People Partner in Bracknell

Play a part in shaping the future of Waitrose Retail. The John Lewis Partnership is seeking a People Partner to drive our collective commercial success and uphold the unique commitments of our Partnership model. This is a critical role that directly powers our ambitious Partnership Plan, focusing on developing leadership and people manager capability and enhancing the Partner experience, both today and for the years ahead.

As a People Partner aligned to the Waitrose Retail directorate, you will be partnering senior leaders, providing strategic coaching and support to maximise individual and team performance in order to drive the right culture. You will ensure that all people activity is aligned to the overarching people strategy that supports the Waitrose business plan and objectives. You will also support the effective development and delivery of the Partnership People Plan, fostering an inclusive, empowering and collaborative culture and ensuring that the newly restructured People function is well set up to support the Partnership's broader goals.

Salary: £58,800- £88,100

Contract type: Permanent

Working pattern/flexible working: Location: Bracknell Head Office, with blended working and an expectation to travel to other locations, such as Waitrose Shops, as required. The People Partnering team aims for at least 3 days a week to be in person to connect and on a more ad-hoc basis to attend key meetings.

Key Responsibilities:

• You’ll work in collaboration with the relevant Retail Director and Heads of, Senior People Partner, People Partners and Centres of Expertise (CoE) to ensure each area of the retail directorate is well set up with the right skills and capabilities to deliver the Partnership People Plan.
• Be a trusted advisor to retail senior leadership, coaching and supporting them to optimise individual and team performance.
• Support leadership development programmes and initiatives that drive growth, enhance leadership capabilities, and improve employee engagement.
• You will play a pivotal role in supporting the business’s growth and success through effective talent, succession and performance management, leadership development and efficient change management.

Essential skills/experience you’ll need:

• Proven experience operating as a People Business Partner (or equivalent) within a fast paced, multi-site environment, ideally retail or customer facing operations.
• A strong belief in the value of people with the ability to translate this into meaningful, high impact people plans that support long-term business success.
• Experience partnering senior leaders to shape direction, build capability and create inclusive, high performing cultures and deliver strategic people priorities with the use of excellent stakeholder and communication skills.
• Strong knowledge of the employee lifecycle including talent and performance management, leadership development and succession planning.
• Experience collaborating with People CoEs, especially in recruitment, employee relations, and learning & development in a matrix environment.
• Strong understanding of how to create environments where our Partners feel a sense of belonging, can grow and do their best work to serve our food-loving customers.
• Ability to use data and insight to influence decision making and improve outcomes as a result.
• Experience within People change management and driving People related change.
• A thoughtful and emotionally intelligent approach with the ability to coach, challenge and support leaders in equal measure.
• Solid knowledge of UK employment legislation and HR best practice with sound judgement and a pragmatic, risk aware approach to partnering.

Closing Date: May 12, 2026

Pay: £58,800.00 - £88,100.00 Annual

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours of Work: Various full-time hours required

Job Level: Partnership Level 6

Where You'll Be Working: Bracknell Campus, Doncastle Road, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 8YA

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us. We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants. We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.