HR Business Partner – 12-month maternity cover

SOCOTEC’s Central Services team provides essential support across HR, Finance, IT, Digital, Marketing, Communications and Operations, enabling our business and technical teams to deliver high-quality services to clients across the UK. By managing recruitment, staff development, payroll, financial planning, digital systems, and internal communications, we ensure smooth operations, efficiency and innovation throughout the organisation. Our people-focused, collaborative culture empowers colleagues to contribute ideas, work safely, and grow their careers while supporting SOCOTEC’s mission to deliver trusted, market-leading services in infrastructure, environmental, and technical sectors.

What's in it for you?

Your expertise deserves recognition. Alongside a competitive salary, we offer a comprehensive benefits package including 25 days’ holiday (with the option to buy more), an electric car scheme (where applicable), employee recognition programmes, family-friendly support, exclusive retail discounts, employee assistance programmes, and an enhanced company pension. SOCOTEC UK & Ireland is proud to be Disability Confident accredited.

Are you an experienced HR Business Partner who can combine commercial understanding with sound people judgement and confidently influence senior operational leaders?

We are looking for an established HR Business Partner with experience owning a broad people agenda and partnering with senior operational leaders. Candidates seeking to progress into an HRBP role should be able to demonstrate relevant partnering, organisational change and complex case-management experience beyond operational HR advice and casework.

You will develop and deliver business-area people plans, use workforce insight to identify priorities and provide constructive challenge on organisational capability, talent, performance and people risk. You will also lead complex employee-relations matters and significant organisational change, including restructuring, redundancy, TUPE and integration activity.

This is an established HRBP position requiring someone able to assume independent portfolio responsibility and quickly build credibility with senior stakeholders.

Hybrid working may be available in accordance with company policy and operational requirements. Regular travel to SOCOTEC locations is an essential requirement, including occasional overnight stays. A full UK driving licence is required because some locations are not reasonably accessible by public transport.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Partnering with senior operational leaders to develop and deliver people plans aligned with business priorities.
• Providing commercially focused advice and constructive challenge on workforce, organisational and people matters.
• Leading complex or higher-risk employee-relations matters and the people aspects of significant organisational change and business-unit integration, helping geographically dispersed teams align ways of working and collaborate effectively.
• Supporting workforce planning, organisational design, talent, succession and career-pathway activity.
• Using workforce and financial information to identify risks, recommend action and monitor outcomes.
• Providing direction and professional guidance to HR Advisers while working collaboratively with specialist HR teams.

We are looking for an established HR Business Partner with experience owning a broad people agenda and partnering with senior operational leaders. Applications from candidates ready to progress into an HRBP role are welcome, but they must demonstrate relevant partnering, change and complex case-management experience - not solely operational HR advice or casework.

You should have:

• Broad HR generalist experience, including responsibility for a defined business area or operational portfolio.
• Experience influencing and constructively challenging senior leaders and translating business priorities into practical people actions.
• Strong employment-law knowledge and experience leading complex, sensitive or higher-risk employee-relations matters.
• Experience supporting significant organisational change, such as restructuring, redundancy, TUPE, acquisition or integration activity.
• Experience using workforce information to support planning, talent, succession and organisational decision-making.
• Strong commercial judgement, communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• The ability and willingness to travel regularly, including occasional overnight stays.

A CIPD Level 5 qualification, or equivalent relevant professional knowledge and experience, is expected. CIPD Level 7 or Chartered Membership would be desirable.

Why SOCOTEC?

Join a diverse and growing organisation employing more than 2,500 people across technical, professional and operational environments. This role offers genuine ownership of a varied employee-relations caseload, exposure to organisational change and workforce initiatives, and the opportunity to work closely with experienced HR Business Partners and operational leaders.

Your Career, Your Way

Build a traditional career path or explore opportunities across multiple disciplines - all within SOCOTEC. Your choice, your direction.

Committed to Your Growth

You will have access to training, support and development opportunities throughout your time with SOCOTEC. We encourage colleagues to broaden their experience, strengthen their professional capability and take ownership of their development. #YouGrowWeGrow

Think you've got what it takes to add value to our success? We would love to hear from you and look forward to receiving your application.

Building a safer and more sustainable world is the core mission we set out to achieve at SOCOTEC, it is at the heart of everything that we do. We are committed to acting as a key player in society, investing in innovative solutions to ensure social and environmental concerns are at the forefront of all of our business operations.

Candidate identified already - role not to be advertised