Join us as Senior HR Manager

This is a high-impact HR leadership role within a complex, high-profile mega-project. As Senior HR Manager, you will play a key role in shaping and delivering the people agenda across the programme, acting as a trusted strategic partner to senior leaders, managers and employees.

You will provide expert HR leadership across the employee lifecycle, balancing strategic priorities with operational excellence. Working closely with senior stakeholders, you will provide credible challenge, insight and coaching on organisational effectiveness, employee relations, workforce planning, talent, performance, engagement, culture and change.

You will be instrumental in ensuring that our people strategy supports the successful delivery of the project, while fostering a high-performance, inclusive and values-led culture.

This is an opportunity to influence a landmark infrastructure programme and make a lasting impact on how we attract, develop, engage and retain our people.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic HR Leadership & Business Partnership

• Act as a trusted HR partner and strategic adviser to senior leaders and management teams, providing expert advice, insight and constructive challenge.
• Lead the HR agenda for designated business areas, ensuring people priorities are aligned with programme objectives, workforce requirements and commercial goals.
• Translate business and project priorities into effective people strategies, plans and interventions.
• Use workforce data, organisational insight and market intelligence to identify trends, risks and opportunities and inform senior-level decision-making.
• Provide strategic advice on organisational design, workforce planning, resource requirements and organisational capability.
• Build strong relationships across a complex, matrixed organisation, influencing stakeholders at all levels and ensuring consistency of approach.

Employee Relations & Risk Management

• Provide senior-level guidance on complex and sensitive employee relations matters, ensuring a fair, consistent and legally compliant approach.
• Coach and challenge managers through complex performance, disciplinary, grievance, absence and capability processes.
• Lead or oversee investigations and complex case management, ensuring appropriate governance, documentation and risk mitigation.
• Proactively identify people-related risks and recommend solutions to senior stakeholders.
• Ensure HR practices reflect current UK employment legislation, case law and best practice.

Talent, Performance & Organisational Capability

• Drive a high-performance culture through effective performance management, objective setting, feedback and accountability.
• Partner with leaders to identify critical skills, capability gaps and future workforce requirements.
• Lead talent management and succession planning activities, ensuring a strong pipeline of internal talent for key roles.
• Coach and mentor leaders and managers to strengthen their people leadership capability.
• Work closely with Learning & Development to shape and deliver targeted development interventions.
• Support the identification and development of high-potential talent across the programme.

Workforce Planning, Recruitment & Onboarding

• Partner with senior leaders and recruitment teams to develop workforce plans aligned to project delivery requirements.
• Provide strategic oversight of recruitment priorities, ensuring the programme attracts and retains the skills and capabilities required for successful delivery.
• Influence recruitment strategy, role design and resourcing decisions in line with organisational and commercial priorities.
• Ensure effective onboarding and integration of new employees into the programme and its culture.

Change, Culture & Employee Engagement

• Lead and support people-focused change initiatives associated with organisational growth, transformation, restructuring and evolving project requirements.
• Partner with leaders to embed the programme’s Purpose, Principles and Cultural Pillars.
• Champion an inclusive, high-performing culture and actively support diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
• Use employee engagement insights to identify opportunities and lead meaningful interventions that improve employee experience and organisational effectiveness.
• Act as a visible HR leader and role model for the organisation’s values and behaviours.

HR Governance, Data & Continuous Improvement

• Ensure robust HR governance, processes and controls are maintained across the programme.
• Use HR data, dashboards and people analytics to provide meaningful insight and support evidence-based decision-making.
• Monitor key people metrics and proactively identify trends, risks and opportunities.
• Drive continuous improvement across HR processes, policies and employee experience.
• Work collaboratively with HR Shared Services, Learning & Development, Reward, Payroll and other specialist teams to ensure an integrated HR service.
• Support the development and implementation of HR initiatives, policies and programmes across the wider organisation.

Leadership, Coaching & Stakeholder Management

• Build trusted relationships with senior executives, project leadership and managers across the organisation.
• Demonstrate the confidence and credibility to challenge constructively and influence decisions at senior level.
• Act as a trusted confidante on complex and sensitive people matters, providing balanced, commercially aware and pragmatic advice.
• Coach and develop managers and HR colleagues, contributing to the overall capability and effectiveness of the HR function.
• Promote collaboration across functions, cultures and organisational boundaries.

Essential Criteria

• Degree qualified and professionally qualified through an accredited HR organisation such as CIPD.
• Significant experience in a senior HR management/business partnering role, ideally within construction, infrastructure, engineering or another complex project environment.
• Proven experience partnering with and influencing senior leaders within a complex, fast-paced and/or matrixed organisation.
• Strong track record of leading the HR agenda across a business area, programme or major project.
• Extensive experience managing complex employee relations matters from initial advice through to resolution.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment legislation, HR best practice and employment risk management.
• Demonstrable experience of organisational change, workforce planning, talent management, succession planning and organisational development.
• Strong commercial acumen and the ability to understand business strategy, project delivery requirements, financial considerations and workforce implications.
• Exceptional communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to challenge and advise senior leaders.
• High emotional intelligence and the ability to build trusted relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Proven coaching and mentoring capability, with experience developing managers and future talent.
• Highly organised, proactive and comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy in a complex project environment.
• Strong analytical capability, with experience using HR data and insights to inform decisions and identify trends.
• Digitally confident, with experience using HR systems, LMS platforms, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office and other digital tools.
• A strong commitment to inclusion, employee experience and creating a high-performance culture.
• A role model for organisational values, demonstrating integrity, sound judgement and the confidence to provide expert and independent advice.

Desirable Criteria

• Previous HR experience within a major infrastructure, construction, engineering or capital projects environment.
• Experience working within a large-scale, complex and highly regulated programme.
• Experience operating within a matrix organisation involving multiple partners, contractors and stakeholders.
• Experience of supporting significant organisational growth, mobilisation or transformation.
• Experience with HR reporting, people analytics and workforce data.
• French language skills.

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to take a senior HR leadership role on one of the UK's most ambitious infrastructure programmes.

You will have the opportunity to shape the people agenda, influence senior decision-making and help build the culture, capability and workforce required to deliver a project of national significance.

If you are an experienced HR leader who combines strategic thinking with strong commercial judgement, exceptional stakeholder management and a genuine passion for people, we would like to hear from you.