priorities, colleague insight and operational challenges into clear people plans.
• Act as a trusted advisor on workforce planning, organisational design and capability, using evidence and judgement to influence decisions.

Talent, Culture & Development

• Support recruitment, onboarding and development activity to attract, retain and grow colleagues who reflect our values and passion for creativity.
• Lead the talent and performance agenda in your areas, helping leaders identify potential, build succession plans and address underperformance fairly and consistently.
• Coach managers to lead confidently, hold effective performance and wellbeing conversations, and create high performing, values led teams.

Employee Relations, Wellbeing & Engagement

• Provide clear, practical and legally sound guidance on ER matters, ensuring cases are managed fairly, consistently and in line with our values and policies.
• Use engagement insight to support action plans that improve colleague experience, wellbeing, recognition and retention.
• Help shape and implement company-wide engagement, wellbeing and recognition programmes.

HR Operations, Insight & Projects

• Use people data, including turnover, absence, engagement and ER trends, to identify root causes and agree practical actions.
• Work with the HR Shared Service Centre to ensure colleagues and managers receive accurate, timely and consistent advice, with clear ownership of escalations.
• Lead and contribute to people projects as required.

Required Skills & Experience

• Proven HR partnering experience, ideally within retail or another multi-site environment.
• Strong commercial awareness, with the ability to balance business priorities, colleague experience and operational delivery.
• Confident coach and influencer, able to build trusted relationships and support managers to improve performance through their people.
• Sound employment law knowledge and experience managing complex ER cases fairly and commercially.
• Able to use people data to identify trends, root causes and practical recommendations.
• Organised and resilient, with the judgement and pace to manage competing priorities and deliver projects successfully.
• Trusted to handle confidential and sensitive information with discretion, integrity and sound judgement.

Salary & Benefits

In addition to the advertised salary, here are some of our key benefits:

• Company car.
• 33 days holiday including bank holidays pro rata, which grows with you during your time with us. You will also get a day off to celebrate your birthday
• Access to a personal pension scheme (4% contribution matched by us)
• Option to join Hobbycraft pension scheme offering x2 life insurance
• 40% colleague discount
• Employee Assistance Programme, for overall wellbeing for you and your family including financial advice and up to 6 counselling sessions
• Long service awards to thank you for your time spent with us
• Cycle2Work scheme
• Discounted gym membership
• Fundraising events for our charity partners and an annual charity volunteer day
• Vouchers for free eye tests for VDU users
• Access to a range of high street discounts
• Access to a Health Cash Plan
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption pay
• Access to learning and development opportunities to help you grow

Working Hours & Environment

This is a full-time role, working 37.5 hours per week. As retail operates 7 days per week flexibility may be required to support the needs of the business.

Due to the nature of the role, you will need to be willing and able to travel extensively within the assigned areas.

The expectation is you will be in stores a minimum of 3 days per week.

We pride ourselves on an inclusive and creative working environment, so you can truly be you and enjoy your time at work. We also prioritise wellbeing, offering a range of support and initiatives designed to help you feel and perform at your best