HR Manager - Employee Relations

At Nationwide, having a clear focus on our performance and people is critical to successfully delivering our strategic drivers and creating the best service for our customers.

Our HR Case Management team in the People Function have always played a pivotal role in providing both specialist employee relations advice to managers, and end to end support regarding performance management, in addition to misconduct, sickness absence, whistleblowing and resolving all workplace disputes.

We are really excited to announce a new opportunity to be part of our team, interested?

As a HR Manager, you’ll be a pivotal part of continuing to embed our innovative operating model in HR Case Management, leading a specialist Employee Relations team who support business leaders with all people management cases through to resolution, building trusted relationships with key business functions.

At Nationwide we offer hybrid working wherever possible. More rewarding relationships are supported through our hybrid approach, bringing colleagues together across our UK wide estate, whilst also supporting generous access to home working. We value our time in the office to solve problems, to learn, and to feel connected.

For this job you'll spend at least two days per week, or if part time you'll spend 40% of your working time, based at either our Northampton, Swindon, London or Bournemouth offices. You can also find out more about our approach to hybrid working here.

If we receive a high volume of relevant applications, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so please apply as soon as you can.

What you’ll be doing

As part of a high performing leadership team, you’ll lead a well-valued and respected team of ER case experts. You’ll provide oversight, direction, specialist advice and day to day line management of Case Consultants who provide end to end case management of all people issues, such as conduct and capability, sickness absence and ill health.

As a proven subject matter expert, you’ll coach and guide the team to ensure our approach is appropriate, commercially focussed, pragmatic, and embodying Nationwide’s values.

You’ll be working as part of the leadership team to fully embed and refine our operating model, ensuring we get leaders the right support for their needs, and using our data to drive business ownership, understanding and management capability in employee relations matters.

About you

• Demonstrable experience in complex Employee Relations case management, preferably in a regulated, financial services or unionised environment
• Line management experience, preferably with experience of working in a flexible remote team
• A strong relationship builder with the ability and passion to coach, maximise performance, working collaboratively and creatively with a high level of resilience
• Advanced knowledge of employment law and ACAS guidelines and applying these in a workplace setting
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal, with experience in report writing
• Excellent attention to detail with the ability to balance, work at pace and prioritise workloads from different sources, managing multiple stakeholder expectations
• Experience of identifying trends, process improvements and proposing suitable solutions
• Mediation accreditation and a CIPD qualification would be preferable

Our customer first behaviours put customers and members at the heart of how we work together.

They are the set of behaviours that every colleague needs to display, in every role:

• Feel what customers feel – We step into our customers’ shoes, using their feedback and insights to empathise with them and to understand their needs, so that every decision we make starts and finishes with our customers in mind
• Say it straight – We are brave in speaking out and saying what we think – we’re honest and direct with good intent, openly sharing diverse perspectives to reach the best conclusions and using language everyone can understand
• Push for better – We don’t settle for mediocrity, we challenge the status quo, taking responsibility for continuous improvement and personal development
• Get it done – We prioritise what will have the greatest impact, we are decisive, and we take accountability for delivering brilliant customer outcomes

You can strengthen your application by showing how our customer first behaviours resonate with you, and where you may have already demonstrated these.

The extras you’ll get

There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:

• A personal pension – if you put in 7% of your salary, we’ll top up by a further 16%
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year
• Life assurance worth 8x your salary
• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Wellhub – Access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness
• Access to an annual performance related bonus
• Access to training to help you develop and progress your career
• 25 days holiday, pro rata

Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society

We forge our own path at Nationwide.

As a mutual, we’re owned by our members – those customers who bank, save or have a mortgage with us. We challenge the financial sector status quo. We don’t see customers as the engine of our own profit. We share our profits with them and put their needs first. Always there when they need us. Supporting them and their lives.

If you’re inspired by fairer finances, passionate about making a meaningful impact, and truly care about our customers, you’re one of us.

At Nationwide, you are challenged to grow and rewarded for doing so. Valued. Recognised. Inspired to be your best. As a community we want our working lives to count. As a team, we celebrate what we achieve. As a standard-setter, we work for the good of customers, communities, and broader society.

We are Purpose-driven. Uncompromisingly Customer. Unstoppably Nationwide.

What to do next

If this role is for you, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button. You’ll need to attach your up-to-date CV and answer a few quick questions for us.

We respond to everyone, so we will be in contact shortly after the closing date to let you know the outcome of your application.