Employee Relations Specialist - 12 Month FTC in London

About us
We are champions of rail, inspired to build a greener, more sustainable future of travel. Trainline enables millions of travellers to find and book the best value tickets across carriers, fares, and journey options through our highly rated mobile app, website, and B2B partner channels. Great journeys start with Trainline. Now Europe’s number 1 downloaded rail app, with over 135 million monthly visits and £6.3 billion in annual ticket sales, we collaborate with 270+ rail and coach companies in over 40 countries. We want to create a world where travel is as simple, seamless, eco-friendly and affordable as it should be. Today, we're a FTSE 250 company driven by our incredible team of over 1,000 Trainliners from 50+ nationalities, based across London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Edinburgh and Madrid. With our focus on growth in the UK and Europe, now is the perfect time to join us on this high-speed journey.

Introducing the Trainline People Team
Our People team is here to make Trainline a great place to work, and employee relations sits right at the heart of that. As our Employee Relations Specialist, you'll be the go-to expert for ER casework across the business on a 12-month fixed term contract, owning cases end-to-end and giving managers the confident, practical guidance they need at every stage, from a tricky conversation to a formal investigation.

You'll work closely with line managers, HR Business Partners and the wider People team, building the templates, toolkits and processes that help us handle ER consistently and efficiently as we grow. This is a role for someone who takes real pride in getting ER right, both for the business and for the individual, and who's excited by the chance to streamline and modernise how we manage casework administration.

In this role as the Employee Relations Specialist, you will...

• Own and manage a varied caseload of employee relations matters, including disciplinaries, grievances, capability processes, absence management and settlement agreements, from initial scoping through to resolution.
• Lead formal investigations, including planning investigation scope, conducting interviews, gathering evidence and producing clear, objective investigation reports.
• Chair or support formal hearings, such as disciplinary, grievance, capability and appeal hearings, and prepare the accompanying outcome documentation.
• Apply the ACAS Code of Practice and current UK employment law consistently, ensuring every case reflects Trainline's policies and standards.
• Manage cases involving trade union representatives with professionalism and care, drawing on a solid understanding of collective employee relations obligations.
• Provide practical, confident advice to line managers and HR Business Partners, coaching them to build their own capability in handling employee relations matters.
• Spot patterns across casework and flag emerging or systemic issues to the People leadership team.
• Own case administration and documentation, including letters, scripts, file notes and case trackers, while identifying opportunities to streamline and automate our employee relations processes.

We'd love to hear from you if you have...

• Significant, demonstrable experience managing employee relations caseloads end-to-end within a UK employment context, including disciplinaries, grievances, capability, absence and investigations.
• A deep working knowledge of the ACAS Code of Practice and UK employment law, with the confidence to apply both in practice.
• Experience managing cases involving trade union representatives or shop stewards.
• A track record of producing high-quality employee relations documentation, from scripts and invitation letters to detailed investigation reports and outcome letters.
• Strong organisational skills and administrative rigour, with a natural ability to keep accurate records in a process-driven environment.
• Genuine enthusiasm for improving how employee relations administration works, with an interest in automation and building better systems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage clearly and empathetically with employees and managers at all levels.
• Ideally, some exposure to employee relations or employment law in European jurisdictions such as France, Spain or Italy.
• You may also have a CIPD qualification (or be working towards one), or experience in a fast-paced, high-growth or technology business.

More information:
Enjoy fantastic perks like private healthcare & dental insurance, a generous work from abroad policy, 2-for-1 share purchase plans, an EV Scheme to further reduce carbon emissions, extra festive time off, and excellent family-friendly benefits. We prioritise career growth with clear career paths, transparent pay bands, personal learning budgets, and regular learning days. Jump on board and supercharge your career from day one! We're operating a hybrid model and ask that Trainliners work from the office a minimum of 60% of their time over a 12-week period. We also have a 28-day Work from Abroad policy.

Our values represent the things that matter most to us and what we live and breathe everyday, in everything we do: Think Big - We're building the future of rail, Own It - We focus on every customer, partner and journey, Travel Together - We're one team, Do Good - We make a positive impact.

We know that having a diverse team makes us better and helps us succeed. And we mean all forms of diversity - gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, nationality and diversity of thought. That's why we're committed to creating inclusive places to work, where everyone belongs and differences are valued and celebrated.

Interested in finding out more about what it's like to work at Trainline? Why not check us out on LinkedIn, Instagram and Glassdoor!