Senior Specialist, People Partner - Production and Operations in Woking

As Senior Specialist, People Engineer, you'll join us to support the team on our high‑performance journey, providing exceptional HR service across the F1 function of McLaren Racing Limited ("MRL"): delivering a progressive people agenda, helping to support the delivery of long‑term business planning, and developing – as well as providing – HR solutions to ensure a great employee experience. You will collaboratively craft the People Strategy with your senior leaders to help take our People Partnering to the next level. You will be the first point of call for senior managers in departments across our F1 Production and Operations function but may also support other areas at MRL when required. You will be confident in providing tailored, operational advice and support, and rolling out agreed initiatives. As a confident HR practitioner, you will be able to act as a sounding board, provide key solutions as well as build and foster strong working relationships – being an integral part of the teams you support.

As a People & Culture team, we are on a journey to become a World Championship contending race team – by making sure we also become a world‑leading employer. You'll be collaborating widely across the People & Culture team. You'll quickly discover it's a pro‑active team that thrives on working at pace, with agility and delivering meaningful change for McLaren Racing. Most of all we support each other and roll our sleeves up when it matters. This role will be reporting to the Head of People Engineering – Production and Operations and will have no direct reports. Your main stakeholders will include our team members, team leaders, managers and senior managers in the functional areas you support (predominantly our Production and Operations group), collaborating closely with the relevant Finance Business Partners too. You will also work closely with our Advisors and People Partners within the People Team and both the Admin and Talent Team. We have adopted hybrid working across the team, but flexibility to work hours will be required to meet the operational demands of the teams you support.

Principal Accountabilities

• Stakeholder Management & Communication: Promoting a People Engineering approach to build and maintain excellent working relationships with key internal stakeholders to ensure their appropriate engagement and involvement. Confidently influencing key stakeholders to gain buy‑in and support for new ways of working, alternative solutions, and key projects. Understanding the context & needs of your leaders and their teams, and adapting an agile approach to deliver advice, initiatives and projects as appropriate to your area. Seamlessly acting as the conduit between the Managers and Senior People Partners to successfully implement initiatives which are fit for purpose and land well. Pro‑active and collaborative communication across multiple stakeholder groups to present and deliver compelling messages, motivating multiple teams/stakeholders towards common goals.
• Operational HR Support: Working with the Talent Attraction team to advise managers on the process and interviews/selection. Working closely with Managers and Senior People Partner to implement any organisational design requirements, providing advice & guidance on plans and considerations to ensure a people‑first approach. Leading discussions with your senior managers on the formal and informal talent and succession management processes within their department. Supporting the roll‑out of any learning and development needs, including delivery, working closely with managers and People Partners to implement any solutions. Utilising relevant HRIS data and reporting to support people strategy, spotting trends and assisting managers with data‑driven decision‑making. Proactive management of HRIS data to ensure accuracy & compliance, working closely with Finance to ensure budget alignment. Seamlessly acting as the conduit between employees, Admin Team, Advisors and People Partners to successfully implement initiatives which are fit for purpose and land well. Working collaboratively across the team to update and further enhance our people policies, ensuring fit for purpose across all functions. Working in close collaboration with fellow People Partners to ensure a consistent approach across MRL. Actively engaging with managers to support development of an inclusive working environment that is conducive to safe practices and colleague welfare.
• People and Culture Strategy: Contributing to the ongoing development of the People strategy by working closely with the wider People Team; highlighting any key people priorities. Being an ambassador of the strategy when speaking with teams and Managers, ensuring that any key initiatives link to the People and Culture strategy.

Knowledge Skills and Requirements

• Promoting a partnering mentality and approach to build and maintain excellent working relationships with key internal stakeholders to ensure their appropriate engagement and involvement.
• Previous demonstrable HR experience, including strong employee relation knowledge and case management skills, (ideally in a manufacturing/operations or high‑performance sporting organisation).
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Strong relationship building and stakeholder management.
• A focus on data‑driven decision making.
• Ability to prioritise a demanding workload.
• Experience of managing complex change and delivery of projects with emphasis on engagement and culture of the team.
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced environment with an agile approach.
• A track record of getting things done.
• MS Office – proficient to at least intermediate level in Excel, Word, PowerPoint.
• Previous experience working with an HRIS and related employee platforms desirable.
• CIPD Level 5 qualified, or equivalent experience.

What can McLaren offer?

We show up every day with energy and enthusiasm, ready to play our part. We encourage and support diversity, equity and inclusion. We will actively promote a culture that values difference and eliminates discrimination in our workplace. McLaren Racing is based at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) near Woking. Here at McLaren, we offer hybrid working with 3 days a week based in the MTC. Our state‑of‑the‑art, sustainable campus offers many facilities including a gym, restaurant and indoor and outdoor break‑out areas, as well as direct access to park and common land. The MTC is connected to Woking mainline station via regular shuttle buses, from which London Waterloo is a 30 minute train ride. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including private healthcare, car schemes, life insurance and generous pension contributions.