Senior HR Leader UK

People are at the heart of every manufacturing business. The challenge is making sure HR has a seat at the table when important decisions are made, not simply being brought in afterwards. If you've built your career in manufacturing, operational excellence, or continuous improvement environments, you'll understand the value of combining strong people leadership with commercial and operational awareness.

This role offers the opportunity to influence far more than policies and processes. You'll work closely with senior leadership to shape people strategy, support organisational change, develop talent, and create an environment where employees can do their best work. From recruitment and engagement through to complex employee relations and team development, you'll play a key role in how the business evolves.

Just as important, this role needs someone who can move comfortably between the shop floor and the boardroom. You’ll need to build trust and credibility with warehouse and manufacturing teams, be visible and approachable on site, and have the confidence to walk into senior leadership conversations with the same level of authority. The right person will understand how to earn respect at every level of the business.

With a long-standing incumbent preparing for retirement, this is a chance to step into a well-established organisation and leave your own mark. For someone who enjoys solving problems, developing people, and ensuring HR is viewed as a strategic function rather than an administrative one, there's plenty of scope to make a meaningful impact here.

Who’s it for and what’s in it for you?

Our creates the surfaces that shape the spaces where people live, work, learn and gather, from offices and hospitals to homes and retail environments. Combining design, manufacturing and sustainability, they help bring creative ideas to life with materials that are built to look great, last for years and perform in demanding real-world environments.

As for working there, you'll join a mission driven team and an employer that wants people to bring their best authentic selves to work every day. You'll get access to range of benefits to help both your work and your home life. This covers the essentials - like generous PTO, a matched pension, and supported career development - to the nice-to-haves, including things like discounted gym memberships, regular service and performance rewards, and even opportunities to get involved in your local community. They're an employer with heart!

What will your day to day look like?

The key focus of this role is to lead the full people agenda across two manufacturing sites in Shildon, partnering closely with operational leaders to support performance, engagement, compliance, and workforce development.

• Develop and deliver a people strategy aligned with manufacturing and operational goals
• Lead and develop the HR team, ensuring consistent support for managers, supervisors, and frontline employees
• Act as a trusted partner to Site Directors and senior operational leaders, influencing decisions and supporting performance
• Manage complex employee relations cases, including grievances, disciplinaries, absence, and performance matters
• Lead recruitment, workforce planning, skills development, and succession planning across both sites
• Support change, restructuring, continuous improvement, and operational excellence initiatives
• Partner with Health & Safety teams to reinforce a safe, positive, and engaged workplace culture
• Manage HR reporting, labour planning, HR systems, reward processes, and key people metrics

This is a strong opportunity to take ownership of a visible HR leadership role in a hands-on manufacturing environment, where you can shape people strategy, develop your team, and make a real impact across two busy operational sites.

This role will suit you if you…

• Have 5+ years’ HR leadership experience within manufacturing, engineering, production, or another operational environment
• Hold CIPD Level 7, Chartered Membership/Fellowship, or an equivalent senior HR qualification
• Have strong knowledge of UK employment law, especially within industrial or manufacturing settings
• Have experience managing HR across two or more operational sites
• Are confident handling complex employee relations matters with resilience and sound judgement
• Can build credibility with frontline warehouse and manufacturing teams, while confidently influencing senior leaders and board-level stakeholders
• Have experience leading, coaching, and developing HR teams
• Are confident using HR metrics, workforce reporting, labour planning, and data to support decision-making
• Have experience supporting recruitment, change management, restructuring, or continuous improvement projects

Think this could be your next role?

Then we’d love to hear from you! If you’re interested in applying or would like to see the full job description for this role, please get in touch with Ryan on [email protected]

The fine print

Reference number: 22382

Temporary or Permanent: Permanent

FMC contact for this role: Ryan Luckman