HR Business Partner - #2179805

HR Business Partner

Leeds & Manchester based

Financial Services

About the role

Our client is a respected specialist financial services business with a growing presence in the North of England. They are looking for a Senior HR Business Partner to lead HR for their UK Retail division of around 600 employees.

This is a genuine business partnering role. You will be the trusted HR adviser to the divisional leadership team, shaping people strategy and making sure it supports commercial goals. You will also lead and develop a small team of two HR professionals.

The role is hybrid, with two days a week in the Leeds city-centre office and one day a week in Manchester.

Key responsibilities

• Act as strategic HR partner to the UK Retail leadership team, influencing decisions on people, structure and culture.
• Translate business priorities into a clear people plan covering workforce planning, talent, capability and engagement.
• Lead organisational design and change programmes, including restructures and TUPE where needed.
• Coach managers to handle complex employee relations cases, owning the most sensitive matters personally.
• Drive the annual people cycle for the division: performance, reward reviews, succession and talent conversations.
• Use HR data and insight (turnover, absence, engagement, diversity) to spot risks and shape action.
• Champion inclusion, wellbeing and a high-performance culture across Leeds and Manchester.
• Work closely with HR centres of expertise (reward, talent acquisition, L&D, HR operations) to deliver joined-up solutions.
• Make sure people practices stay compliant with employment law and relevant FCA conduct requirements.

Leading the team

• Line manage two HR professionals, setting clear objectives and priorities.
• Coach and develop the team, building their capability and giving them stretch opportunities.
• Balance hands-on partnering with delegation, so the team covers day-to-day ER and advisory work across both sites.

What you'll bring

Essential

• Proven experience as an HR Business Partner supporting a population of several hundred employees.
• Background in financial services, insurance or professional services, ideally in a regulated environment.
• A track record of influencing senior leaders and building credibility with commercial teams.
• Strong employee relations expertise and sound knowledge of UK employment law.
• Experience leading organisational change, restructures or redesign.
• Experience managing, coaching or developing HR team members.
• Confident use of people data to inform decisions.
• Able to work from Leeds 2 days and Manchester 1 day each week.

Desirable

• CIPD Level 7 (or working towards) or equivalent experience.
• Experience supporting customer-facing, sales or operational teams.