Why Riverford?
Each week, Riverford delivers outstanding organic food to around 65,000 homes across the UK. This takes loads of brilliant people, from veg growers and box packers to IT experts, and more besides.
We're a friendly, forward-thinking bunch, and our core values run through everything we do. Riverford is 100% employee owned, so working here makes you a 'co-owner' – and it's not just a name Everyone can play a part in shaping our business. Success means much more than just profits; we want this to be a place people enjoy coming to work, and a business our co-owners feel proud of.
Riverford is proud to be a B Corp; the certification for ethical businesses which work to benefit people and planet. In 2022, we were named one of the Best for the World B Corps This means that our positive impact on staff scored in the top 5% of all B Corps of our size worldwide.
We're thrilled to have made this year's Top 100 UK Best Large Companies list It's a well-earned recognition of the hard work and passion of our co-owners, and the unique culture we've grown together—a place where everyone can roll up their sleeves, grow, and truly enjoy the journey.
What you'll be doing
This is an exciting opportunity to join Riverford, partnering our Production, Supply Chain and Farm teams, which consists of over 400 team members and their managers across 7 locations.
Reporting into the Head of People and Culture, you will be a strategic partner to the Production Director, Supply and Technical Director and their teams to create and deliver a people plan that drives engagement, retention, and development to meet the demands and complexity of growth, contributing to our goal of becoming a World Class Place to Work.
You will help them forecast their resource and capability needs, plan for succession and look at organisational design to ensure we have the right people in the right places. You will coach and challenge your operational partners to embed and maintain our strong organisational values that are core to us as an employee-owned business.
You will support the planning and delivery of change projects and initiatives that affect your area, as well as working collaboratively with our central People Team based in Devon. You must understand the longer-term and wider implications of decisions made at local levels and be able to guide and advise to ensure the right outcomes. You will support the delivery of, sometimes complex, change projects that require project management skills and stakeholder engagement ability.
You will be one of three People Business Partners, and as part of the People Leadership Team, you will influence and contribute to the delivery of the People Strategy and act as a support for the wider People Team.
This role will require regular travel to our Production and Farm site in Peterborough, which involves some overnight stays. You must therefore be comfortable with independent working and be able to build relationships with people you don't see every day.
This is a fixed-term position, 9-12 months. The role is 40 hours per week, Monday-Friday.
This role is primarily office-based, with occasional travel required approximately once a month. Flexible working options are available; however, the nature of the role and partnering areas will require some in-person interactions.
Your responsibilities
* Be a partner to Senior Managers to help them achieve departmental strategic and operational goals through their people.
* Coach leadership and management teams in your partner areas to support their development as Riverford leaders and role models, recognising that co-ownership is fundamental to our ways of working.
* Monitor local labour turnover and absence data, supporting managers to interpret themes and implement improvement actions.
* Coach managers to interpret and respond to co-owner survey results, finding creative ways to explore the feedback to create action plans, ensuring the conversations are kept going all year round.
* Collaborating with the leadership team in your areas to implement change projects, representing the People aspect within project teams, including necessary consultation and communication plans—such as those related to personnel changes caused by new systems or efficiency initiatives.
* Guide and collaborate with managers to ensure new starters have high-quality inductions that set them up for success with Riverford and ensure they feel connected to the wider business, recognising the challenge of being in remote and/or lone working roles.
* Work with the central Engagement team to promote company initiatives, such as the co-owner survey, wellbeing week etc.
* Attend operational leadership meetings where required to offer constructive challenge and support, and ensure key people messages are communicated.
* Work with managers to ensure their teams are fit for future success, considering organisational design, recruitment and development.
* Guide managers through workforce planning activities to create a picture of what resources and skills are needed, sharing insight with the Talent and L&D teams.
* Give managers a framework to identify high-potential talent, preparing for future roles through succession and development planning.
* Work with the Learning & Development Manager to identify and respond to the development needs of certain groups/teams within your areas to drive success now and in the future.
* Collaborate with the BP and wider People team to identify and deliver, cross-functional ways of working and messaging.
* Provide mentoring and guidance to other members of the People team to enable an environment of continued professional development.
Skills & experience
* HR Business Partnering or generalist experience within a fast-paced environment
* Would benefit from experience of working in a values-driven organisation
* CIPD level 5 qualified or equivalent experience
* Commercially astute and able to see the bigger picture and find ways around problems to reach the best outcome
* Experience or knowledge of organisational change
* Good understanding of Employment Law
Personal qualities
* Ability to build strong relationships and work collaboratively with key stakeholders
* Self-motivated with the ability to plan your own workload and manage your own time
* Strong influencing skills with the confidence to challenge in a supportive way
* Creative and able to do things that really add value and enhance people's experience of Riverford.
* Ability to engage and coach managers whilst challenging thinking style and ways of working.
* You will enjoy working in an environment that treats people on an individual level.
Salary
£44,298 - £51,750