Employee Relations Associate Director

Employee Relations Associate Director

Contract Duration: 12 months

Location: UK Remote

Pay: £480.35/day (PAYE) or £660.19/day via umbrella

Role Summary

The Associate Director, Employee Relations (ER) is a senior, strategic leader and subject matter expert responsible for shaping and delivering employee relations strategy across the UK and Ireland. Operating as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, this role owns end-to-end ER processes, anticipates emerging workforce risks, and develops innovative, compliant solutions aligned to business objectives. The role delivers impact at functional, market, and business-unit level and is sought out for expertise on complex, high-risk, or precedent-setting ER matters.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Business Impact

• Serve as a company thought leader and functional SME for Employee Relations across the UK and Ireland.
• Partner with senior leaders to influence and shape business, workforce, and people strategies.
• Participate in the development of market-level and site-level business strategy, translating ER insights into actionable plans.
• Develop and manage ER business plans aligned to organisational and operational objectives.
• Lead large, complex, and high-impact initiatives with segment-wide or market-wide influence.

Employee Relations & Risk Management

• Own end-to-end ER processes, ensuring consistency, scalability, and compliance with UK and Irish employment legislation.
• Act as the primary escalation point for complex, sensitive, or high-risk ER issues.
• Anticipate employee and organisational needs and proactively develop solutions to mitigate risk and improve outcomes.
• Authorise deviations from ER standards and frameworks where business needs require expert judgement.
• Identify and resolve technical, operational, and organisational challenges beyond immediate teams or functions.

Innovation & Thought Leadership

• Develop pioneering and innovative approaches to emerging employee relations trends and challenges.
• Predict emerging employee and stakeholder needs and design forward-looking solutions.
• Perform complex conceptual and analytical assessments to inform ER strategy, policy, and practice.
• Translate highly complex concepts into clear, actionable guidance for leaders at all levels.

Influence & Stakeholder Management

• Influence senior leadership to adopt new ideas, practices, and approaches in employee relations.
• Serve as a trusted advisor on organisational change, conflict resolution, and compliance issues.
• Provide expert input on decisions impacting entire functions, sites, or internal customer groups.

Leadership, Governance & Capability Building

• Provide leadership to and accountability for managers and/or senior professional staff, where applicable.
• Review the work of others, providing strategic challenge and recommendations for improvement.
• Mentor and develop ER professionals, building capability and bench strength.
• Forecast and plan resource requirements to meet current and future ER demand.
• Lead cross-functional, functional, or segment-wide teams or projects as required.

Scope & Impact

Impact is typically at operational, local market, or business-unit level, with potential for segment-wide influence. Decisions and recommendations may significantly affect entire functions, sites, or internal customer groups and are delivered with a high degree of autonomy.

Experience & Expertise

• Extensive Employee Relations experience within the UK and Ireland, including strong expertise in local employment law and practice.
• Proven track record of managing complex, high-risk ER cases and leading ER strategy in large or matrixed organisations.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders.
• Strong experience leading complex projects and driving organisational change.