Senior Employee Relations Manager

Were looking for a highly experienced Senior Employee Relations Manager with deep industrial relations expertise to lead our ER function and ensure the organisation is fully equipped to operate effectively in a unionised environment.

This role is critical in shaping our approach to trade union engagement collective consultation and employee representation while also providing expert commercially grounded advice across complex ER matters and organisational change.

Reporting to the People Director you will act as our senior IR and ER lead setting the tone for constructive union relationships ensuring the ER team is confident and capable in a unionised setting and overseeing all complex casework TUPE activity and change programmes.

This is a senior influential role working closely with leaders across the business.

What youll be doing

Industrial Relations Leadership

• Leading our approach to working within a unionised environment ensuring the business and ER team are confident prepared and aligned
• Building and maintaining strong constructive relationships with recognised trade unions and employee representative bodies
• Acting as the senior People representative in formal union meetings negotiations and collective consultation
• Providing strategic advice to senior leaders on union engagement industrial relations risks and appropriate consultation frameworks

Leading Complex Employee Relations

• Owning and overseeing complex ER cases including disciplinaries grievances performance absence investigations and disputes
• Ensuring outcomes are consistent fair legally robust and aligned with our IR commitments
• Coaching leaders and the ER team to manage cases confidently in a unionised context

TUPE and Organisational Change

• Acting as the organisations TUPE subject matter expert on inbound and outbound transfers
• Leading due diligence information and consultation processes employee transitions and documentation
• Partnering with senior stakeholders on restructures redundancies and change programmes ensuring all consultation obligations are met and IR considerations are fully factored in

Leading and developing the ER team

• Managing and developing HR Advisors embedding high standards of case management judgment and decisionmaking
• Ensuring the team is fully equipped to operate in a unionised environment with strong coaching guidance and continuous improvement
• Driving quality assurance consistency and capability building across the ER function

Policy governance and risk

• Owning ER policies and procedures ensuring they remain up to date relevant and legally compliant
• Maintaining clear ER governance and risk frameworks with particular focus on IR implications and legal obligations
• Advising the business on employment law collective consultation requirements and industrial relations risks

What were looking for

Experience and expertise

• Extensive experience managing complex ER casework in a medium or large organisation
• Significant experience operating in a unionised environment with a strong track record of constructive union engagement
• Proven endtoend TUPE experience
• Experience supporting restructures consultations and organisational change
• Experience managing or mentoring HR Advisors or ER specialists

Knowledge and qualifications

• Strong uptodate knowledge of UK employment legislation and case law
• Deep understanding of TUPE collective consultation and industrial relations frameworks
• CIPD Level 5 essential (Level 7 desirable)

Skills and personal qualities

• Confident calm and credible with senior stakeholders and union representatives
• Excellent judgment resilience and integrity
• Strong investigation report writing and problemsolving skills
• Collaborative coachingled leadership style with a proactive solutionsfocused approach

Why join us

• Non-contractual 10% annual bonus based on company and personal performance
• 25 days annual leave increasing to 30 with service bank holidays birthday off
• Company sick pay (6 months full pay then SSP)
• Enhanced maternity & paternity pay
• Life assurance x4 salary
• Pension employer matched up to 7%
• Private Medical Insurance
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
• Retail discounts platform
• Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme

IND789

Calisen plays a leading role in managing essential energy infrastructure that supports a smarter more sustainable future for everyone. Through smart metering installation data services and solar were helping homes and businesses move towards cleaner more efficient energy.

Whatever your background or experience your Calisen career could be just around the corner. Research shows some groups of people may hesitate to apply unless they meet every single requirement. If youre excited about a role we encourage you to apply even if you dont tick every box. You might be exactly who were looking for! Our people are our greatest strength. Calisen is an equal opportunities employer:We value honesty empathy and collaboration and we believe that different perspectives and experiences help us succeed. Our commitment is to fairness inclusion and creating an environment where everyone can thrive.

We use some artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of our recruitment process. These tools are designed to assist our Talent team not replace them. Every decision is reviewed and made by our people. If youd like to know more about how your data is used please get in touch with us at any time.