Lead HR Business Partner

At Esland, your work changes children’s lives. We provide the care, education and therapeutic support that helps vulnerable young people turn the curve on their futures. This role keeps that work safe. Our managers deal with difficult people situations, often at short notice and often with a safeguarding edge. They need someone who will get those decisions right, quickly and fairly, so their attention can stay where it belongs. Your role You will lead our four HR Business Partners, and you will personally hold the casework that cannot be handed on. Disciplinary, grievance, capability, dignity at work. The ones with real consequences attached. You are also the senior link between HR and safeguarding. That means you own the people side of LADO referrals and allegations against staff, working alongside our safeguarding leads and the HR Director. Expect to spend your time with managers, not only with policy. Some days you will be at our Belper office. Others you will be in one of our homes or schools, helping a manager hold a fair line when it would be easier not to. The best measure of your first year is fewer issues escalating at all, because managers handled them earlier and better. You will report to our HR Director and support tribunal and settlement matters with her. Skills, Knowledge and Expertise • CIPD Level 7, or CIPD Level 5 with substantial senior HR experience • Experience leading or supervising HR Business Partners or advisers • A track record of owning complex employee relations casework end to end • Deep, current knowledge of UK employment law and the ACAS Code • Confidence with safeguarding-linked HR, including LADO and allegations against staff • Credibility and resilience with senior stakeholders, and the nerve to challenge a decision • A full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle, as the role involves site travel What we offer • salary up to £55,000 per annum, plus £3,000 car allowance • 28 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and your birthday off • Hybrid working from our Head Office in Belper, 2-3 days per week • A team of four HR Business Partners to lead, coach and develop • Serious, varied casework across 64 residential homes, 5 assessment homes and 5 schools • Direct access to the HR Director and our senior leadership team • Funded professional development, including CIPD • A wide range of benefits, including our employee assistance programme, 24/7 GP access, the Green Car Scheme, a Health Cash Plan, and retail and gym discounts • Real scale, 850 plus colleagues, with a people function close enough to the business to change things