Senior HR Business Partner (Operations) in Chelmsford

Competitive salary plus 18% annual bonus potential, company car allowance (cash equivalent) & private healthcare (bonus and car allowance pro-rata). 27.5 days annual leave (pro rata) plus bank holidays.

Contract: Full time, fixed term until 31st March 2027.

Location: Based within the Anglia region (4 days office based) and must be able to travel to Chelmsford Mail Centre (CM2 5AA).

At Royal Mail, our people are at the heart of everything we do. As we continue to transform our business and adapt to the changing needs of our customers, we're looking for an experienced Senior HR Business Partner to help shape the future of our Operations function. This is a high-profile role partnering with senior operational leaders to deliver people strategies that drive performance, build organisational capability and support large-scale transformation and cultural change across a complex national operation.

About the Role

As a Senior HR Business Partner, you'll work closely with senior leaders to align people plans with business objectives, ensuring the organisation has the capability, culture and leadership needed to achieve both immediate priorities and long-term strategic goals. You'll also lead and develop an HR Business Partner, coaching and supporting them to deliver high-quality partnering across the business.

What You'll Be Doing

• Developing People Plans that support organisational performance, cultural transformation and strategic business objectives.
• Providing expert HR advice and consultancy to senior stakeholders and leadership teams.
• Using workforce insights and management information to influence decision-making and drive business performance.
• Supporting organisational change programmes and helping leaders navigate complex people challenges.
• Building strong relationships with senior leaders and key stakeholders across the business.
• Working proactively with Trade Unions and operational leaders to support successful change implementation and minimise risk.
• Supporting the delivery of key people processes including talent, succession planning, performance management and employee engagement activities.
• Acting as a champion for the wider People function and promoting the effective use of HR services and solutions.

About You

We're looking for a strategic and commercially minded HR professional who is comfortable operating in a fast-paced, complex environment and influencing at a senior level. You’ll bring:

• Significant HR Business Partner experience gained within a large, complex organisation. Experience from sectors such as logistics, retail, supermarkets, utilities, manufacturing, e-commerce, defence or similar environments would be highly relevant.
• A proven track record of partnering with senior leaders to drive business performance and organisational change.
• Strong change management experience, including supporting the deployment of large-scale change and transformation programmes.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence, challenge and build credibility at senior levels.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment legislation and employee relations best practice.
• Commercial awareness and the ability to balance people and business priorities.
• Experience leading and developing HR professionals.
• Resilience, adaptability and an independent, solution-focused mindset.

Qualifications

CIPD Level 7 qualified is preferred. Applicants with CIPD Level 5, or equivalent experience, will also be considered.

Desirable

• Experience working within a unionised environment.
• Experience supporting operational or frontline workforces at scale.

Extra Benefits

• Family friendly support - enhanced maternity pay, paternity leave, adoption leave and shared parental leave.
• Supportive and generous company sick pay.
• Benefits Account - You will have access to your personal benefits account on our My Bundle+ platform. There are more than 800 retail offers to help you save on things like groceries, days out, holidays and your household bills as well as employer provided and voluntary benefits to suit your lifestyle.
• Your Wellbeing - you and your family have 24/7 access to services and tools to help you get the most out of life. From your physical and mental health to financial and social support and advice. It's free, and it's for everyone.

Next Steps

The next stage of the selection process will be a face to face/virtual interview consisting of competency based and role specific questions. Trust is the foundation of Royal Mail. We aim to be transparent about the qualities we seek and what a career with us entails, building trust from the start of your journey with us. Your interview is the first step, and we want you to shine. To help you prepare, we'll provide your interview questions in advance, so you can have your best examples ready. At Royal Mail Group, we value trust and our people.

We understand that candidates may not meet all the criteria for the role. If your experience is different, but you have relevant skills we'd love to hear from you. Royal Mail Group is committed to inclusion and representing the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals. As a proud Gold signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant, we especially encourage applications from the Armed Forces community, including cadet instructors and spouses/partners.

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process. If you require any adjustments to support you during the hiring process, please discuss these with your recruiter when contacted.

For more information on Royal Mail Group and our values please click here: https://www.internationaldistributionsservices.com/en/about-us/

Closing Date: Monday 31st August. Please note, this advert may close early if the appropriate number of applications has been reached.