People & Culture Manager (FTC)

People & Culture Manager (FTC)

Contract: Government, Healthcare & Education (People & Culture)
Location: Stoke (or Midlands / North West based)
Hours of work: 37.5 per week
Contract type: Fixed Term Contract – 9 months

Our client, a leading provider of facilities services in the UK, is seeking a People & Culture Manager (FTC) to partner closely with managers across the business, providing expert people advice that supports positive and effective working relationships at both individual and team level.

This role has a strong emphasis on Employee Relations, supporting smaller-scale restructures and delivering high-quality, risk-aware people advice in line with established People & Culture processes and policies.

The postholder will work in partnership with Centres of Excellence to embed People Solutions across the business, applying structured project and change management approaches. The role balances People Solutions activity (40%) with People Advisory support (60%) across the Healthcare portfolio, including delivery of annual cycle activities and centrally owned initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Employee Relations activity across the Healthcare portfolio, managing escalations, high-risk and appeal cases.
• Act as senior people partner for two complex or underperforming sites, owning people issues and driving sustainable improvement.
• Provide clear policy and procedure guidance and coaching to managers to ensure compliance and minimise risk.
• Manage end-to-end Employee Relations casework, including investigations, disciplinary and grievance processes.
• Analyse ER trends, identify root causes and implement targeted action plans, including manager upskilling.
• Support organisational design activity, including restructures, workforce remodelling and change initiatives.
• Own and deliver employee engagement and communication activity aligned to business priorities.
• Use HR data and management information to drive performance and translate insight into practical action.

Working with People Solutions / Centres of Excellence

• Embed People Solutions, People & Culture initiatives and annual cycle activities within relevant business areas.
• Support restructures and TUPE activity in collaboration with relevant Centres of Excellence.
• Manage union liaison activity where required, working alongside the Employee Relations Centre of Excellence.
• Apply structured project and change management to ensure sustainable implementation of people solutions.

Person Specification

• Proven experience in a broad People & Culture / HR Generalist role.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, people policies, TUPE and experience in unionised environments.
• Demonstrated experience managing disciplinary and grievance investigations end-to-end.
• Experience supporting restructuring and organisational change programmes.
• Strong problem-solving, conflict resolution and mediation skills.
• Confident, customer-focused advisor to managers and senior stakeholders.
• Ability to design, implement and embed people solutions aligned to business needs.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, particularly in sensitive and complex situations.

Additional Information

• The role requires travel to sites 2-3 days per week; a full driving licence is essential.