Overview:
We’re a built environment consultancy, helping our clients transform the quality and sustainability of the built environment. We are enabled by great people who are inspired and proud of what they do and respected for who they are.
At Ridge our people are the foundation of our success, and our greatest asset. Our people are what separate us, they drive our vision and embody our values. We offer not just a job, but a journey. We believe in commitment, and the value of a stable, flexible, long-term career path. We challenge our people to be the best they can be and help them grow with the right development.
Role and Responsibilities:
Reporting into the Head of People and working closely with the People Director, wider People leadership team and key stakeholders within the business – the purpose of this role is to work as a strategic partner and enabler to the leaders in our business. This is a truly varied and generalist role, including everything from leading operational and tactical people activities, to acting as a trusted advisor, to developing and delivering innovative, strategic people solutions, aligned with the people strategy and company values.
You will lead a People Advisory team (People Advisor and People Coordinator roles).
We are a growing, dynamic People team who are passionate about placing the employee experience at the heart of everything we do at Ridge and creating a culture where people can thrive and do their best work. We are looking for passionate, proactive relationship builders to join our team, we are looking for our People Partner to cover our offices in Bristol, Oxford, Cheltenham and Cambridge, so ideally you will be based near to Bristol or Oxford, with an ability to travel on occasion to these office locations.
As we continue to grow and innovate, you will need to be hands-on, able to take ownership and work collaboratively to deliver, as well as being comfortable working with uncertainty and ambiguity. Core responsibilities include the following:
- Embed yourself across the business, working with our leaders to define people priorities that align with the experience we want to create for our people
- Provide business insight to the People team and People insight to the business
- Work with the wider People team and business to co-design and deliver the right people initiatives
- Plan, forecast, coordinate and broker people activity (oversee delivery by calling upon the services of others)
- Facilitate discussions around change and transformation, lead and deliver business transformation programmes
- Deliver projects and initiatives that encourage our people to take ownership of their own performance, careers and learning, but providing them with a range of different options, resources and experiences
- Work with leaders to identify and develop their talent and ensure we create as many career defining experiences as possible for all our people e.g. learning resources, peer to peer learning, mentoring, job shadowing, projects etc.
- Own the employee life cycle and key People practices such as induction, workforce planning, reward and recognition (including salary and bonus review), career progression, engagement survey action planning etc.
- Deliver Diversity and Inclusion interventions to raise awareness, encourage open and honest conversations and allow our people to be themselves at work
- Position and market ideas so the business understands the benefits
- Build our insight into how our people feel and what’s important to them
- Use people data, metrics and evidence to inform and drive decision making and change across the business
- Lead and manage employee relations issues and cases
- Provide development for managers on how to facilitate team reviews, set goals and measure results and how to have regular and human conversations
- Work to create a seamless employee experience (with the People team and other support functions)
- Lead a People Advisory team (People Advisor and People Coordinator) by setting a great personal example, enabling the team to do their best work and helping them to grow and develop
Experience and Skills Required:
Relationships are key! What we care about is that you understand how people tick and how to create innovative solutions that enable them to perform. Whilst you will ideally be CIPD qualified, the following are the essential skills needed for this role:
- A real interest in what we do
- A breadth and depth of experience within HR to enable you to develop appropriate solutions for your stakeholders
- Experience in business transformation programmes – leading or delivering restructures, M&As, TUPEs and other organisational change
- A progressive, agile approach and attitude to HR
- Practical experience and a tangible understanding of the latest HR trends
- A focus on business outcomes (a commercial mindset)
- Expertise in employee relations issues, case management and employment legislation, with an understanding that too much employee relations activity is a fail for the organisation!
- Perseverance and resilience – particularly when it would be easier to give up
- The ability to challenge and influence our leaders to make better decisions (in a positive way!)
- Digital acumen
- A real team player, willing to work collaboratively to get the job done
- Excellent relationship building and communication, with the ability to move between listening to, guiding and coaching others at all levels
- The ability to make quick, sound decisions based on knowledge and judgment
- Common sense – creatively solving problems and spotting opportunities to simplify and improve processes to drive better results
- Marketing, communication and presentation skills to facilitate projects and initiatives
- An understanding of what’s not important to keep us focussed on our strategic people agenda
What's in it for you?
Our people are our business – our vision is to be ever progressive, expanding our expertise and nurturing our talent through Quality, Innovation & Growth, to achieve our strategic outcomes:
- Growth which fuels ideas and opportunity for all
- Purposeful and meaningful work
- Continual development and mentoring
- Empowerment, inclusivity and respect
- Happiness and enjoyment
- Openness, honesty and integrity
- Acting as one team
Your reward is focused on your total wellbeing, with a package to support all aspects of life. In addition to your salary, you can expect:
- A healthy holiday balance of 26 days, plus bank holidays & the ability to buy / sell to suit you
- 3 days a year to give your time to others, volunteering for great causes
- An inclusive wellbeing offer:
- Financial – Life Assurance, Pension Scheme (3% Employee, 6% Employer), Income Protection, Salary Sacrifice Car Scheme, flexible choice of Critical Illness Insurance
- Physical – Free Private Medical Insurance, Doctor at Hand Private GP, Best Doctors, flexible choice of Dental Plan, Cycle to Work Scheme, GymFlex & Healthcare Cash Plan
- Mental – Mental Health First Aiders, Help@Hand by Unum
- A generous car allowance and a performance bonus scheme
- A flexible approach to hybrid working, to suit both you & your team
- Tailored career development – focused on professional, personal and/or educational
We believe that everyone performs their best when they feel like they belong and can be their true selves at work. As an equal opportunities’ employer, we will support you to ensure you have everything you need to be successful and achieve your best in your career at Ridge. If you’d like to discuss accessibility, accommodations or adjustments during your application & selection process, please contact us at workwithus@ridge.co.uk and we will work with you to ensure you feel included and supported.
A polite note to Recruitment Agencies
We enjoy great relationships with our agency partners within our framework, and fully believe in the value of a blended approach to finding the best talent. However, we are recruiting for this role directly and aren’t seeking support from agency partners at this time – any unsolicited CV introductions won’t be honoured, and we won’t grant candidate ownerships on any introduction that you make for roles that haven’t been briefed & released to you by our Talent Acquisition team.
We are committed to nurturing strong partnerships within our agency framework, but there are occasions where we looking to enlist the help of others. If you would be interested in working with us in the future, please send a message to workwithus@ridge.co.uk, and we’ll reach out to you should there be an opportunity.