Hopwood Hall College

Provides vocational education and higher education

HR Business Partner

HR Generalist & Employee RelationsPosted on Nov 12

Full-timeManchester, UKNo salary listedIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

Significant generalist human resources experience, including managing complex employee-relations cases.
Ability to confidently advise, influence, and challenge managers.
Strong understanding of employment law and human resources best practice.
Experience supporting organisational change and workforce planning.

Responsibilities

Build strong relationships with managers by providing expert advice, coaching, and constructive challenge.
Lead complex employee-relations matters, ensuring fair, consistent, and effective outcomes.
Support workforce planning, organisational development, and change initiatives.
Help shape recruitment, retention, and employee-engagement strategies.
Use human resources data and insights to identify trends and recommend improvements.
Contribute to developing human resources policies, processes, and management capability.
Coach, advise, and challenge managers on recruitment and retention, probation, attendance management, performance management, and organisational change.
Support business areas in managing staffing needs by monitoring workforce establishment and supporting staffing requests.
Provide strategic oversight of agency and contractor usage in designated business areas, identifying trends, risks, and opportunities to reduce reliance on temporary staffing as part of workforce planning.
Support strategic recruitment and retention planning, and develop talent-attraction and retention initiatives that support the college as an employer of choice.
Work with managers and the wider human resources team to oversee recruitment, onboarding, and induction effectiveness in designated business areas, identifying and addressing recurring or significant issues.
Advise and guide managers on complex employee-relations processes, supporting them throughout while ensuring college policies and procedures are followed.
Advise and support human resources advisers on complex, high-risk, or precedent-setting employee-relations matters, taking the lead when cases involve significant organisational, legal, or reputational risk.
Contribute to developing and delivering the human resources plan and, with the human resources manager, lead delivery of key aspects of the plan.
Lead and contribute to reviewing, developing, and implementing human resources policies, procedures, and guidance.
Design and deliver training to managers on human resources initiatives and policies.
Contribute to internal steering groups and networks, and represent the human resources team or college at external events.
Lead organisational-design and development, transformation, workforce-development, and workforce-planning conversations across the college.
Use human resources systems and workforce data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities and support evidence-based workforce decisions in designated business areas.
Oversee contractual-change processes in designated business areas, ensuring changes are authorised, communicated, and accurately reflected in human resources systems.
Report and analyse human resources data for business areas and key initiatives, monitor trends, and advise managers.
Support data reporting for management information and external organisations as required.
Respond to staff and manager queries, forwarding them to other team members as appropriate.
Maintain and improve professional knowledge through events, webinars, training, networking, and wider reading.
Share knowledge, learning, and insights with other members of the human resources team.
Mentor and support other members of the human resources team.
Contribute to continuous improvement of human resources activities and services.
Attend and participate in human resources team meetings.
Support the wider human resources function by sitting on recruitment panels and delivering staff training, including induction training.
Support wider college events and curriculum teams as required, including interview-skills training with students.
Undertake other duties of a similar level of responsibility as required.

Help shape our people, our culture and our future!

Are you an experienced HR professional who enjoys influencing change, challenging thinking and making a real difference?

We're looking for a confident and forward-thinking HR Business Partner to join our team at Hopwood Hall College. You'll work closely with managers to tackle complex people challenges, strengthen management capability and help shape the future of our workforce.

As our HR Business Partner, you will:

Build strong relationships with managers, providing expert advice, coaching and constructive challenge.
Lead on complex employee relations matters, ensuring fair, consistent and effective outcomes.
Support workforce planning, organisational development and change initiatives.
Help shape recruitment, retention and employee engagement strategies.
Use HR data and insights to identify trends and recommend improvements.
Contribute to the development of HR policies, processes and management capability.

We're looking for someone who:

Has significant generalist HR experience, including managing complex employee relations cases.
Can confidently advise, influence and challenge managers.
Has a strong understanding of employment law and HR best practice.
Is experienced in supporting organisational change and workforce planning.
Is proactive, solutions-focused and passionate about making a positive difference.

If you're an experienced HR professional looking for an opportunity to influence, develop and make a real impact, we'd love to hear from you!

HR Business Partnering (specific business areas)

· Coaching, advising and challenging managers on people-related activities including recruitment and retention, probation, attendance management, performance management and organisational change.
· Support business areas to manage their staffing needs by monitoring the workforce establishment, supporting with staffing requests.
· Provide strategic oversight of agency and contractor usage within designated business areas, identifying trends, risks and opportunities to reduce reliance on temporary staffing as part of effective workforce planning.
· Support with strategic recruitment and retention planning and developing talent attraction and retention initiatives that support the college in being an employer of choice.
· Work with managers and the wider HR team to oversee the effectiveness of recruitment, onboarding and induction within designated business areas, identifying and addressing recurring or significant issues
· Provide expert advice and guidance to managers on a range of complex employee relations processes, supporting them throughout the process while ensuring that all college policies and procedures are adhered to.
· Provide expert advice and support to HR Advisers on complex, high-risk or precedent-setting employee relations matters, taking the lead where cases involve significant organisational, legal or reputational risk.

HR initiatives and Policies

· Contribute to the development and delivery of the HR Plan. In conjunction with the HR Manager, take a lead on the delivery of key aspects of the plan.
· Lead and contribute to the review, development and implementation of HR policies, procedures and associated guidance
· Design and deliver training to managers on HR initiatives, policies etc.
· Contribute to internal Steering Groups and Networks as well as representing the HR Team/college at external events
· Lead on the facilitation of organisational design and development, transformation, workforce development and workforce planning conversations across the college.

HR System/Data

· Use HR systems and workforce data effectively to identify trends, risks and opportunities, supporting evidence-based workforce decisions within designated business areas
· Provide oversight of contractual change processes within designated business areas, ensuring changes are appropriately authorised, communicated and accurately reflected within HR systems.
· Report on and analyse HR data for business area/key initiative, monitoring trends and advising managers
· Support with data reporting for management information and external organisations as required.

Wider team support and personal development

· Respond to queries from staff and managers, forwarding on to other team members as appropriate
· Ensure continuous development and improvement of professional knowledge to ensure the College is at the forefront of HR initiatives and good practice through attendance at events, webinars, training, networking and wider reading etc.
· Proactively share knowledge, learning and insights with other members of the HR team.
· Mentor and support other members of the HR team
· Contribute to the continuous process improvement of HR activities and services
· Attend and participate in HR team meetings
· Support the wider HR function by sitting on recruitment panels and delivering staff training i.e. induction training
· Support wider college events and curriculum teams as required I.e. interview skills training with students

· Any other duties of a similar level of responsibility as required.

Interviews will take place week commencing 30 November 2026

About the Company

Hopwood Hall College

Provides vocational education and higher education

Hopwood Hall College is a vocational further education provider with two campuses near Manchester. It offers a wide range of vocational courses from foundation level to foundation degrees, delivered through practical programs at facilities like Learning Resource Centres, a Technology Centre, an Image Salon, a licensed restaurant, and a Centre for Life Sciences. The college has invested over £30 million in capital upgrades to its campuses and resources, providing services like an on-site nursery and welfare benefits for staff and students. Its goal is to prepare learners for work or further study by equipping them with up-to-date skills and to operate as an equal opportunities employer with a strong Equality & Diversity commitment.

Company size: 501-1,000
Company stage: Not listed
Total funding: Not listed
Headquarters: Rochdale, United Kingdom
Founded: Not listed

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