Who Are We
Surface Transforms are world leading in the design, development and Manufacture of carbon-ceramic brakes for high performance and luxury automotive sector.
Here at Surface Transforms, our vision is mobility through braking innovation and our mission is to 'Innovate and develop a sustainable, world leading, high performance braking system that redefine the limits of mobility. Investing in our people to drive excellence & create lasting value.'
Our Values:
Leadership - United, decisive and recognising success
Collaboration - Support others, listen with intent and challenge each other
Communication - Ask why, be inclusive and adapt your methods
Ambition - Be bold, believe and be irrepressible
Excellence - Strive for brilliant, achieve high standards and continually improve
Trust - Be real, trust yourself and support others
We are looking for a proactive and commercially minded People Partner to join our People team. Acting as a trusted advisor to operational and functional leaders, you'll drive a people strategy that supports productivity, capability, and culture across our manufacturing environment. This role blends strategic partnership with hands-on delivery, ensuring we have the talent, engagement, and organisational effectiveness needed to achieve our commercial goals.
What you'll be doing as our People Partner:
Partner with leaders to shape and deliver people plans aligned to business priorities such as productivity, quality, safety, and growth.
Use workforce data and insights to identify trends, risks, and opportunities that inform decision-making.
Support organisational design, workforce planning, and succession planning.
Provide expert guidance on employee relations matters, ensuring fair, consistent, and compliant outcomes.
Coach managers to confidently handle day-to-day people issues.
Champion a positive, inclusive, high-performance culture across shop floor and office environments.
Support initiatives that strengthen employee engagement and retention.
Drive effective performance management through clear expectations, feedback, and development conversations.
Advise on reward, benefits, and recognition approaches suited to an SME environment.
Promote wellbeing initiatives tailored to manufacturing shift patterns and physical work demands.
Support change initiatives including restructures, process improvements, and technology implementation.
Contribute to continuous improvement of People processes, systems, and ways of working.
The Skills, Knowledge and Experience you will need as our People Partner:
Proven experience in a generalist HR Advisory or People Partner role, ideally within manufacturing, engineering, or similar operational environments.
Strong understanding of UK employment law and HR best practice.
Confidence working with shop floor teams, supervisors, and senior leaders.
Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery.
Skilled in coaching, influencing, and building trusted relationships.
Comfortable working in a fast-paced SME environment with evolving processes.
Data literate with the ability to interpret metrics and present insights.
Need to have:
CIPD Level 5 (or above) qualification or equivalent experience.
Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to support organisational change and improvement initiatives.
Experience in manufacturing or engineering sectors.
Experience supporting organisational design or workforce planning projects.
You'll have these personal attributes:
Pragmatic, solutions-focused, and commercially aware.
Approachable and credible with employees at all levels.
Resilient, adaptable, and comfortable with ambiguity.
Passionate about people development and organisational culture.
Proactive, self-starting, and able to work independently.
What we'll give you in return:
Attractive salary
25 Days Annual Leave + Bank holidays
Extra day Annual Leave for your birthday
A confidential employee assistance helpline covering physical and emotional support
Jobs are promoted internally providing job transfer opportunities
Death in service scheme
Hours: Monday - Thursday 8am - 5pm, Friday 8am - 2.30pm
Salary: £40,000 - £45,000