Lead HR Business Partner

Location: Bristol, GB, BS2 0TB Devon, GB, PL4 0SD Bodmin, GB, PL31 1DE

Division: Chief Executive

Requisition Number: 57825

Job Function: Human Resources

About us

At National Grid, we light up the world by harnessing the unique strengths of our people. Join us as a Lead HR Business Partner to be part of a team that's driving forward the energy transition, creating a brighter, more sustainable future for all.  

Unleash your superpower and bring energy to life. 

Job Purpose

The Lead Business Partner role delivers a dedicated and tailored HR service to assigned business areas (of around 1000-1500 colleagues) on strategic people related solutions including talent, succession and development planning, strategic workforce planning, coaching and developing leaders to create high performing, inclusive environments, enabling them to manage colleagues in line with our leadership essentials and company values. 

It also includes identifying people related interventions to resolve local challenges and needs, for example by leading on key HR strategic initiatives and projects. The primary objective of the role is to deliver people priorities which support the business strategy and have a direct, positive impact on the business.

The successful candidate will have strong influencing, facilitation, and communication skills to work effectively with business leadership teams. They will navigate complexity and work in partnership across the NGED people team, and Group People Function. The role is supported by a People Advisor and so includes line management accountability to ensure a total coordinated approach and effective delivery to the business area. 

What you'll do

• Working with the People team and business to develop and deliver an appropriate people plan (as a sub-section of the overall people strategy/ priorities) for their business areas, to enable them to achieve their goals and create value add.
• Provide high quality, consistent, risk and evidence-based advice for all levels of management and people leaders within the assigned business areas for all matters related to the management of employees, acting as a trusted advisor to build a reputation as a credible, professional, and flexible HR professional.
• Lead and drive key organisation and business led projects, priorities and activities (e.g. DEI strategy, talent solutions, Grid Voice (people survey) etc).
• Support the talent agenda for NGED, and in particular their business areas.
• Work with a range of specialist colleagues within the Group People Function and with the Head of Business Partnering and People Integration, to provide tailored, best practice Solutions to business problems.
• Analyse key themes, trends (internal and external) and performance metrics to identify how different scenarios may impact on the business and make recommendations for moving forward.
• Working closely with ER specialists to ensure compliance with policies and procedures to minimise the number of tribunals, grievances and complaints that occur because of breaches of procedure.
• Proactively seek opportunities to build knowledge of National Grid, the NGED business and their specific business area and requirements to provide tailored ‘fit for purpose’ advice.
• Identify and proactively manage/mitigate people risks through targeted interventions in line with the NGED people strategy and business need.
• Work within the established TU frameworks to ensure issues are raised and addressed in a timely manner, representing the business unit on established groups and forums as required. 
• Line manage a People Advisor and support their development and performance, ensuring an aligned service delivery to the business area and the achievement of agreed goals. 

About you

• Demonstrable experience providing professional, risk and evidence -based advice, tailored to the needs of the business, ideally within a large utility sector organisation.
• Broad knowledge and experience across the full spectrum of HR activities including strategic HR planning, talent, development & succession planning, DEI, ER, organisation design/development to provide a rounded service to the business area.
• Strong influencing and communication skills to build strong relationships at all levels of the organisation and with a broad range of stakeholders.
• Ability to analyse complex situations and make well-considered decisions quickly and confidently.
• Experience of managing projects from initiation to implementation and review.
• Ability to think medium term and work alongside the function to translate the strategy into operational HR solutions.
• Exceptional facilitation skills to work collaboratively with the business.
• Ability to work collaboratively across the HR function to develop an integrated HR approach.
• Ability to work with the function leads to identify HR interventions/solutions to any business challenge.
• Demonstrates the ability to understand the connections between the business and relevant research or information.
• Able to challenge constructively and influence for positive people outcomes and to uphold Company Values. 
• Confident with large volumes of data and comfortable working in highly confidential environments.
• Competent in MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook.

What you'll get

A competitive salary Circka £70,000 – dependent on capability

As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus of up to 15% of your salary for stretch performance and a competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%. You will also have access to a number of flexible benefits such as a share incentive plan, salary sacrifice car and technology schemes, support via employee assistance lines and matched charity giving to name a few.

More Information

The closing date for this vacancy is 6th September. However, we encourage candidates to submit their applications as early as possible and not to wait until the published closing date. National Grid’s recruitment periods can and may vary. We reserve the right to remove this advert or close it to further applications at any point during the recruitment process.

DE & I statement 

At National Grid, we work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office.

Our goal is to drive, develop and operate our business in a way that results in a more inclusive culture. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, the innovation from diverse teams & perspectives and business need. We are committed to building a workforce so we can represent the communities we serve and have a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.