HR Business Partner - Oxford

HR Business Partner Jobs

As the name suggests, the HR business partner is an important influencer of the direction a company takes with regard to its employees. He or she ensures strategic aims laid down by the board are implemented at location or site level, depending on the size and nature of the company. The HR business partner might have slightly different responsibilities to a HR manager, for example, in that the role will probably involve working alongside a manager and advising them rather than tackling the hands-on business of managing a site’s staff. However, different organisations place different requirements of the HR BP, and in some companies there is a good deal of crossover.

The business partner may work more closely with the directors than a manager would. They have a very close handle on the strategic planning of the wider company and may even have influence within the board. All this points towards a skilled member of the team, with a vitally important strategic role.

The skills required

Many employers have CIPD and/or degree qualification as a primary requirement for the role of HR business partner as companies are looking for an impressive amount of knowledge of personal development. Experience within the relevant sector is also useful, as different types of work have varying requirements and infrastructures that need to be understood from day one.

An ability to communicate clearly and unambiguously with members of the company at all levels is an essential attribute. Strategic direction is not just imposed from the top of a modern company; it is often arrived at organically by having a flow of information from the operatives to the directors and vice versa. As HR business partner, you will be the interpreter and conduit of that information. Done well, you could have a phenomenal effect on the business’s fortunes.

HR Business Partner Jobs in Oxford

The county town of Oxford and famous throughout the world for its university, Oxford is actually a thriving, self-contained city with a diversity of industries not directly related to its county status or education sector. It has been a successful city for so long that its architecture spans the millennia, and since much of the most important buildings were churches, it got the name “city of dreaming spires”.

Without doubt the university and its related activities (bars, cafes, hotels, shops, theatres etc.) is the key single employer of the city, and the university heritage also plays into its thriving tourism industry. All this contributes to the thriving nature of the city, which is busy all the year round.

But a major industry just to the south east of the city centre is car manufacturing, at the Cowley BMW plant, home of the new Mini. The plant used to be the Morris Motors plant during the First World War, and this attracted a railway and other communications to serve it. During World War Two the plant made training planes for the RAF. After the war mergers and acquisitions changed the company to BMC, then British Leyland, Austin Rover, the Rover Group and finally BMW (but locals still call the factory Morris’s).

With a thriving, ever changing population and various high-tech and heavy industries, Oxford often throws up HR Business Partner positions to help oil the wheels of commerce. It’s certainly an exciting place to live and work.

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Find HR Business Partner Jobs with Cast UK

As specialist in human resources recruitment, Cast UK is the first place to look whether you’re an HR professional looking to take your next step in your career or a company looking to find the best people around. Because we only deal with management, partner and executive level recruitment, we recognize real talent and fabulous opportunities when they come along. When our skilled consultants make the match, both parties benefit.

That’s how we’ve managed to become the sole recruitment organ for many companies throughout the UK. We ensure the candidates we send are the real deal, experts in their field with experience to the degree required.

If you’re looking to take a positive step in your HR career, or if you’re looking for an HR business partner, call us today on 0333 121 3345.

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