People and Culture Business Partner

Department: People and Culture

Reports to: Director of People and Culture

Salary: up to £45K DOE

Location: Manchester / Hybrid

The Opportunity

Join our People & Culture team and play a key role in shaping a positive, high-performing workplace. As a trusted partner to leaders and managers, you'll deliver practical, commercially focused people solutions that help drive business success and enhance the colleague experience. You'll use insight and data to influence decision-making, build leadership capability, and support colleagues throughout their career journey, while helping to bring our People & Culture strategy to life. This is an exciting opportunity to make a real impact in a business that values its people and their contribution to success.

Key Responsibilities

• Coach, guide and advise line management ensuring they are skilled and equipped to handle people-related matters including performance management, employee relations, and team development.

• Lead end-to-end recruitment and workforce planning for assigned business areas, partnering with hiring managers to attract and onboard skilled and technical talent aligned with operational needs.

• Responsible for delivering and developing effective talent management initiatives, including succession planning to develop key talent and drive retention and performance management.

• Support on embedding a culture of learning and development, ensuring mandatory training is undertaken and developmental training is encouraged looking after the end-to-end process and activities.

• Take a lead on any ER cases where required and support the wider HR team on any ER matters where required.

• Support on reviewing, updating and implementing HR policies and procedures to ensure legal compliance and alignment with best practice, regulatory requirements, and company values.

• Use insights from engagement surveys to drive action planning and initiatives that strengthen workplace culture, wellbeing, and community spirit.

• Provide key data for board reporting and use HR data analytics to identify workforce trends and support data-informed decision-making.

• Contribute to continuous improvement of HR policies, systems, and tools.

• Manage and support People and Culture projects and initiatives, working with the wider team to deliver the People and Culture strategy.

About You

• Proven HR generalist and HR Business Partner experience.

• Experience in developing Apprenticeship and Graduate schemes, Recruitment, Succession Planning and Learning & Development initiatives, leading implementation, supporting and developing line managers.

• Strong understanding of current Employment legislation and experience in managing complex ER cases.

• An excellent communicator with the ability to engage and build strong relationships at all levels and maintain confidentiality and act with discretion and diplomacy is crucial.

• Proactive team player who is able to foster and develop good working relationships.

• Self-starter and independent thinker with a customer and solution focused mindset.

• Work effectively on multiple initiatives and comfortable to make decisions and use independent judgement.

• Strong Microsoft Office & HR System knowledge.

Your Development and Benefits

At Leep, we believe in stable growth and putting our people first. Our 5-year strategic growth plan gives us stability today and prepares us for the future, while nurturing a strong collaborative and supportive culture.

Our benefits include:

• Salary which aligns to your experience and skillset

• 25 days paid holiday + bank holidays

• An additional day off to celebrate your birthday

• Annual discretionary bonus

• Company pension plan

• Health Cash plan through Westfield Health

• Option to purchase additional holiday days through our Holiday Buying Scheme

• Engagement events throughout the year, including Christmas Party, Summer Party and individual team socials

• Paid professional memberships relevant to your role and access to professional development opportunities

Our Values

At the forefront of everything we do:

Safety, Customer Promise, Accountability, Reliability, Respect, Flexibility

Equal Opportunities

Leep Utilities is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all staff and job applicants. We aim to create a working environment in which all individuals are able to make best use of their skills, free from discrimination or harassment. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. If you require any appropriate accommodations during the application or interview process, please let us know.