Michael Page has been retained to recruit a Head of Employee Relations for a leading rail organisation - as a key part of the People strategy, with a focus to strategically drive change across the organisation.

Client Details

Our customer is a leading rail organisation who is embarking on a period of change, as part of the wider rail reform projects.

They pride themselves in a culture centred around; Safety, Customer-centricity, Performance, Integrity, and Collaboration.

Description

Reporting into the HR Director, and as part of the People team SLT, the Head of Employee Relations will lead a small team to drive change across the employee relations landscape with a view to ensure that the organisation has a stronger and more productive working relationship with its people and the trade unions.

You will also work as a key strategic partner with the Director of Operations & Customer Relations to ensure true engagement with the direction of the organisation's key drivers for a headcount of c.1,000 people.

The key focus for this role is to:

• Devise a gap analysis of the current employee relations strategy to inform the change in strategy
• Develop and deliver the employee relations strategy, supporting the Director of Operations & Customer Relations and wider ELT team, to deliver productive employee relations across the organisation
• Being the subject matter expert on policy, terms and conditions including advice for the wider business on the strategic employee relations agenda
• Responsible, in partnership with the Director of Operations & Customer Relations, for organisational level negotiations with Trade Unions on behalf of the business, especially during periods of major organisational change
• Lead the improvement of direct employee relations and trade union relations by acting on feedback to improve engagement and performance
• Lead, mentor, and develop the Employee Relations Manager in delivering day-to-day operational support to the organisation in respect of employee relations issues
• Ensuring the effective measurement of employee relations performance with relevant KPI's and targets, and providing detailed progress updates for the HR Director and ELT

This role is based in Manchester, with a hybrid relationship to office working - with a 3:2 (office: home) pattern, therefore being based in the North West would be an advantage.

Profile

To be considered for this Head of Employee Relations role, you will have proven experience within a senior / leadership capacity, which has supported businesses in achieving their strategic goals within a commercially driven environment.

Essential:

• You will have experience of working within a business with a diverse customer group, and ideally with a strong customer-centric focus - such as rail, engineering, manufacturing, FMCG etc.
• You will have proven experience within a generalist role and implementing change
• You will have significant Trade Union relationship management experience
• You will have excellent employment legislation knowledge and application experience
• You will have change consultation skills and experience
• You will have experience of dealing with complex employment issues within a collective bargaining environment
• You will have experience of supporting Operational functions
• You will have experience of working within a business with a diverse customer group, and ideally with a strong customer-centric focus - such as rail, engineering, manufacturing, FMCG etc.

Desirable:

• You will desirably have an employment law qualification
• You will desirably have project management experience
• You will desirably have project management qualification
• You will desirably have knowledge of pension funds

Job Offer

This role offers a salary of £75,000 to £85,000 (dependent on experience), plus an excellent suite of benefits.