Employee relations partner

Job Description

Sysco GB (Whose operating companies are made up of Brakes, Fresh Direct, Kent Frozen Foods, Medina, Campbells Prime Meat & Fairfax Meadow) are recruiting for two Employee Relation Partner’s on a full time, permanent basis. Ideally, you will be located within the Reading or London area, or the Warrington or Manchester region.

Reporting to the Head of Employment Relations, you will lead complex employee relations initiatives, managing complex cases including tribunal. The role will have clear geographical responsibilities across all departments and partner with leadership to develop and implement strategies that foster a positive, productive and legally compliant work environment. You’ll serve as an expert in employee relations, supporting the development of policies, handing sensitive and high-profile issues, and providing guidance to leaders at all levels of the organisation.

This role is primarily home-based, with flexibility to travel up to two days per week. Travel will include visits to London, Manchester and other depot locations across the UK for senior leadership meetings, engagement with third-party partners, and supporting complex casework. A full clean driving license is required.

Key Responsibilities:

Named contact for Addleshaws, HR and senior leadership in a geographical area of the business. Providing both practical as well as strategic guidance on complex employee relations issues and ensuring adherence to company policies, legal compliance, mitigation, reputational and minimizing commercial risk

Lead in the development and implementation of programs, initiatives along with supporting material that improve employee and industrial relations, and overall workplace culture

Lead with complex cases which require multi departmental approach including HR, H&S, legal and line management teams to resolution, ensuring fair and consistent outcomes. This would include legal cases such as tribunals, judicial mediation or ACAS claims

Lead the review and development of employee relations policies, procedures, standard operating process to ensure they are up to date with current legal standards and reflect best practices

Facilitate the communication and implementation of revised policies, process and best practices across the organization, ensuring broad understanding and consistent application

In conjunction with Head of ER, design training programs and supporting materials for line managers on best practices in employee relations, conflict resolution, and workplace behavior and working with 3rd parties such as Unions and Occupational Health

Develop resources and tools to support managers in effectively handling day-to-day employee relations issues and foster an inclusive work environment

Support the head of ER when working in partnership with the leadership team, our legal providers identify potential areas of high risk related to employee relations and advise leadership on preventive measures to mitigate risks such as litigation (Tribunals, judicial mediation & ACAS)

About you:

We are looking for a highly skilled Employee Relations Partner who thrives in complex environments and can confidently navigate challenging employee relations issues from diagnosis through to resolution. You will bring strong analytical capability to identify root causes and implement solutions that strengthen organisational culture while balancing commercial priorities and reputational risk. As a trusted expert in conflict resolution, you will manage sensitive and complex cases with fairness and integrity, influencing positive, sustainable outcomes.

With experience in Employee Relations and a minimum CIPD Level 5 qualification, you will have operated within large-scale organisations (circa 5,000+ employees), ideally across retail, distribution, or manufacturing sectors. You will be equally comfortable working across both blue-collar and white-collar populations and have significant experience with trade unions, including collective bargaining, wage negotiations, and wider industrial relations (IAR and target unions). Strong stakeholder management is essential, as you will partner with senior leadership teams and work autonomously across multiple priorities. You will also bring experience working with external partners such as occupational health providers, legal advisors, and ER triage services, alongside a strong understanding of employment law, high ethical standards, and a passion for developing others in best practice employee relations.

The role is home based, with frequent weekly travel to different sites across GB and comes with a competitive base salary, attractive car allowance of £5500 per annum, private healthcare, competitive pension scheme, an additional holiday purchase scheme, award-winning products at virtually cost price and a range of perks and discounts through our online benefits platform