Location: Birmingham
Working Model: Hybrid (with flexible arrangements available)
Salary: Circa £65k

We're working with a leading higher education establishment on a key hire within their HR team as they look to hire a Senior Industrial Relations and HR Policy Manager to lead on shaping their Employment Relations strategy, evolve HR policy frameworks, and manage critical relationships with Trade Unions and senior stakeholders.

If you've led on Industrial Relations and Employment Relations within a complex unionised organisation, and want to make a meaningful impact in a values-led environment, this could be an excellent fit.

What Makes This a Great Opportunity

You'll join an organisation with a people-first culture, sector-leading development initiatives, and a genuine commitment to inclusion, innovation, and wellbeing. This is a highly visible role with real scope to shape policy, influence decision-making, and collaborate with senior leaders and Trade Unions alike.

Alongside the opportunity to make a lasting impact, you'll benefit from a generous holiday package (40 days including bank holidays), access to a top-tier pension scheme, and a suite of generous family friendly and wellbeing benefits.

What You'll Be Doing

• Leading the development and implementation of the organisation wide Employment Relations strategy
• Building and maintaining constructive relationships with Trade Unions, consulting, negotiating and managing change effectively
• Overseeing the design and governance of HR policies, ensuring alignment with legislation, and best practice
• Collaborating closely with colleagues across HR (e.g. Reward, Talent, Operations) to deliver joined-up services and policy interpretation
• Providing guidance and training to ensure legislative and policy awareness across the HR team
• Supporting major organisational projects and strategic HR initiatives

What You'll Need

• Proven experience managing Employment Relations and policy development in large, complex organisations
• A deep understanding of employment law, consultation frameworks, and strategic HR leadership
• CIPD L7 qualified (or equivalent experience) with a solid track record in operational and strategic HR delivery
• Strong communication and influencing skills with the ability to work at pace and manage multiple workstreams
• An inclusive, proactive, and collaborative approach with a passion for supporting continuous improvement

James Andrews is acting as an employment agency and business in relation to this role.

At James Andrews Recruitment Solutions we try to respond to all applications personally, however, due to the high volume of applications this is not always possible. If you have not heard back from us within 72 hours, please assume that your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.