HR Business Partner (Manufacturing)

Location: Flexible across UCC Coffee UK&I locations predominately based at the Dartford Roastery (3 days) Milton Keynes (1 day).

Travel: Regular travel required across UCC Coffee UK&I manufacturing sites, offices, and distribution locations.

Job Purpose

The HR Business Partner (HRBP) is a strategic and operational people leader responsible for partnering with manufacturing and functional leaders to deliver the people agenda across UCC Coffee UK&I. Working closely with site leadership teams, the HRBP will drive organisational performance through effective workforce planning, employee relations, talent management, colleague engagement, leadership coaching, organisational development, and change management.

The role requires a strong background in manufacturing and operational environments, with the ability to support multiple locations, build strong stakeholder relationships, and ensure people practices, support business objectives, operational excellence, and a positive employee experience.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Business Partnering:

• Partner with Manufacturing (Supply Chain), Operations, Service Engineers, and Functional leaders to align people strategies with business objectives.
• Act as a trusted advisor to leaders on organisational design, workforce planning, succession planning, talent development, and employee engagement.
• Support the delivery of UCC Coffee UK's people strategy and transformation initiatives.
• Use people data and business insights to identify trends and develop solutions that improve organisational performance.

Employee Relations & Employment Law:

• Lead and support complex employee relations cases including disciplinary, grievance, capability, absence management, and organisational change processes.
• Provide expert guidance on UK employment legislation and HR best practice.
• Ensure consistent application of company policies and procedures across all sites.
• Mitigate organisational risk through proactive case management and coaching of managers.

Manufacturing & Operations Support:

• Partner with manufacturing and operational leaders to support productivity, efficiency, quality, and safety objectives.
• Develop HR solutions that support shift-based, operational, and front-line colleague populations.
• Support leaders in managing workforce challenges including recruitment, retention, absenteeism, skills shortages, and workforce flexibility.
• Drive initiatives that improve colleague engagement, wellbeing, and operational performance.

Organisational Change & Transformation:

• Lead and support restructuring, TUPE, consultation processes, organisational redesign, and change programmes.
• Assist leaders in navigating business transformation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure change activities are managed professionally, legally, and with a strong focus on colleague experience.

Talent, Performance & Development:

• Support the identification and development of high-potential talent across manufacturing and support functions.
• Drive performance management processes including objective setting, performance reviews, and development planning.
• Partner with Learning & Development to strengthen leadership capability and technical skills development.
• Support succession planning and critical role identification across operational areas.

Leadership Coaching:

• Coach and challenge managers to build effective leadership capability.
• Provide guidance on difficult conversations, team effectiveness, engagement, and performance management.
• Promote a positive, inclusive, and accountable leadership culture.

Employee Engagement & Culture:

• Champion company values and cultural initiatives.
• Develop strategies to enhance employee engagement, retention, wellbeing, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Support communication and engagement activities across all locations.
• Build trust and credibility with colleagues at all levels of the organisation.

HR Projects & Continuous Improvement:

• Lead and participate in HR and business improvement projects.
• Identify opportunities to streamline HR processes and enhance manager self-service capability.
• Support the implementation and optimisation of HR systems and people analytics.
• Contribute to UK&I-wide HR initiatives and strategic programmes.

Key Relationships

Internal:

• Manufacturing Director
• Manufacturing Managers
• Senior Leadership Teams
• Operations Managers
• Supply Chain (Manufacturing)
• Engineering Teams
• Employee Representatives and Trade Union Representatives (where applicable)

External:

• Recruitment Partners
• Employment Law Advisors
• Occupational Health Provider

Person Specification

Essential Experience:

• Significant HR Business Partner experience within a manufacturing, FMCG, food production, logistics, or operational environment.
• Proven experience supporting multiple sites and geographically dispersed teams.
• Strong employee relations experience managing complex cases and organisational change.
• Experience leading restructuring, consultation, and change management activities.
• Demonstrable experience coaching and influencing senior operational leaders.
• Experience using HR metrics and people analytics to drive business decisions.
• Strong understanding of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Experience operating in a fast-paced operational environment.

Essential Skills:

• Outstanding stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Strong commercial awareness and business acumen.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to challenge constructively and drive accountability.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Project management and organisational capability.
• Resilient, adaptable, and able to manage multiple priorities.

Qualifications:

• CIPD Level 5 minimum (Level 7 preferred) or equivalent HR qualification.
• Full UK driving licence (not essential).

Desirable:

• Experience within food, beverage, manufacturing, or FMCG sectors
• Experience with trade unions and collective consultation.
• Experience supporting business transformation programmes.
• Knowledge of HR systems such as UKG or equivalent platforms.

Travel Requirements:

• Frequent travel across UCC Coffee UK&I manufacturing sites, offices, and customer-facing locations.
• Flexibility to work across multiple locations as business needs require.
• Occasional overnight travel may be necessary.

Success Measures:

The successful HR Business Partner will:

• Improve leadership capability across supported functions.
• Reduce employee relations risk and case resolution times.
• Support improvements in retention, attendance, and employee engagement.
• Deliver successful organisational change programmes.
• Strengthen succession pipelines and talent development outcomes.
• Build trusted partnerships with operational leaders.
• Contribute to improved business performance through effective people strategies.

Salary: Competitive

At UCC Coffee UK&I, the HR Business Partner plays a pivotal role in ensuring our people strategy supports operational excellence, strengthens our culture, and enables sustainable business growth across our manufacturing and operational network