HR Partner - 18 Month FTC in Birmingham

Join CrossCountry and help shape the employee experience. Are you an experienced HR professional who thrives in a fast-paced, operational environment? Do you enjoy building strong relationships, providing practical people advice, and navigating complex employee relations challenges? At CrossCountry, we're looking for an HR Partner to play a key role in supporting our managers and colleagues across the business. This is an exciting opportunity to make a real impact by delivering expert HR guidance, fostering positive industrial relations, and helping create an inclusive and high-performing workplace.

Working within a highly unionised environment, you'll partner with managers, employees and Trade Union representatives to ensure fair, consistent and legally compliant people practices that support both our colleagues and our business objectives.

What You'll Be Doing

• Serve as the first point of contact for managers and employees, providing professional advice on HR policies, employment law and people-related matters.
• Manage a diverse portfolio of employee relations cases, including disciplinary, grievance, attendance, capability, performance and investigation processes.
• Support and coach managers through complex people matters, ensuring decisions are fair, consistent and aligned with company policies and employment legislation.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with Trade Union representatives, supporting consultation, local negotiations and the early resolution of issues.
• Provide expert guidance on terms and conditions, contracts, policies and procedural changes.
• Support organisational change initiatives, including restructures, TUPE transfers, role redesign and consultation activities.
• Maintain accurate HR records, case documentation and management information to support reporting, compliance and audit requirements.
• Contribute to workforce planning activities through analysis of absence, turnover and workforce trends.
• Lead proactive absence management activity, supporting complex and long-term cases and coordinating Occupational Health referrals where appropriate.
• Partner with HR Support and Resourcing teams to support recruitment, onboarding, probation management, contractual changes and employee lifecycle activities.
• Deliver training and coaching to managers on employee relations, HR policies and people management best practice.
• Champion a culture of inclusion, wellbeing, fairness and employee engagement.
• Ensure all HR activities are compliant with employment legislation, data protection requirements and company policies.

What We're Looking For

• Experience in a Senior HR Advisor, HR Partner or HR Manager role within a unionised, corporate or operational environment.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Proven experience managing complex employee relations cases from start to finish.
• Experience of working collaboratively with Trade Union representatives and supporting consultation processes.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building and influencing skills.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• CIPD Level 3 qualified (or currently working towards qualification).

Desirable

• CIPD Level 5 qualification or equivalent experience.
• Experience within transport, logistics, rail or another highly regulated industry.
• Experience using HR systems such as Workday.

Why Join CrossCountry?

At CrossCountry, our people are at the centre of everything we do. We are committed to creating an environment where colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered to succeed. This role offers the opportunity to:

• Make a meaningful impact across a nationally recognised organisation.
• Build strong partnerships with operational leaders and Trade Union representatives.
• Develop your HR expertise within a complex and dynamic environment.
• Contribute to organisational change and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Be part of a collaborative HR team dedicated to delivering an outstanding employee experience.

Diversity & Inclusion

At CrossCountry, we believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we serve. Inclusion is not just part of our strategy—it's fundamental to our success. We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels respected, valued and able to bring their authentic selves to work.

Ready to take the next step in your HR career?