People Manager

People Manager

Full Time, Permament Competitive York, Leeds

 

About us

Fortus is a fast-growing firm of accountants and business advisors based in Yorkshire, working with ambitious businesses that want more than just the numbers. We combine high-quality financial expertise with practical, forward-thinking advice to help our clients make better decisions and achieve their wider business goals.

As we continue to grow, so does our team. Supporting more business owners across Yorkshire is a collective effort, and collaboration sits at the heart of how we work. Our people are curious, energetic and solution-focused - going beyond day-to-day delivery to make a real difference for our clients. 

This is The Fortus Way: being genuinely client-obsessed, straightforward and open, always looking for smarter ways to do things, and bringing energy, enthusiasm and resilience to everything we do - while having fun along the way.

Reporting to: Zoe Waring Head of People

About the role

We’re looking for someone to provide a proactive, pragmatic and high-quality generalist HR service across the organisation. Acting as a trusted partner to managers and employees, the role will support the full employee lifecycle, ensure fair and consistent people practices, and help deliver the organisation’s people priorities.

The People Manager will balance hands-on casework and operational delivery with continuous improvement, using sound judgement, employment law knowledge and people data to enable effective decisions and a positive employee experience.

 

What you’ll be doing

People advice and employee relations

• Lead and advise on complex employee relations matters, including performance, capability, absence, disciplinary and grievance cases.
• Ensure policies and processes are applied fairly, consistently and in line with UK employment law.
• Support leadership and management development initiatives.
• Identify recurring themes, risks and opportunities for early intervention.

Employee lifecycle

• Support workforce and succession planning, talent reviews and career development activity.
• Identify capability gaps, retention risks and opportunities to strengthen organisational capability.
• Support annual pay review, benchmarking and benefits activity as required.

Policy, compliance and governance

• Review, develop and implement practical HR policies, procedures and manager guidance.
• Monitor changes in UK employment law and recommend proportionate updates to policy and practice.
• Support compliance with data protection, right-to-work, equality and internal governance requirements.
• Promote consistent decision-making while recognising when an issue requires escalation or specialist advice.

Performance, engagement and culture

• Champion an inclusive, respectful, high-performing culture aligned to our values with consistency across teams and locations.
• Partner with managers to improve engagement, employee experience and retention.
• Support communication and people activity through organisational change and business growth.
• Use feedback, engagement data and employee insight to recommend practical improvements.
• Contribute to wellbeing, recognition, learning and employee engagement initiatives.

M&A, projects and continuous improvement 

• Support acquisition due diligence activity by assessing workforce structures, employment risks, contractual obligations, terms and conditions, employee relations matters and cultural considerations.
• Manage and coordinate TUPE consultation processes and employee transfers. 
• Monitor integration progress and recommend corrective actions where required. 
• Identify people risks and opportunities and turn them into practical solutions.

 

About you

Experience

• CIPD level 5 qualified or equivalent practical experience.
• Minimum 5 years’ HR generalist experience, with at least 2 years as a People Manager in a fast-growing SME, small corporate or professional, fast-paced environment. 
• Experience of organisational change, restructuring, M&A or integration would be advantageous. 
• Strong generalist HR background with solid UK employment law and employee relations experience.

Skills and behaviours 

• Strong communication, influencing, analytical and problem-solving skills. 
• Excellent manager of People team members. 
• Dynamic, curious, ambitious and driven, with the ability to find practical solutions.
• Commercially minded with strong business acumen and sound judgement. 
• A collaborative team player who builds trust and credibility quickly. 
• Comfortable working at pace in a changing, high-growth environment.
• Able to balance commercial priorities, employee experience and people risk.

 

What's on offer

• Competitive salary
• Company bonus scheme
• 262.5 hours holiday entitlement
• Birthday day off
• Flexible bank holidays
• Agile working
• Medicash plan
• Employee Assistance Programme Group Life Assurance x3
• Pension scheme (salary sacrifice)
• Salary sacrifice benefits including holiday purchase, cycle to work, tech purchase, EV car scheme
• Regular social events
• Friendly and inclusive working environment
• On-site parking (York & Scarborough)

Learn more about our benefits and what it's like to work at Fortus here.

At Fortus, we’re building teams made up of different backgrounds, experiences and ways of thinking - because we know that diversity makes us stronger and helps us do our best work. We want you to feel comfortable being yourself here, so please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you during the application process.

And if you don’t tick every single box in the job description, don’t let that put you off. If the role excites you and you feel you could add value to our team, we’d love to hear from you.

How to apply 

Think this sounds like your next move? Click “Apply Now” below and send us your CV and covering letter.

If you would like any further information about the role, please feel free to contact us at recruitment@fortus.co.uk, and a member of the People Team will be happy to help.

For more information or to apply please email recruitment@fortus.co.uk

Apply Now