Human Resources Business Partner

**Location**:
Blackfriars, GB**Department Name**:
Southern Region - Human Resources**About Network Rail**:
Join Network Rail - Where People and Connections Matter

If you're ready to make a real difference, we'd love to hear from you

**Brief Description**:
**Human Resources Business Partner, Vital Services HR Team (Southern Region)**

**Location**: Blackfriars, City of London (office 3 days / week + regional travel)

**Be part of the railway’s future**

We’re proud to be recognised as one of the **Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equity**for the fourth year running.

Network Rail operates and maintains the railway infrastructure 24/7, 365 days a year. Our purpose is to connect people and good with where they need to be, and our vision is for a **simpler, better, greener railway**.

In the Southern Region we carry over 7,000 daily passengers and freight services, serving 544 stations. With **Great British Railways (GBR)** on the horizon and the **Southern Renewals Enterprise (SRE)** delivering a £9 billion portfolio of renewals through a new enterprise model, we are reshaping how Britain’s busiest and most complex region operates.

As an HR Business Partner within our **Vital Services HR Team**, you’ll play a role in enabling that change. Our team partners across some of Southern’s most critical business areas**:Engineering & Asset Management (DEAM), Finance (Capital, Route, Strategic Planning, GRAI), Legal, Property, Commercial, Works Delivery, and SRE**. Together, these client groups make up around **1,650 colleagues** driving the future of the railway.

**About the role (External)**:
Every day will be different, but you can expect to be involved in a broad range of activities. You’ll partner with a specific client group of circa. 500 colleagues to deliver its People Plan, while working alongside your colleagues to share best practice and support wider priorities. Reporting to the Senior HRBP, you’ll balance operational delivery with strategic projects, one day presenting insights at a Periodic Business Review or advising on complex ER cases, the next driving succession planning or supporting a culture change programme.

**Key responsibilities include**:

- Coaching, influencing and challenging senior leaders to drive accountability for people leadership and create inclusive, high-performing teams.
- Managing complex employee relations issues providing clear, pragmatic guidance in a unionised, safety-critical environment.
- Leading and supporting organisational change, restructures and workforce planning.
- Taking ownership with the business to deliver client group People Plan priorities - from culture change and line manager capability in Works Delivery, to leadership visibility and talent mobility in the Finance Directorate, to investing in technical capability in DEAM.
- Using data, insights, and evidence-based HR (retention, sickness, engagement, talent metrics, case timelines, best practice) to influence decisions, track progress and demonstrate impact.
- Collaborating across HR and Centres of Expertise (Talent, Reward, ER, OD) to deliver integrated, cost-effective people solutions.
- Working with other HRBPs across the organisation to address cross-business and regional priorities.

**Work pattern & travel**
- Based at our Blackfriars, City of London office 3 days per week.
- Regular visits to client locations across Southern, from London Bridge to Ashford and Basingstoke, so you’re truly embedded with the people you support.

**What we’re looking for**

We’re looking for a credible, ambitious HR professional who thrives in complexity and enjoys switching between operational delivery and strategic impact.

**Essential**:

- Strong generalist HR knowledge and experience across the full HR spectrum - ER casework, change, talent and succession, workforce planning, culture and engagement.
- Proven ability to influence and coach senior leaders with confidence and impact.
- A commercial approach and ability to link people solutions to business outcomes.
- A track record of using data and evidence-based HR to inform decisions and measure outcomes.
- Readiness to operate in a complex, unionised and safety-critical environment, and a genuine passion for using HR to drive performance and inclusion.
- Curiosity, pace, and ambition - we’re a team that supports and challenges each other.
- Most importantly, you’ll be someone who wants to **grow**, we’ll give you the opportunity, support and scope to build your career.

**Desirable**:

- MCIPD or postgraduate HR qualification.
- Experience delivering organisation change programmes (e.g., TUPE, organisation re-design, redundancy etc.)
- Experience working in a unionised and / or safety critical environment.
- Understanding of project management principles and experience of managing projects to successful conclusion.

**What’s in it for you?**

We know attracting and growing talent takes more than just a salary. That’s why we offer:

- **75% season ticket discoun