Our client’s vision is to be the most loved, progressive and responsible way to travel for generations to come.

What you will be doing;

They have an exciting opportunity for an Employee Relations Manager to join the People Operations team, leading them on their journey in providing a proactive and comprehensive employee relations service. This role will be based out of the Head Office in York but will also involve travelling and working in various locations across the East Coast route.

Reporting into the Head of People Operations, the Employee Relations Manager will be responsible for leading and coaching the ER team as well as being an integral part of wider People team acting as expert advisor on all routine and complex ER/IR matters and helping it to effectively deliver best practice employee relations.

Working across multi-disciplined business areas you will be responsible for working closely with stakeholders across the network, providing specialist and technical advice, as well as playing a key role in developing and implementing the employee relations strategy. As Employee Relations Manager, you will manage and develop a true working partnership relationship with the Trade Unions.

You'll also be involved in;

Ensuring Employee Relations policies are in place that reflect best practice, are compliant with both current legislation and the business strategy on employee relations.
Working across all business streams to ensure first-class employee relations advice and support is delivered to the business and being viewed as a trusted advisor.
Ensuring that case management is consistent and line managers are effectively coached through issues and case management.
Setting appropriate expectations for governance, escalation and communication of ER risk and act as an escalation point for all high-risk ER issues.
Supporting on complex disciplinary and grievance issues and litigation strategy, relating to tribunal claims, early conciliation, and settlement.
Managing the production of periodic reporting and analysing HR data to proactively identify gaps in performance at organisational, functional or team level.
Coaching developing and empowering line managers, and People Business Partners on complex ER cases and all aspects of the ER cycle to deliver employee relations excellence in every way.
Keeping up to date with relevant employment legislation and effectively share and disseminate knowledge as appropriate.
Identifying and developing a list of ER KPI's and metrics to measure, analyse and report on to the Head of People Operations and business areas.
Working in partnership with the business to provide specialist coaching, support and influence that enables them to effectively deliver their people plans.
What you'll need:  

They are looking for someone who is an expert in the field of employee relations and has previous experience of working within a complex, regulated and highly unionised environment. You'll also have;

CIPD qualification and/or an employment law degree, diploma or recognised certification at an advanced level (or qualified by experience).
Proven ER experience including advising on complex disciplinary and grievance issues with the ability to apply the relevant legal principles and risk assessment.
Previous experience of leading a consultation process at both individual and collective level and preparing the relevant documentation.
Experience of supporting large scale organisational change and restructuring programmes including TUPE, redundancy and contractual variations.
Experience of partnering with trade unions and a good understanding of the trade union framework and collective bargaining.
Experience of employment tribunal preparation and representation (preparation essential, representation desirable).
Previous experience of leading a team.
Strong communication and influencing skills with the ability to interact and develop relationships effectively and at all levels.
Strong attention to detail, problem-solving ability and ability to deliver results to demanding deadlines.
£65,200 - £67,100 Closing date 1st December

Forward Assist Recruitment is operating as an employment agency. Forward Assist Recruitment is an Equal Opportunities employer; we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.