People Partner - Employee Relations Lead

Reporting to: People Director

Location: Based at our new distribution site in the Midlands (Coventry area; exact location to be confirmed), with regular travel to our London (Victoria) head office and our Reading and Manchester sites. In the early months expect more time in London and at other sites, before settling into the Midlands base.

Package: £60,000 - £65,000 + annual discretionary bonus

About the Role:

Culture is at the heart of this role. We want Healthxchange to be a place where people feel respected, listened to and supported, and getting employee relations right is how that becomes real.

This is an ER-led role for someone who enjoys that work. You’ll lead employee relations across the business, with a focus on our multi-shift teams, managing casework end to end so it stays fair, consistent and legally sound. You’ll spend real time on site with operational managers, coaching them so most issues are resolved early and informally.

You’ll also work with the People Director on company-wide projects, including integration and TUPE, organisational change, and culture, reward and engagement, while helping build ER capability within the People team.

About Healthxchange:

Founded in 2000, Healthxchange is the leading supplier of medical aesthetic products and services to professionals across the UK & Ireland. We are the exclusive UK & Ireland distributor for brands including Obagi Medical and Epicutis, the exclusive professional channel partner for Medik8, and a long-standing partner to the leading injectables manufacturers. We supply over 10,000 clinics with a full range of products (skincare, injectables, energy-based devices) and services (software and education) to support their business needs. We are the #1 medical aesthetics distributor in the UK & Ireland and were named Distributor of the Year at the Aesthetics Awards in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2026.

What you will be doing:

Employee relations leadership

• Lead the end-to-end management of ER casework across the business, including disciplinary, grievance, capability, absence, performance, appeals and investigations.

• Ensure consistency and quality of casework and documentation, in line with the ACAS Code of Practice, company policy and statutory time limits.

• Advise managers on managing performance against measured output, attendance and shift patterns, ensuring fair and consistent outcomes.

• Advise on people matters relating to agency workers, temporary labour and locums, including engagement status, the Agency Workers Regulations and conduct and performance concerns, working with pharmacy leadership where professional registration or fitness to practise is engaged.

• Escalate complex matters to the People Director and refer matters with legal exposure to the General Counsel, preparing clear case summaries and supporting documentation.

• Manage the increasing volume and complexity of ER matters, including those involving AI-generated grievances, submissions and correspondence.

• Utilise ER data to identify trends in case volumes, absence and turnover, providing actionable insights and recommendations to the People Director and senior management.

Operational partnering and early resolution

• Serve as a trusted advisor and primary point of contact for managers and team leaders, maintaining a regular, visible on-site presence and building strong relationships across all shifts.

• Champion a proactive approach to employee relations, identifying and resolving issues early to reduce the need for formal processes and external advice. Success in the role will be measured by the proportion of matters resolved informally, time to resolution, manager confidence and reduced external advisory spend.

• Coach and upskill managers and newly promoted team leaders in people management, difficult conversations and handling ER matters confidently and consistently.

• Design and deliver practical guidance and training for managers on policies, processes and legislative changes.

Employee voice and engagement

• Build effective employee voice mechanisms across the operational workforce, supporting engagement and retention.

• Build and maintain constructive relationships with trade unions or employee representative bodies where applicable, and lead or support collective consultation processes.

• Keep the business informed and prepared in relation to trade union access rights and related legislative change.

• Identify opportunities to enhance culture, recognition and engagement across the business, and contribute to relevant initiatives.

Change, integration and company-wide projects

• Draft, review and update our people policies across the UK, Republic of Ireland and Bailiwick of Guernsey for approval by the People Director, keeping them current with legislative change and clear enough for managers to use without having to ask.

• Make sure policy works in practice, not just on paper: track how it is being applied and recommend changes where it is not delivering the results we need on absence, turnover, time to resolution and training compliance.

• Work with the People Coordinator, who leads on our HR system, to make sure policy and process changes are reflected in workflows, forms, templates and reporting — so that what the policy says is what actually happens day to day.

• Support consultation processes, harmonisation of terms and conditions and integration projects, TUPE.

• Support the People Director on company-wide People projects relating to culture, reward and engagement.

People team capability and resilience

• Provide mentoring for the People Coordinator and Talent Advisor on ER, developing their knowledge of employment law and its application to each situation.

• Provide continuity and cover for ER expertise within the People team, releasing People Director capacity for strategic planning, projects and executive partnering.

• Cover recruitment in the absence of the Talent Advisor, managing vacancies end to end - from agreeing requirements with hiring managers through advertising, shortlisting and interviewing to offer - and keeping candidates and hiring managers updated.

• Operate as a member of the Senior Management team, contributing a people perspective to operational and business planning. Deputise for the People Director when needed.

What we need from you:

Essential:

• Hands-on experience in employee relations within a high-volume operational environment, such as warehousing, logistics, distribution or manufacturing

• Experience supporting multi-shift, site-based workforces, including managing high case volumes, absence and performance against measured output

• Experience supporting a workforce that includes agency, temporary or self-employed workers

• Strong, up-to-date knowledge of UK Employment Law and the ACAS Code of Practice, with the ability to apply it pragmatically to each situation

• Proven track record of managing complex ER cases end to end, with great attention to detail and a clear understanding of the importance of accurate documentation

• Experience of working with trade unions or employee representative bodies, including collective consultation

• Sound commercial judgement — able to weigh legal risk against operational and financial impact, and give managers clear, proportionate advice rather than defaulting to the most cautious route

• Analytically minded and confident working with people data — able to interrogate case, absence and turnover data to identify trends and make the case for action. Strong Excel and HR systems skills

• Confident in coaching line managers and building their capability, including newly promoted team leaders

• Experience of supporting organisational change (e.g. consultation processes, TUPE, international expansion, set-up of new sites)

• Confident in building relationships and trust across all levels of the company, from operational colleagues to senior leaders

• Able to be discreet and professional, exercise sound judgement and maintain confidentiality

• A self-starter who can work autonomously in a fast-paced environment

• Proactive in finding ways to resolve issues early and improve processes

• CIPD Level 5 qualified, or equivalent experience

• Able to work from our new Midlands distribution site and travel regularly to our London head office and our Reading and Manchester sites, including occasional overnight stays (expenses covered), with the flexibility to meet teams across all shifts.

Desirable:

• CIPD Level 7 qualified or Chartered membership

• Experience of end-to-end recruitment, ideally including volume hiring for operational roles

• Experience of supporting the opening or scaling of a new operational site

• Knowledge of Republic of Ireland employment law; awareness of Bailiwick of Guernsey employment law

• Knowledge of employment law in other European countries

• Experience in pharmacy, healthcare or another regulated wholesale or distribution environment

Benefits