Lead Employee Relations Specialist
Job Location: Janus House, Endeavour Dr, Basildon SS14 3WF
This is a full-time, on‑site position (5 days per week) with flexibility as required
What does a successful Lead Employee Relations Specialist do?
A successful Lead Employee Relations Specialist at Fiserv shapes and delivers a proactive, insight-driven ER approach that protects the business while enabling people to thrive. They partner with leaders and HR colleagues to translate ER data into practical interventions, build manager capability, and reduce risk across the UK and wider EMEA. They are a trusted advisor who models Fiserv’s Partner in Possibility mindset and helps sustain a high-performance, inclusive culture.
What you will do:
* Lead and own end-to-end ER casework, including disciplinaries, grievances, investigations, performance and absence management, and flexible working requests.
* Advise leaders and HRBPs with clear, commercially balanced, and legally compliant recommendations on complex and sensitive employment matters.
* Partner with Legal, HR Centres of Excellence and Operations to ensure consistent ER practice, governance and compliance with UK employment law and ACAS guidance.
* Analyse ER data and workforce trends, produce reporting on case volumes and hotspots, and translate insights into targeted risk-reduction actions.
* Design, review and maintain ER policies, templates and SharePoint resources to ensure they are practical and user friendly.
* Coach and mentor HR colleagues and line managers, and design/deliver manager training on investigations, performance, absence and conflict resolution.
* Lead and support redundancy, restructuring and change programmes with a focus on fairness and effective risk mitigation across multiple EMEA locations.
* Act as an escalation point for high-risk cases and provide pragmatic judgement to protect employees and the organisation.
What you will need to have:
* Strong working knowledge of UK employment law, ACAS codes, and best-practice ER frameworks.
* Proven capability managing high-volume, complex ER casework with impartiality and professional judgement.
* Demonstrable stakeholder management and influencing skills with senior leaders and cross-functional partners.
* Data literate with the ability to turn ER metrics into actionable insights and clear reporting.
* Excellent communication and coaching skills to build manager confidence and elevate ER capability.
What would be great to have:
* Experience supporting ER matters across other jurisdictions in EMEA (for example Italy, Spain or Dubai).
* Background in contact centre, production or retail environments where ER volumes and complexity are high.
* Familiarity with HRIS and case management systems to streamline ER processes.
* Experience partnering with Legal on litigation and complex employment tribunal matters.
* CIPD Level 5 (if not already listed under Education) or equivalent professional accreditation.
What we offer:
* Enjoy 10–20 days each year to work from anywhere in the world
* Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
* Living Proof Points – Recognition scheme with points redeemable at high‑street retailers.
* Service Awards – Living Proof points awarded on milestone anniversaries.
* Candidate & Client Referral – Financial reward for successful referrals.
* Group Personal Pension Plan with L&G – Up to 7.5% employer contribution.
* Life Insurance – 4× basic annual salary.
* Group Income Protection –
* Local Festival Leisure Discounts – Discounts at Basildon venues including Hollywood Bowl and Festival Wakeboard & Aqua Park.
* UNUM Help@Hand – Financial guidance, savings and discounts.