Employee Relations Director

Employee Relations (ER) Director London | Hybrid £130,000–£140,000 plus bonus permanent Middlemore has been retained by a powerhouse financial services organisation to recruit an Employee Relations Director. This is a newly scoped, high-visibility role sitting centrally across a portfolio of brands and working in close partnership with the Chief People Officer. This is not a traditional ER leadership position focused purely on complex casework. The primary mandate is to build bench strength across an established ER Advisory team, instilling a more commercial, proactive, and pragmatic approach to employee relations that fits a fast-moving, private equity-backed environment. The Opportunity You will shape the future of ER capability across a remarkably successful, culturally strong organisation. The business operates with clarity: remove unnecessary complication, think commercially, and cut through noise. We need an ER leader who embodies—or can rapidly emulate—this mindset. Most complex ER work here centres on international restructuring and senior workforce transformation. You will play a leading, hands-on role from start to finish on C-level exits, restructures, and other high-stakes people matters. While the in-house Legal team is exceptionally strong, it necessarily operates in black-and-white terms. Your role is to operate confidently in the grey, creating clear boundaries between HR/ER and Legal while building trusted, impenetrable relationships with HR Business Partners across the international organisation. Key Responsibilities

• Capability Building: Develop and coach an ER Advisory team to operate with greater commercial acumen, confidence, and proactive problem-solving. Move the function from reactive casework to strategic enablement.
• Commercial ER Leadership: Embed a pragmatic, business-focused approach to ER advice that balances mediation with formal intervention when necessary.
• Case Management System Implementation: Lead the selection, design, and rollout of a new ER case management platform, ensuring the broader ER framework is modern, effective, and robust.
• Complex Casework: Personally lead on the most sensitive, high-risk ER matters—including international restructures, senior leader exits, and workforce transformation initiatives.
• HRBP Partnership: Act as a true ER confidant to HR Business Partners, providing expert guidance, coaching, and escalation support on complex people issues.
• Legal Interface: Work alongside a strong in-house Legal function, ensuring clear demarcation between HR/ER and Legal responsibilities while maintaining defensible, compliant outcomes.
• Policy & Framework Modernisation: Review and enhance ER policies, procedures, and governance to ensure they support a PE-backed, commercially driven organisation. The Candidate We are looking for a sociable individual with an HR Business Partner mindset, strong commercial acumen, and an unequivocal specialism in Employee Relations. Essential experience:
• Proven ER leadership within an FCA-regulated financial services organisation (or comparable highly regulated environment).
• Demonstrable success building and developing ER teams, moving them toward proactive, commercial advisory.
• Deep expertise in complex, high-risk ER casework—including international restructures, senior exits, and workforce transformation.
• Experience implementing ER technology or case management systems.
• Strong partnership skills with HRBPs, C-suite stakeholders, and Legal/Compliance functions. Personal attributes:
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and making sound judgements in grey areas.
• A coach and educator at heart—someone who thrives on enabling others while still getting stuck into the complex work when it matters.
• Diplomatic yet decisive; able to balance empathy with firmness.
• Commercially minded, with a bias for action and simplification. This is a superb opportunity for an ER Director who wants to move beyond pure casework and build something enduring. If you thrive on coaching, educating, and enabling others while still leading on the most complex ER challenges, this could be a fantastic next step. Please apply or contact jenna.stocks@middlemore.co.uk