Senior HR Business Partner

Electro‑Motive Diesel Limited (EMDL) is seeking a dynamic Senior HR Business Partner to lead HR initiatives across the UK and continental Europe. In this pivotal role, you will provide expert guidance on employment law, talent development, and workforce planning, while partnering with managers to deliver a compliant, high‑performing, and engaging employee experience.

Location: Stoke‑on‑Trent, ST6 4NF (Onsite)

Role: As a Senior HR Business Partner, you will be required to:

• Provide expert HR advice and guidance to managers and employees on employment law, performance, discipline, grievance, and policy matters.
• Ensure HR policies and practices comply with UK/EU legislation, collective agreements, GDPR, and health & safety requirements.
• Lead end‑to‑end recruitment, including job adverts, candidate selection, onboarding, and managing the HCM system (SAGE/Rail People).
• Identify workforce needs and implement effective recruitment, retention, and deployment strategies, focusing on direct hiring and reducing agency dependency.
• Support performance and absence management, providing analysis and guidance to managers to address issues effectively.
• Manage training and development activities, including competency matrices, refresher training, and succession planning.
• Maintain and optimise HR systems, ensuring accurate data, producing reports/KPIs, and driving process improvements.
• Oversee payroll input and administration for all locations, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Administer the Sentinel scheme, ensuring compliance, inductions, and record‑keeping for sponsored personnel.
• Contribute to employee engagement initiatives and promote equal opportunities across all aspects of employment.
• Drive HR best practice, harmonising policies where possible and challenging the status quo to modernise people processes.
• Build strong internal and external relationships to support effective HR service delivery across multiple sites.
• Promote company values and safety strategy, ensuring safe working practices and a positive culture.
• Undertake occasional UK/EU travel and work flexibly out of hours when business needs require.

Candidate: The ideal Senior HR Business Partner:

• CIPD Chartered membership (preferred).
• Proven HR experience in a multi‑site environment, ideally within rail or manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and general legislation, with awareness of EU employment law (preferred).
• Hands‑on experience with recruitment in fast‑paced environments and proficiency in HRIS platforms and Microsoft Excel.
• A full, clean driving licence and willingness to travel; proficiency in German or Dutch is an advantage.

Personality Traits:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong relationships.
• Leadership qualities and team management capability, combined with a collaborative, hands‑on approach.
• Highly organised, detail‑oriented, and process driven, with strong time management skills.
• Resilient under pressure, deadline focused, and able to work independently with a proactive mindset.
• Strong numeracy and analytical skills, with a commitment to continuous improvement.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary + company bonus
• Tailored training and development, including company‑funded external qualifications where relevant
• Generous pension scheme with 7% employer contribution
• Life assurance at 3.5× your salary
• Employee Assistance Programme for confidential wellbeing support
• Discounted gym membership - up to 25% off at 4,000+ UK gyms
• Fuel card savings of 2-3p per litre at 3,500 stations, including BP, Esso and Shell
• Employee recognition schemes celebrating great work
• 33 days' holiday per year