People Partner / ER Specialist

The Role

We're looking for an experienced People Partner – Employee Relations to be a trusted advisor to leaders and the HR Business Partner, driving best-in-class employee relations across the business. This is a highly specialised role with a strong focus on managing complex ER matters, organisational restructuring, and workforce transitions while ensuring compliance with employment legislation and company policies.

You'll lead sensitive employee relations cases from start to finish, partner with business leaders on organisational change, and play a key role in works council consultations and negotiations. Combining sound employment law knowledge with a pragmatic, people-focused approach, you'll help create positive outcomes for both employees and the business while supporting a culture of fairness, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

This role offers the right candidate the opportunity to grow their career, make a meaningful impact, and be part of an inclusive, innovative, global FMCG organization supported by 25,000 employees worldwide.

Principle Accountabilities

• Lead complex employee relations cases, including disciplinary, grievance, performance, sickness, investigation, and exit processes, ensuring fair and compliant outcomes
• Manage organisational restructuring and workforce transition activities, including consultation processes, redundancies, redeployment, and employee communications
• Lead works council consultations and negotiations, partnering with business leaders to deliver effective engagement strategies and ensure legal compliance
• Provide expert guidance to leaders and HR stakeholders on employee relations matters, employment legislation, policies, and organisational risk
• Analyse employee relations trends and identify opportunities to improve policies, processes, and ways of working while promoting best practice across the business
• Support key People & Culture initiatives, mentor colleagues, and collaborate with specialist HR teams to deliver consistent, high-quality people solutions

Skills and Experience Required

• Proven experience in a senior Employee Relations or HR Business Partner role with significant expertise in complex ER case management
• Strong knowledge of employment law, works council processes, organisational restructuring, and workforce change management
• Demonstrated experience managing sensitive investigations, long-term sickness, performance management, and employee lifecycle matters
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships across all levels of the organisation
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to balance commercial priorities with employee experience and legal compliance
• A collaborative and proactive approach, with excellent communication skills and a passion for driving continuous improvement in People & Culture practices

What We Offer

In return for playing your part in building our future, you will receive a comprehensive compensation package with salary, bonus scheme and further benefits as well inspiring places to work and collaborate with purpose. Here at Imperial we will give you the opportunity to grow and learn, innovate at pace and be a part of our purpose to forge a path to a healthier future for moments of relaxation and pleasure for our consumers.

Everyone Belongs

Everyone belongs in Imperial. We are proud of being a truly inclusive organisation. We encourage and welcome applications from people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, nationalities, disabilities, sexual orientation, religions or beliefs and of neuro divergence. We give fair and equal consideration to all our applicants. Please contact us at recruitment@impbrands.com to let us know if we can provide support in helping you complete an application and/or attend an interview.

About Us

We're a truly international company, fourth largest in our industry and operating across 120 markets. An inclusive, innovative global FMCG business supported by 25,000 employees. As we embrace a new era of growth, we are transforming. Our ways of working and culture are driven by a challenger mindset, constantly questioning the status quo where people can bring their best selves to work. Our agility and collaboration are driving our ambitions, innovation and success all supported by our award-winning development programmes that creates exciting and rewarding career opportunities for all.  Encouraging inclusion at local levels and supporting a developing and robust diversity agenda globally, we’re fully committed to creating and maintaining an environment that celebrates and respects difference.

As a matter of policy, Imperial Tobacco or its subsidiaries never requests or requires payment as part of any recruitment process.