HR Business Partner in Denham

Shape it. Deliver it. Trust it with lives! Develop your professional legacy in a role where hands-on people management meets global operational impact. As an HR Business Partner based at our Denham site, you will play a pivotal role in executing our people strategy and driving operational excellence across the business. From the shop floor to the management suite, your energy and attention to detail will support the human resources, administration, and process improvements that power a world-leading workforce built to perform in the most extreme, safety-critical environments.

At Martin-Baker, the work we do matters. We design, manufacture and support life-saving equipment used by aircrew around the world. Our products operate in demanding environments, where quality, reliability and attention to detail are critical. We’re proud of our long history in aerospace and defence, also focused on the future. Joining Martin-Baker means becoming part of a business with a clear purpose, strong engineering capability and a long-term commitment to its people, products and customers.

As an HR Business Partner, you will base your work at our Denham site, combining hands-on business partnering with day-to-day ownership of central HR services, systems administration, and process optimisation. You will find a supportive, fast-paced environment where you act as a trusted advisor to departmental managers across a dedicated section of our 1,300-strong workforce.

This is an exceptional opportunity to coordinate our central HR administration and onboarding workflows, with the scope to develop supervisory experience over a small team of three. You will gain deep, practical exposure to business transformation, HR systems integration, and change initiatives, operating within a relationship-driven culture that values structured discipline. This role offers a clear and structured path for career progression into broader, strategic HR leadership within a world-leading global organisation.

What You’ll Do

• Manager Partnering: Partner with line managers across sourcing, commercial finance, IT, and manufacturing to provide guidance, resolve operational HR issues, and support team engagement.
• Workflow Coordination: Lead and coordinate the daily operations of the central HR administration and onboarding team (3 direct reports), ensuring service levels are met.
• Systems & Processes: Oversee and maintain various HR systems, with a focus on data accuracy, process optimisation, and helping expand manager self-service capabilities.
• Lifecycle Support: Manage the operational employee lifecycle from recruitment handover to exit, including onboarding, promotions, family leave tracking, and offboarding.
• Reporting & Insights: Assist in building KPI dashboards and running monthly reporting tools to provide data-driven insights for management decision-making.
• Compliance & Policy: Ensure all HR policies, procedures, and employee files remain strictly compliant and aligned with UK employment law.

What We’re Looking For

• Operational Experience: Strong background in HR administration or operations (essential).
• Leadership Scope: Proven experience managing or coordinating teams within HR or administrative functions (desirable).
• Systems Familiarity: Experience working with HR databases, supporting process improvements, or helping deliver digital systems changes (essential).
• Legal Knowledge: Sound, practical foundation in UK employment law and regulatory frameworks (essential).
• Relationship Building: Strong listening and communication skills with the confidence to influence and advise departmental managers (essential).
• Hands-on Mindset: A practical, proactive approach with the ability to balance a relationship-driven culture with process discipline without large support functions (essential).
• Data & Sector Exposure: Experience generating basic HR reports/dashboards, or working within manufacturing, engineering, or non-desk-based environments (desirable).

Our Values

At Martin-Baker, we value professionalism, understanding, teamwork, humility, accountability and integrity. We look for people who take pride in their work, collaborate openly and act with care because the work we do matters.

What We Offer

• Excellent pension package with strong employer support — Martin-Baker contributes 9% of your salary (non-contributory to the employee), with further employer contributions that grow as you increase your own.
• Life Assurance.
• Lunchtime finish on a Friday.
• Personalised training and development plan.
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Opportunity to purchase additional annual leave.
• Occupational Health team.
• Cycle to work scheme.

How to Apply / Your Interview Journey

Please submit your CV and should you wish, a brief covering letter outlining your suitability, including any relevant experience, skills and expertise you can bring to the role.

Initial Telephone interview: A detailed conversation with your Recruitment Business Partner to understand your background and motivation for joining Martin-Baker.

First Stage Interview: An initial virtual discussion (via Teams) with the Hiring Manager and a designated HR stakeholder to explore your background and motivations.

Final Stage Interview: A face-to-face formal interview at our Denham site with the Group Vice President of HR and a key business stakeholder, allowing you to demonstrate your strategic capability and approach.

We believe in equal opportunity, committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone is respected. We want you to be able to do your best work.

Martin-Baker is a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant, showing our support and commitment to our Armed Forces and their families, proudly supporting those who serve.

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). The role also involves access to information governed by U.S. Export Control Laws (including ITAR); therefore, all applicants must satisfy ITAR eligibility requirements.