At Places for People, we hire People, not numbers! So, if you like the sound of one of our jobs, please apply - you could be just who we're looking for! Of course, experience and track record are important, but we're more interested in hiring someone that embodies our People Promises. That's someone that does the right thing, is enthusiastic and motivated to grow, believes in Community spirit, is respectful and enjoys their work. As the UK's leading Social Enterprise we're dedicated to creating inclusive and thriving Communities for both our Customers and Employees.    

 So, what are you waiting for? Join a Community that cares about you!  

More about your role 

We are looking to recruit a Senior People Business Partner on an initial fixed term contract until August 2027. 

As a Senior People Business Partner will you'll play a pivotal role in enabling our Group Support Functions (e.g. IT, Finance, Risk, Assurance, Legal, HR) to deliver against our strategic ambitions. 

Partnering directly with the Group Support Services Executive and Senior Leadership Teams, you'll operate as a trusted advisor and critical friend, shaping and delivering people strategies that drive business performance. 

This is a high-impact, fast-paced role, requiring an experienced HR Professional who can quickly build credibility, navigate complexity, and work independently with minimal direction. 

Your role will involve translating business strategy into clear, actionable people plans, where you will provide the right balance of insight and challenge to shape decision making.  This will involve enhancing leadership and management capabilities as well as specialist skills that are future proof. You'll oversee the talent management process which includes succession planning and talent assessment through ensuring line managers actively engage in talent decisions and communicate development needs transparently, creating strong internal pipelines and addressing gaps.  

Additionally, you'll devise and deliver comprehensive workforce plans, aligning skillsets, quantities, locations, and timelines with operating models. 

Collaboration with colleagues in Centres of Expertise will be vital to implement initiatives and achieve collective success. You'll drive employee engagement, leading active plans to address survey feedback. Strategic data management will be key for business success, driving effective action planning and analysis.  

You'll likely lead on complex change programmes (including TUPE, restructures, business integrations) and you'll ensure change is delivered effectively, with strong engagement, risk management and legal compliance. 

You'll be aligned to one of our key offices (Preston or London), with regular travel between sites and occasional wider business travel. 

For more information please download our job profile available on our website. 

At Places for People, we are committed to a safe working environment so a basic DBS check is mandatory. 

More about you 

The successful candidate will have: 

• Substantial senior HR generalist or Business partnering experience within a fast-paced complex matrix environment with multiple senior stakeholders; 
• The ability to establish credibility quickly with Group Exec and SLT to enable successful influencing and challenge;
• A proven track record of delivering business improvement through effective partnering, you'll have a real drive for continuous improvement and sustainable change; 
• Strong commercial acumen, familiar with understanding a P&L and using data driven insight to make commercial decisions to improve performance;
• Experience leading large-scale, complex change and transformation programmes;
• Deep knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice and so either hold a CIPD Level 7 qualification or have significant equivalent experience. 

Benefits  

We are a large diverse and ambitious business, which will give you all the challenge you could wish for. 

We know that there's always more we can do to make you smile, that's why we offer a comprehensive benefits package with each role, yours will include: 

• Competitive salary, with a salary review yearly
• Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
• Excellent holiday package – up to 35 days annual leave (Including bank holidays) with the option to buy or sell leave
• Cashback plan for healthcare costs – up to £500 saving per year
• Annual bonus
• Car Allowance/Company Car 
• Training and development
• Extra perks including huge discounts and offers from shops, cinemas and much more 

What's next?

If you meet the criteria and are ready to make the next step in your career then apply following our simple 5 minute application process, upload a CV and a supporting statement which demonstrates how you meet the requirements of the role. If you have any questions please email the recruitment team recruitment@placesforpeople.co.uk 

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we offer a guaranteed interview to candidates who are disabled, neurodiverse, or have served in the Armed Forces, provided you meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in your application. 

We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview experience, please let us know. We're happy to work with you to ensure you have the opportunity to perform at your best.

If you are a Places for People customer and you're looking for support with your application, please contact our skills and employment team on skillsemployment@placesforpeople.co.uk. 

Please note that we may bring the closing date forward, if we receive a large number of quality applications. If you are interested in this role we would advise applying immediately to avoid disappointment.

If you are using a mobile device such as an iPad then ensure your CV is stored in the cloud, we currently support Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox.

We understand the importance of a supportive and inclusive work culture so please talk to us at interview about flexibility you may need. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we promise not to judge you for asking. For this role we are open to discussing the possibility of reduced hours, flexible start and finish times or compressed hours.  

If you are a recruitment agency please note we operate a PSL and do not take cold calls

Safeguarding

At Places for People, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to creating safe communities for our customers and colleagues by protecting children, young people, and adults at risk from harm, abuse, and neglect. 

We follow robust safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring all employees, volunteers, and contractors uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and accountability. Our recruitment process includes pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where applicable, to promote a safe and secure working environment. 

By joining Places for People, you are expected to contribute to our safeguarding culture, following our policies and reporting concerns to protect those in our communities