People Partner in London

People Partner

Location: Hybrid, working from home, at client offices and at least one day a month in Sevenoaks
Hours: Four days a week
Salary: £40,000 to £50,000 p.a. FTE (pro rata for four days)
Start date: Immediate. We’ll only be shortlisting candidates who are available to start by the end of November.

At The Fractional HR Department, we give small businesses and growing teams practical, flexible HR support, so they get expert people advice without the cost or complexity of a full-time hire.

Our approach is simple, human and effective. We give clear advice, keep processes sensible and focus on HR that helps businesses grow. We don’t hide behind jargon or over-engineered solutions. We give clients what they need, when they need it.

We work as an extension of our clients’ teams and build close, trusted relationships with founders and leaders. Our clients are entrepreneurial, fast-moving and values-led, so the work is hands-on, varied and has a visible impact.

The role

We’re looking for an experienced People Partner to join our team and take on their own portfolio of clients from day one.

This is a broad generalist role, suited to someone who likes autonomy, variety and working closely with SME leaders. You’ll help your clients manage growth, change and day-to-day people issues, and be the person they call when something needs a clear head.

Employee relations is a core part of the role. It isn’t the majority of our work, but when complex or sensitive cases come up, you’ll lead them with confidence and give advice that’s clear, practical and legally sound.

Alongside ER, you’ll deliver and shape HR projects, develop client accounts and help evolve our services, backed by our wider People Partner and HR Support teams.

What you’ll be doing

People partnering and HR delivery

• Acting as a trusted People Partner to founders and directors, supporting business growth through annual People Plans
• Giving clear, practical and legally compliant HR advice across the employee lifecycle
• Leading on ER matters including disciplinaries, grievances, performance, sickness, redundancies, restructures, TUPE, change processes and variations to terms
• Bringing structure and calm to people situations that are still unfolding or unclear
• Using HR data, such as absence trends and benchmarking, to back up your recommendations
• Identifying and delivering HR projects that make people practices simpler and more useful
• Coordinating recruitment and supporting effective onboarding
• Developing and embedding performance management approaches
• Implementing and managing our partner HR systems
• Coaching managers so they can handle people issues with more confidence
• Preparing and reviewing contracts, policies and core HR documentation
• Designing and delivering practical client training on topics such as appraisals, ER basics and manager capability

Account management and new business

• Managing ongoing client relationships and running periodic service reviews
• Spotting opportunities for additional project work or extra support
• Responding to inbound new business enquiries
• Preparing realistic scopes, proposals and resource forecasts with a commercial eye

Contributing to the wider team

• Sharing what works across the People Partner team
• Suggesting improvements to our processes, tools and ways of working
• Helping develop specific service lines as we grow
• Delivering our training courses and webinars, which build trust in our expertise, raise our profile and bring in new work

About you

Essential:

• Previous HR consultancy experience or, if you haven’t worked in consultancy, experience as a standalone HR professional in a high-volume ER environment, where you’ve owned a heavy caseload.
• Solid UK generalist HR experience, ideally supporting SMEs
• Strong ER experience and confidence leading complex cases from start to finish
• Clear, structured advice when situations are moving quickly or aren’t clear-cut
• Good commercial judgement and an understanding of how small businesses work day to day
• Clear, warm and professional communication
• The ability to manage a portfolio of clients and priorities without losing sight of detail
• Confidence working on your own initiative, while valuing collaboration and shared standards
• Experience delivering practical, manager-focused HR training
• CIPD Level 5 (or equivalent)
• Availability to start immediately

Strongly desirable:

• Previous experience working in an HR consultancy

What you’ll get from us

• Exposure to a wide range of industries and people challenges
• Fast learning and professional growth across ER, projects and partnering
• Hybrid working on a four-day week
• A supportive HR team who share knowledge and back each other
• Opportunities to shape our services and influence how we work
• 26 days’ holiday (pro rata)
• Holiday exchange scheme
• Pension scheme
• Monthly whole-team co-days in Sevenoaks, including lunch
• Free refreshments and snacks in the Sevenoaks office

Working pattern

This is a four-day-a-week role. Ideally your non-working day will be a Tuesday or Wednesday, as that fits around flexible working patterns already agreed across the team. We’re happy to discuss this at interview if another day would suit you better.