People Partner - Industrial Relations

Fixed Term - 14 Months

Salary - Circa £40,000 + Corporate Benefits

Base location: Homer Road, Hook, or Cardinal House, with hybrid working.

Travel: Required to Hook, London, and other Serco sites to support meetings and consultations.

About the Role

Serco UK&E is looking for an experienced Industrial Relations (IR) Partner to help shape and deliver a consistent, constructive, and compliant approach to industrial relations across our diverse operations. Working within our Employee Relations (ER) team, you’ll play a key role in supporting collective consultation, trade union engagement, and workforce change activity across all business units. This is a hands-on, relationship‑driven role where you’ll partner closely with operational leaders, HR teams, and recognised trade unions to promote early engagement, reduce risk, and support well‑managed business change. You’ll also contribute to the development of IR tools, policy, and guidance that strengthen our capability and ensure alignment with legislation and best practice.

Key Responsibilities

• Advisory Support
  • Support collective consultation, trade union engagement, and formal bargaining.
  • Prepare negotiation materials, record actions, and document outcomes.
  • Act as a central contact for IR queries and maintain accurate consultation records.
  • Advise leaders on complex IR matters and escalate emerging risks.
  • Deliver IR training and share lessons learned to improve practice.
• Trade Union Engagement
  • Build strong relationships with recognised trade unions and employee forums.
  • Support national and regional union meetings and consultation events.
  • Promote consistent, best‑practice IR approaches across all business areas.
  • Share insight and emerging risks to strengthen organisational IR capability.
• Collective Bargaining & Agreements
  • Support annual pay reviews and collective bargaining activity.
  • Maintain IR toolkits, templates, and training materials.
  • Ensure IR considerations are reflected in policies and guidance.
  • Keep collective agreements up to date and aligned with workforce strategy.
  • Maintain a central IR repository and lead on data quality improvements.
• Change & Compliance
  • Support compliant workforce change activity in partnership with ER.
  • Monitor legislative and labour market developments and advise on impacts.
  • Translate legal changes into policy updates and practical guidance.
  • Act as an IR subject matter expert for leaders and HR teams.

What You’ll Bring

• CIPD Level 5 or equivalent HR/ER experience.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship‑building skills.
• Hands‑on, collaborative approach with confidence working in complex environments.
• Solid understanding of industrial relations, collective consultation, and employment legislation.
• Ability to develop practical tools, templates, and guidance for managers.
• Strong employment law knowledge and its application in large organisations.
• A problem‑solving mindset with sound judgement and a values‑led approach.
• Commitment to honesty, respect, compassion, and inclusive working.

What We Offer

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Annual leave purchase scheme.
• Up to 6% contributory pension scheme.
• Ongoing CPD support (minimum 20 hours annually in line with RICS requirements).
• Serco discounts which include cinema, merlin entertainment and online shopping discounts, and discounts on mobile phone plans and leisure centre memberships.
• A range of benefits to support the health and wellbeing of you and your family such as Employee Assistance Programme, Health Cash Plans, free flu jabs and more.
• A company passionate about diversity and inclusion.

About Serco

At Serco, not only is the nature of the work we do important, everyone has an important role to play, from caring for vulnerable people to managing complex public services. We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are innovators, committed to redesigning and improving public services for the benefit of everyone. By joining Serco you will have unlimited access to our Global Employee Networks – SercoInspire (Gender), SercoEmbrace (Multicultural), SercoUnlimited (Disability) and In@Serco (LGBT & Networks). Serco Employee Networks, led by colleagues who are passionate about diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Apply

Please click on the apply button to complete your application. Occasionally we receive a large volume of applications for our roles and when that happens we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment.

At Serco, we see people first and foremost for their performance and potential. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. As such we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working. We operate a hybrid work structure in many of our business areas. We are proudly Disability Confident Leader employers and holder of the Gold Inclusive Employer Standard. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.

For help with your application please contact 0345 010 4000.

At Serco we support fair access to employment for those with unspent criminal convictions through the ‘Ban the Box’ pledge (some may be exempt due to the nature of the role and the security clearance required). Please contact our recruitment team directly on 0345 010 4000 to discuss.