Human Resources Business Partner

HR Business Partner Opportunity – fixed term for 1 year (full time or part time), based in West Lothian. Are you an experienced HR professional, looking to bring heart, soul, hustle and a whole lot of fun and experience to helping shape our business across our commercial and central support services teams?

Setting the Scene Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd… ‘An international, entrepreneurial, brand-led, successful, sustainable, and respected, family business’ We are Ian Macleod Distillers (IMD), a fourth-generation family owned and managed whisky and spirits business operating across the UK and internationally. We are producers of multi award winning premium whisky and gin with many other whiskies and spirits as part of our portfolio. Crafting Spirits With Passion, is what we do best… not only are we producers of exquisite brands, but we are also distributors and suppliers in B2B and B2C channels.

Here in Ian Macleod Distillers, we believe that in the right environment, people can and do thrive. It is a simple and straightforward belief. Through curiosity, clarity, and connection, it is all about working ‘in good company’. As our business continues to evolve in scale and complexity, we are now looking for an HR Business Partner to join our small team. The role will suit someone who brings strong commercial understanding and business acumen. This is a new role in our existing HRBP formative framework. The role will support several of our commercial teams across sales, brands, and central support services, helping to shape and deliver our business agenda and our people plans that are aligned, agile, and ambitious. This is a visible and hands-on role. Working alongside department leaders, the role of HRBP (commercial) will support and enable leaders, encouraging ongoing passion and energy around performance and culture. The HRBP will have a part to play in the development and refinement of people strategies alignment to department needs and overall business ambition. The significance of the role will be to actively hire well, and contribute to the growth of both individual and team capabilities and strengths, navigate change, and build strong, healthy and engaged departments and overall working environments.

What the role looks like You will work as a true partner to the department leadership teams – trusted, proactive, and always aligned to the commercial goals. Your days will be a blend of strategic thinking and significant practical outputs and actions, including:

• Recruitment & Talent: Planning ahead, advising on the best approach, proactively headhunting, reducing reliance on agencies, talent mapping and shaping compelling, values-led hiring and retention campaigns.
• Learning & Development: Identifying needs, building internal capability, and supporting succession plans that are authentic and culturally aligned.
• Employee Relations & Change: Coaching managers, supporting fair and confident decision-making, and helping teams through periods of growth and transition.
• Engagement, Culture & Reward: Creating an environment within key departments where people feel empowered and inspired. Owning the engagement process and working with department leads to turn insights into action. Partnering with managers to build strong, two-way communication, and supporting a culture where feedback flows, and progress is shared. Assisting managers with the development of meaningful reward and recognition initiatives to help celebrate effort and impact in ways that reflect who we are and not just what we do.
• Data, MI & Systems: Using insights to spot patterns, making smart decisions, and continuously improving how we support and develop our people and the commercial viability of the department goals and ambitions.

Who you are You are likely to be someone who enjoys being close to the beating heart of the business – talking, listening, advising, and building. You know that greatness is built on relationships. You will have probably worked in a fast-paced, commercially minded environment, and you will be comfortable with balancing big-picture thinking with detail and delivery, in an agile, resilient and tenacious manner. You will bring:

• Strong HR generalist experience across recruitment, learning, employee relations, and engagement (ideally experience with TU negotiations and relationships)
• A roll your sleeves up attitude and desire to get into the detail
• A confident, calm presence, especially in moments of change or challenge
• A highly commercial mindset
• Great communication and influencing skills
• Curiosity, accountability and proactivity in spades
• Clarity of thought, structure, and a drive for continuous improvement

Our overarching people ambitions are all about helping people do their best work. We nurture curiosity, empower individuals, and provide space to grow. We believe success comes from agility, accountability, and relationships built on trust, respect and integrity, sprinkled with a dash of good humour and kindness. We aspire to have a high-performance culture where people also enjoy the journey. We all work hard, but we laugh and have fun along the way. We focus on results, but we care about the experiences. You will be given room to lead, encouraged to challenge the norm, and supported by a collaborative team that values variety, curiosity and energy. You will be more than just a vanilla HR professional – you will be a key part of how we grow, develop and thrive as a business. This is a place where curiosity sparks growth, accountability drives outcomes, and proactivity powers progress. A place where you will always be ‘in good company’.

Ready to join us? To apply for this HR Business Partner role, please visit us direct.

Please note, this is an open application window therefore we may close the advert at any point depending on the candidate applications received, so our recommendation is that you apply early to ensure you do not miss out! In addition, we can only accept applications for this role from candidates who currently already have eligibility to live and work in the U.K.