Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you.
As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits.
To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive to succeed here because we expect pace and agility, we insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact
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This is a critical role supporting site based leadership teams to drive people and development operational performance.
You will play a pivotal role in leading the site HR agenda and driving cultural transformation while providing credible, values‑led HR leadership on site.
Operating as a business partner to the site leadership team, you will shape and embed a culture of accountability, safety, engagement and performance, translating business goals into a pragmatic site-led HR plans that are aligned and compliment wider global and regional HR strategies, frameworks and processes.
A core focus is building mature, trust‑based relationships with trade unions, moving beyond transactional industrial relations to collaborative problem‑solving that supports change, productivity and workforce stability.
The role requires confident leadership through capability building of line managers, and visible presence on the shop floor to influence behaviours and build trust.
By balancing commercial rigour with empathy and integrity, you will act as a catalyst for sustainable cultural change, ensuring the workforce is engaged, respected and aligned to the future success of the site.
You will need a blend of strategic, relational and operational skills to lead change effectively:- HR leadership – Ability to align local site HR plans with wider site, regional and business strategies and objectives.
- Cultural transformation & change management – Proven capability in diagnosing culture, shifting behaviours, and leading through resistance in a fast‑paced, operational environment.
- Union relations expertise – Deep knowledge of collective consultation, negotiations and employment law, with the credibility to build constructive, trust‑based union relationships.
- Stakeholder influencing – Confidence to challenge and coach leaders and line managers, balancing commercial outcomes with people impact.
- Leadership presence & credibility – Strong personal impact, resilience and integrity, with visible leadership on the shop floor to build trust and role‑model desired behaviours.
- Coaching and capability building – Skill in developing frontline and middle management capability in people leadership, performance management and employee engagement.
- Commercial and operational acumen – Understanding of manufacturing operations, productivity, safety and cost pressures to ensure HR solutions are practical and value‑adding.
- Conflict management and negotiation – Ability to de‑escalate issues, resolve conflict constructively and negotiate outcomes that support both workforce stability and business needs.
- Data‑driven decision making – Confidence using people metrics, insights and trends to inform decisions and measure progress against cultural and engagement goals.
Your purpose will be to provide HR business partnering to the site by working closely with the site leadership and management teams, as well as the various teams within the wider UK&I HR function, to ensure all HR activity is contributing in line with the site plans and strategies, and is aligned to wider HR priorities for the region/business.
You will play a central role as part of the site leadership team, developing strong credible relationships and being instrumental in the setting of, leading of, and delivering the HR agenda.
What will be your key deliverables?
- Own the HR agenda for site, ensuring its alignment with the site strategy and the wider regional and global HR and business strategy
- Partner with the Site Lead to develop future facing site change plans including organisation design, workforce planning - structures, roles, responsibilities, shift patterns etc. Manage impacts and risks assessment processes and mitigation plans and lead in implementation of people changes across the site
- Define and manage people cost base including headcount costs, agency spend, overtime, training budgets
- Define and own the sites flexible resource strategy - agency & OT spend / hours / productivity
- Own and lead the site/functional talent and succession process, identifying talent and potential opportunities for development and working with the Talent CoE to build and execute talent action plans
- Own and lead absence management processes
- Manage informal performance management, advising/supporting line managers
- Lead and co-create (with relevant HR CoE’s) the people and culture transformational agenda for the site
- Work in partnership with senior leaders and L&D CoE to identify needs and establish and implement solutions that support the ongoing development of leadership and skills capability. Work with CoE to identify and plan for future skills and capability development needs
- Provide coaching, mentorship and development support to site leadership and management team on people related matters. Support and coach leadership on driving and implementing effective change management
- Be a critical thought partner to site leaders
- Own and drive improvements in employee engagement, lead on the annual engagement survey and the process for developing site engagement action planning to address key areas. Hold leaders to account in their roles in owning this agenda
- Drive and own delivery of People KPI performance and action planning for improvements
- Own the industrial relations agenda for the site - union relationships, collective grievances, collective agreements. Build solid relationships with site trade union teams that champion positive employee relations across the site and partner with the General Manager on ongoing engagement with the site trade unions
- Own the site trade union consultation and negotiations, to include site re-organisations and pay negotiations, and working agreement reviews
- Lead on senior hires for the site leadership team (interviewing)
- Lead the site in adherence and completion of the BAU People Cycle
- Create offer proposals for all site banded roles (for reward approval)
- Develop and own local recognition platforms with support and alignment with the Reward CoE
- Maintain close links with other HR Business Partners across the UK&I to ensure consistency of HR practices
- Develop site driven local CSR agenda/activity – accountable for creation, maintaining and delivery of this agenda, and execution of central CSR agenda
- Develop local site driven Inclusion & Diversity and Employee Value Proposition plans, and execution of central IDE/EVP agenda
- Execute centrally driven Health & Wellbeing plans, including provision of support and leadership to the site Mental Health Ambassador network
- Provide the vital link to other teams within the wider HR function and Centre's of Excellence as required, including Reward, Talent Acquisition, L&D, Talent, Employee Relations, Occupational Health & Wellbeing, HR Shared Services
The role is highly visible and will require the ability to work cross functionally across leadership teams.
pladis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.
We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List. If you are a recruitment agency and wish to submit candidate to be considered for this vacancy, you must have agreed to, and signed, our terms of business.
We will not accept CVs from any other sources other than those currently on our PSL. We will not pay a fee for any candidate that has not been represented by a provider on our PSL.
pladis Global London, England Office
London, United Kingdom, W4 5YA
