Employee Relations Specialist

Location: Central London, near St Pauls and Bank – Hybrid (3 days per week in the office)

Contract: 3 months, with potential for a permanent opportunity

Day Rate: £200–£400 per day via Umbrella company, dependent on relevant experience

Start Date: ASAP – ideally by the end of August, latest 7 September

Are you an experienced Employee Relations Specialist who thrives in a fast-paced, complex organisation? Do you have strong ER case management experience, including complex cases, and a good understanding of Workday?

We are recruiting for a hands-on Employee Relations Specialist to join a large, international technology and professional services organisation with approximately 2,000 employees in the UK and 15,000 globally. This is an exciting opportunity to join an established HR team of around 20 people and play a key role within a busy HR Shared Services environment.

The organisation has a fast-paced, sales-driven culture, so experience of working in a large and complex environment with multiple stakeholders is essential.

The Role

This is a hands-on, non-managerial position suited to an experienced HR/ER professional. You don’t need previous leadership or management experience. Instead, you’ll need to be confident managing a busy ER caseload independently, dealing with complex employee matters and working effectively in a fast-paced, commercially focused environment.

You’ll work closely with managers and stakeholders, providing practical and knowledgeable advice across a range of employee relations matters while ensuring cases are managed consistently and in line with UK employment legislation.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a high-volume Employee Relations caseload from start to finish
• Handle ER cases (occasionally complex), including disciplinary, grievance, performance and absence matters
• Provide practical, confident advice to managers and stakeholders
• Support performance management and absence management processes
• Review and interpret changes to employment legislation and assess their impact on the organisation
• Support TUPE activity and associated employee relations matters
• Manage and respond to queries through ServiceNow, the organisation’s HR ticketing system
• Use Workday as the core HRIS and support the creation, review and implementation of HR templates
• Review and improve HR processes, documentation and templates
• Work collaboratively within the wider HR Shared Services function
• Build effective relationships across a large and complex organisation
• Manage competing priorities effectively in a fast-paced environment

Essential Experience:

• Strong ER Case Management Experience: You must have substantial experience managing ER cases independently, with experience handling complex ER matters being a major advantage.
• Workday Experience: Previous experience using Workday is essential. This is the organisation’s core HRIS platform.
• TUPE Experience: You’ll need practical experience of supporting or managing TUPE processes.
• Large, Complex Organisation Experience: Experience working within a large and complex organisation is essential. International organisation experience would be a significant advantage.

You’ll also ideally have:

• Experience working within a fast-paced, commercially focused environment
• Strong performance and absence management experience
• Experience within technology, professional services, sales or another similarly fast-paced environment is useful, although sector background is less important than organisational complexity
• ServiceNow experience would be advantageous, although it’s not essential
• CIPD Level 3 or above
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
• A hands-on, patient and pragmatic approach
• The ability to work independently without requiring people-management experience
• Experience working within an HR Shared Services or similar HR structure would be beneficial

Why Apply?

• £200–£400 per day via Umbrella, depending on experience
• Initial 3-month contract, with potential for the role to become permanent
• Hybrid working with 3 days per week in the office, based around St Paul’s and Bank
• Opportunity to work within a large, international organisation
• Exposure to complex ER matters within a fast-paced and commercially driven environment
• One-stage interview process for shortlisted candidates
• Immediate start available

Interview Process & Start Date

The organisation is looking to move quickly. Interviews will take place from Thursday/Friday and into early next week, with a single-stage interview involving the HR Director and Head of Strategic Initiatives. Candidates should be available to start by the end of August, with 7 September being the latest acceptable start date. All successful candidates must also be able to undertake BPSS security vetting.