Employee Relations & Policy Specialist

Working closely with the Employee Relations Manager and Consultants, the Employee Relations (ER) & Policy Specialist will guide and coach managers through a wide range of employee relations matters, ensuring they can confidently interpret and apply the organisation’s policies, frameworks and tools. As the first point of contact for ER enquiries, they will triage cases, determine the appropriate level of support, and manage their own caseload with a focus on ownership, resolution and maintaining a positive working culture.

The person in post will provide timely, legally sound and commercially minded advice to managers on matters such as performance management, sickness absence, probation, disciplinary and grievance. They will foster strong relationships across the business, offering constructive challenge where needed and empowering leaders to resolve issues effectively and at an early stage. With a commitment to fairness, consistency and compliance, they will ensure processes align with employment legislation, uphold the organisation’s values and contribute to the development of management capability.

A key part of the role involves maintaining accurate ER data, identifying trends and supporting the creation of meaningful insights. The postholder will work closely with internal and external stakeholders, including Occupational Health, to ensure effective case management and the mitigation of people-related risks. Acting as a champion of the Group culture and People Strategy, they will help drive accountability in people management practices, support proactive interventions and contribute to a positive and productive workplace environment.

We operate on a team led hybrid approach with at least 2 days a week in the Coventry office.

You’ll be passionate about contributing to an organisation that values the experience of its members, customers and colleagues, and you’ll communicate clearly and pragmatically while building strong, trusting relationships with stakeholders. Approachable and able to put managers at ease with sensitive or confidential issues, you’ll bring strong commercial awareness, sound employee relations knowledge and a good grasp of UK employment law.

For this role you’ll need to have:

• Strong understanding of UK employment legislation and HR best practice, with experience of applying this pragmatically to achieve business outcomes.
• Proven experience of managing volume employee relations cases.
• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment
• Good problem solving and decision-making skills with natural curiosity to get to the root of issues and fully understand the situation.
• High attention to detail, and a high degree of discretion and confidentiality.
• Experience of supporting managers on ER issues and/or policy interpretation/implementation.

Experience in these areas would be helpful:

• Have familiarity with employee relations case management systems
• Be CIPD qualified
• Experience of working in financial services, banking or insurance sector or in a regulated business.