Senior People Partner - Product & Engineering (9 month FTC)

Motorway is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace - our online-only platform connects private car sellers with thousands of verified dealers nationwide, ensuring everyone gets the best deal. Founded in 2017, our award-winning, technology-led approach has redefined the experience of selling a car. Motorway is backed by some of the world’s leading technology investors, having raised £143 million in Series C funding.

This is a unique opportunity to join a fast-growing scale-up at a crucial phase of growth and help change an industry for the better.

👋 Hi, I'm Savannah, Director of People at Motorway. I'm on the hunt for a highly strategic and commercially savvy Senior People Partner to join my team and work closely with our Product & Engineering teams.

This is a crucial role where you'll drive business growth through smart people initiatives, make sure our people have a great experience, and build a high-performing culture that aligns with our business goals. You'll be a trusted advisor to senior leaders, turning complex business needs into impactful people strategies, and working with our People Operations, Workplace, and Talent teams to deliver joined-up solutions.

You'll be part of a collaborative team, reporting directly to me, and working alongside another Senior People Partner, a People Operations & Advisory team, and our Workplace and talent Teams. We’re a collaborative and ambitious bunch who care deeply about creating meaningful impact through people.

Please note: We are looking for a candidate who can start immediately. To respect your time and move quickly, we are strictly adhering to the following schedule:

• June 17th – 22nd: Application Review & Shortlisting

• June 22nd – 23rd: Initial Screening Interviews (30 mins)

• June 23rd – 29th: Final Interview Loop (90 mins)

• July 6th: Target Start Date (although can be discussed)

As a Senior People Partner at Motorway, you’ll act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders across Product, Engineering, and Operations. You’ll connect business objectives to people initiatives, using insight, experience, and data to shape high-impact strategies.

This is not your average people partner role. We're looking for someone who's been deep in the machinery of complex organisations and understands how to navigate scale, ambiguity, critical thinking and competing priorities. If you're ready to step into a more autonomous, fast-paced environment to truly own the end-to-end people strategy for critical parts of the business and drive change with independence and resourcefulness, this is the role for you.

• Strategic Business Partnering

  • Act as a strategic advisor to senior leadership, with a solid grasp of how engineering and product teams are structured and work, as well as an understanding of central operations (like legal, finance, and people teams).

  • Translate business strategies into actionable people plans, driving organisational effectiveness, talent optimisation, and cultural alignment.

• Commercial Acumen & Impact:

  • Develop and implement people strategies that directly support commercial goals, including revenue growth, profitability, and long-term success.

  • Provide strategic insights on organisational design, talent, people experience and performance management to optimise business outcomes.

• Holistic People Experience Leadership:

  • Partner with People Operations, Workplace, and Talent teams to ensure a smooth and integrated people experience throughout the employee journey.

  • Lead and/or support cross-functional initiatives to boost employee engagement, well-being, and development, fostering a positive and inclusive work environment. Your work should directly influence and improve collaboration across different teams.

• Talent Strategy & Development:

  • Drive talent strategy development, including succession planning, leadership development, and talent pipeline management.

  • Design and drive development programmes to enhance leadership capabilities and drive organisational effectiveness.

• Organisational Design & Change Leadership:

  • Lead and build complex organisational design initiatives, ensuring alignment with Motorway’s strategy and optimising team structures for efficiency and effectiveness.

  • Drive large-scale change management initiatives, providing strategic guidance and ensuring smooth transitions.

• Data-Driven Insights & Reporting:

  • Translate advanced analytics and data-driven insights into compelling stories and actionable recommendations to inform people strategies and drive decision-making.

  • Develop and present comprehensive reports on key HR metrics, providing strategic recommendations to senior leadership.

• You’ve been a People Partner or HRBP in a large, complex business and have operated at senior level with accountability for driving real change.

• You know how to challenge thoughtfully, influence without authority, navigate ambiguity, and challenge thoughtfully.

• You’ve delivered end-to-end people programmes and owned the full accountability for outcomes in environments with competing demands and complex stakeholders.

• You’re data-fluent, comfortable pulling insights from people data and using it to influence outcomes.

• You’ve partnered with COE's before, but also know how to build when the infrastructure doesn’t exist.

• You bring critical thinking, strong judgement, and a bias for action and innovation.

• You care deeply about inclusion, impact, and building healthy, high-performance cultures.