Senior Employee Relations Manager

Location: RG7 4PR, located between Reading and Basingstoke, with free onsite parking.

Package: This will be dependent on you suitability, qualifications, and level of experience

Working pattern: AWE operates a 9-day working fortnight. We will consider flexible working requests so that your work may fit in with your lifestyle. Just let us know your preferred working pattern on your application.

Let us introduce the role

We are looking for a Senior Employee Relations Manager to lead the HR consultancy services to the business, including a team of ER specialists. You will have the specialism of employee relations whilst maintaining generalist HR linkage to the wider HR function to support the needs of the business.

In this role you will deliver high quality HR services to the business, managing the delivery of team activities through working with peers and appropriate stakeholders; providing the relevant technical expertise; ensuring that services are meeting customers' needs; and creating a culture of continuous improvement and process optimisation whilst providing a fair and consistent approach to the organisation's policies and procedures and promoting a positive ER culture within the business. Managing discussions and building relationships with Trade Unions is a large part of the role so experience in this area is a must.

This is an exciting time to join AWE as we are going through a period of growth and change particularly in the HR function.

You will be required to:

Participate and manage discussions with the Trade Unions (TUs) as required, and build relationships with local TU representatives
Advise, guide, support and coach managers with all matters relating to employee relations
Lead a team of Senior ER consultants; ensuring that capabilities and solutions represent good practice and deliver business need
Regularly review individual and team performance to identify and resolve issues and drive improvements in line with expectations
Be the expert and escalation point for your area of specialism for the HR function
Provide expert support to the Heads of HR and HR Operations Team
Anticipate legal updates, ensure they are interpreted for our business and take action to maintain the service
Support and train colleagues to manage and maintain HR policy in the specialist area
Support business and HR projects as the dedicated lead for HR policy ensuring provision of creative and specialist advice and guidance
Ensure HR related documentation (hard copy and electronic) is appropriately handled, managed and retained in compliance with data privacy regulations, including the archiving process; and ensure all correspondence and documentation produced is accurate, using approved templates

Everyone who works at AWE brings unique skills and perspectives to the table. We recognise that great people don't always 'tick every box'. That's why we focus on your potential, your fit with our values, your transferable skills as well as your experience. Even if you don't meet every point below, but you feel that this role and AWE are a great fit for you, please go ahead and apply, we'd love to receive your application.

Whilst not to be considered a tick list, we'd like you to have experience in some of the following:

Chartered Member of the CIPD or equivalent
Higher education in a Human Resources related area
Experience of trade union negotiation and consultation and management of external suppliers
Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and engage others
Strong facilitation and mediation skills
Expert coaching skills and the ability to inspire trust and confidence in others
Analytical skills and thinking - comfortable with the use and interpretation of data from a variety of sources
Employment tribunal experience
Project management experience gained in a HR environment
Proven success in developing and managing a high performing team

You'll need to have the ability to work calmly and constructively in a priority changing environment and be able to manage your own workload. You will also have initiative, enthusiasm, a flexible approach, and ability to work to tight deadlines.

Some reasons we think you'll love it here:

AWE has wide range of benefits to suit you. These include:

9-day working fortnight - meaning you get every other Friday off work, in addition to 270 hours of annual leave.
Market leading contributory pension scheme (we will pay between 9% and 13% of your pensionable pay depending on your contributions).
Family friendly policies: Maternity Leave - 39 Weeks Full Pay and Paternity Leave - 4 Weeks Full Pay.
Opportunities for Professional Career Development including funding for annual membership of a relevant professional body.
Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health Services.
Life Assurance (4 x annual salary).
Discounts - access to savings on a wide range of everyday spending.
Special Leave Policy including paid time off for volunteering, public service (including reserve forces) and caring.

The 'Working at AWE' page on our website is where you can find full details in the 'AWE Benefits Guide'.

Important things you need to know:

You will need to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for the role. This will be funded by AWE. The nature of our work does mean you need to be a British Citizen who has been resident in the UK for the past 5 years in order to apply for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.
We want you to feel comfortable and able to shine during our recruitment process. Please let us know on your application form if you need any adjustments/accommodations during the process.
Our interviews typically take place over Teams and for most roles are a 1 stage process.

Hybrid working is available for this role on an informal, non-contractual basis.

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