As a HR Business Partner, you will provide hands-on HR support and guidance across the Retail business. Working closely with managers and leadership teams, you will lead on the implementation of HR policies, drive engagement, and ensure effective people practices that enable business performance. This role combines day-to-day operational HR with opportunities to contribute to the people strategy, strategic projects and initiatives that enhance the overall employee experience
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Key Responsibilities
* HR Partnership:
* Act as a trusted partner for stakeholders, providing guidance on HR policies, procedures, and best practice.
* Provide hands-on support to retail stores through weekly on-site visits, ensuring consistent implementation of key people initiatives and strategic projects.
* Work independently to drive HR transformation and deliver effective solutions for Retail and Supply Chain.
* Employee Relations:
* Manage complex ER cases, advise senior leaders with confidence, and deliver pragmatic, risk-aware solutions that balance business needs with employee well-being.
* Manage all ER cases in line with company policy and employment law, ensuring fair and consistent outcomes.
* Establish strong relations with trade unions and support with relevant negotiations.
* Manage HR related change programmes, streamline processes, and drive cultural and structural transformation to support business growth and long-term success.
* Engagement & Communication:
* Work with leadership and their teams to drive engagement activities and maintain a positive working environment.
* Build strong relationships with leaders and employees by delivering clear, concise and audience – appropriate communication.
* Translate HR Insights and workforce data into actionable messages that influence decision making.
* Performance Management:
* Guide managers through performance reviews and improvement plans, promoting accountability and development.
* Promote a high-performance culture by setting consistent performance expectations and partner with leaders to embed a culture of accountability, recognition and continuous improvement.
* Workforce Planning, Recruitment & Onboarding:
* Work with leaders to assess current structures, clarify roles and accountabilities, and recommend design changes that improve efficiency, scalability and alignment with the business strategy.
* Support the creation and review of role profiles, spans of control, and job levels to ensure clarity, consistency and alignment with organisational frameworks.
* Advise management on the optimal use of talent redeployment, upskilling, workforce mix and succession pipelines.
* Support recruitment processes for retail and supply chain roles and ensure smooth onboarding for new hires.
* Work collaboratively with the Talent Acquisition team.
* Learning & Development:
* Uses performance data, business priorities and workforce insights to diagnose skill gaps and recommend targeted L&D solutions.
* Collaborate with L&D teams or external providers to create learning programs, workshops and resources that address priority capability needs.
* Assist with training initiatives and help identify development needs across both divisions.
* HR Administration & Compliance:
* Maintain HR records, data, documentation and reporting with high attention to detail and compliance standards.
* Maintains standing operating procedures and supports managers in applying HR policies correctly across the organisation.
* Identifies opportunities to streamline workflows, digitise documentation, and improve employee experience within HR operations.
Experience
* Previous experience in a HRBP role, ideally within retail, supply chain, or a multi-site environment.
* Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to build relationships at all levels.
* Effective manager of diverse HR teams, with a focus on developing capability, instilling confidence, and providing clear direction to elevate performance and impact.
* Skilled at translating business objectives into actionable people strategies, partnering with leadership teams to drive organisational effectiveness, workforce planning, and long-term capability building.
* Track record of creating and implementing consistent HR frameworks, including colleague handbooks and grievance/disciplinary procedures, across multi-brand or multi-site organisations.
* Experience in leading HR technology projects, including the redesign and optimization of platforms to improve efficiency, data integrity, and employee experience.
* Deep understanding of employment law and compliance requirements, with experience implementing initiatives.
* Organised and detail-oriented with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
* CIPD qualified (Level 5 desirable) or equivalent experience.
Uniphar – Who We Are
With a workforce of more than 3000 employees spread across Ireland, United Kingdom, Mainland Europe, MENA, and the USA, Uniphar is a trusted global partner to pharma and MedTech manufacturers, working to improve patient access to medicines around the world. Uniphar provides outsourced and specialized services to its clients, leveraging the strong relationships with 200+ of the world's best known pharmaco-medical manufacturers across multiple geographies, enabled by our cutting-edge digital technology and our highly expert teams. Uniphar is organised into three key divisions: Supply Chain Retail & On Demand, Uniphar Med Tech and Uniphar Pharma.
Supply Chain & Retail
Supply Chain Services provides both pre-wholesale and wholesale distribution of pharmaceutical, healthcare and animal health products to pharmacies and hospital nationwide. The business supports a diverse customer base through the provision of strong service levels coupled with innovative commercial initiatives. In addition, the business provides services and supports that help independent community pharmacy to compete more effectively in an increasingly difficult environment and runs a network of Uniphar-owned pharmacies under the Life, Allcare, McCauleys and Hickeys symbol brands.
Culture at Uniphar
Uniphar is a combination of many businesses each with its own identity, culture, values, and ways of working. Our overarching culture narrative is inclusive of each of these stores. Uniphar lives and breathes four key pillars which unpin and support our culture.
We have a people first approach - we do the right thing. We support entrepreneurial spirit where adaptability, commitment & resilience is embodied in our way of working. We have a Common Purpose that connects our diversified businesses and people. Finally, Trust is at the heart of how we operate.
Everything Uniphar does is enabled by our people and as we continue to grow domestically and internationally, we become more diverse. This diversity fuels our business and culture.
Sustainability
Sustainability is at the core of what we do and is deeply embedded in our business strategy. We want to contribute positively to the people and the world around us. Running our business in a sustainable way ensures that Uniphar will continue to prosper in the long-term. We are focused on ensuring that each of the five pillars of our sustainability strategy are a fundamental part of our decision-making process.