People & Culture Business Partner

Job description

People & Culture Business Partner

Application Deadline: 11 October 2026

Department: People & People Services

Employment Type: Fixed Term - Full Time

Location: Burford

Reporting To: People & Culture Manager

Compensation: GBP 44,000 - GBP 48,000 / year

Description

Contract: Fixed term contract for 12 months, full time, 35 hours per week

Salary: GBP 44,000 - GBP 48,000 per annum

Location: Burford, Oxfordshire (hybrid working, minimum two days per week in the office)

Closing date: Sunday 11 October 2026

Interview date: 19 & 20 October 2026

Are you an experienced HR professional who enjoys partnering with leaders, solving complex people challenges and helping organisations create positive, high-performing workplace cultures?

We're looking for a People & Culture Business Partner to join our team on a 12-month fixed-term contract. This is an exciting opportunity to work closely with leaders across Blue Cross, providing both strategic and operational people support that enables our teams to deliver the best possible outcomes for pets and the people who love them.

More about the role

As a trusted advisor to leaders and managers, you'll play a key role in delivering people solutions that support organisational priorities and foster a positive employee experience. You'll provide expert guidance on employee relations, organisational change, workforce planning and people development, helping managers build engaged and high-performing teams.

Working as part of the People & Culture team, you'll use insight, data and strong stakeholder relationships to drive continuous improvement and ensure our people practices remain effective, inclusive and aligned to our values.

This role is based at our Burford site with hybrid working arrangements in place.

What you will be doing

• Building trusted relationships with leaders and managers across designated directorates
• Providing expert advice and guidance on complex employee relations matters
• Supporting organisational change initiatives, restructures and consultation processes
• Developing and implementing directorate people plans aligned to organisational priorities
• Coaching and supporting managers to strengthen leadership capability and people management skills
• Using people data and insight to identify trends, risks and opportunities
• Supporting workforce planning, succession planning and talent management activity
• Leading and contributing to people projects and organisational initiatives
• Working collaboratively with the wider People & Culture and Resourcing teams to deliver an integrated service
• Promoting an inclusive, positive and values-led culture

About you

You will be an experienced HR professional with strong business partnering capability and a proven ability to build credibility with stakeholders at all levels. You'll be confident managing complex people matters, providing constructive challenge and influencing positive outcomes.

You'll combine strategic thinking with a practical, solutions-focused approach, using data and insight to support decision-making and drive continuous improvement. You will thrive in a collaborative environment and be passionate about helping managers and teams succeed.

Most importantly, you'll be committed to creating a positive and inclusive workplace culture that reflects Blue Cross values.

Essential qualifications, skills, and experience

• CIPD qualified or equivalent professional experience
• Significant experience within a generalist HR role
• Experience operating within a business partnering model
• Strong working knowledge of employment law and employee relations practice
• Experience managing complex employee relations cases
• Experience supporting organisational change initiatives
• Experience developing and implementing people plans or workforce strategies
• Ability to build credibility and influence stakeholders at all levels
• Strong coaching, communication and relationship management skills
• Experience analysing people data and using insight to inform recommendations and decision making
• The ability to demonstrate, understand and apply our Blue Cross values

Desirable qualifications, skills, and experience

• Chartered CIPD membership
• Experience working within the charity or voluntary sector
• Experience working in a People, HR or Business Partnering role within a veterinary, healthcare, clinical or other regulated environment.
• Experience supporting succession planning and talent management initiatives
• Experience leading organisation-wide people projects
• Knowledge of volunteering environments and volunteer management practices

How to apply

To apply for this role, please submit your application through our careers site and answer the application questions, demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive a high volume of applications.

Blue Cross benefits

Our people are the most important part of delivering our purpose. If it were not for their amazing efforts and commitment, we would not be able to make the difference that we do today.

In return, Blue Cross wants to ensure we provide you with the best working environment we can. We want you to be happy working for us and will do everything we can to make sure you are.

Our generous benefits package includes:

• Full time equivalent of 38 days holiday rising to 43 with service (including Bank Holidays)
• Programmes for physical and mental wellbeing support
• Free access to GP via MetLife- 24/7 GP services, private prescriptions and more for you and your family
• Health cash plan
• Unlimited access to an employee assistance programme
• Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution
• Professional fees paid with Continuing Professional Development and personal development support.
• Life assurance
• 20% discount on Pet Plan pet insurance
• Enhanced family friendly policies
• Recognition scheme
• Annual volunteer days
• Charity worker discounts across a variety of retailers

To read more about the benefits Blue Cross has to offer, please visit the 'why work for us' page on our website.