Lead Employee Relations Partner

Why UKG:    

At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That’s what we do.  

We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you’ll get flexibility that’s real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters—and so do you.  

Lead Employee Relations Partner (EMEA) As a Lead Employee Relations (ER) professional within the People & Employment Practices (PEP) team, you will play a pivotal role in fostering a respectful, inclusive, and legally compliant workplace culture across the EMEA region. Serving as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert, you will partner closely with HR Business Partners, Legal, People Operations, and business leaders to ensure employee relations strategies, programs, and practices align with organizational values and local legal requirements. This role requires a strategic, pragmatic, and analytical professional with deep expertise in employment law, workplace investigations, conflict resolution, and organizational change. You will influence policy development, lead complex employee relations matters, and drive continuous improvement in ER practices across a diverse and dynamic geographic landscape.


Key Responsibilities
• Partner with Legal and People Operations to develop, implement, and maintain employee relations policies and practices that align with applicable employment legislation and organizational values across the EMEA region.
• Serve as the regional Employee Relations subject matter expert, providing guidance informed by local employment laws, regulatory requirements, cultural considerations, and market practices.
• Act as the primary ER partner for assigned EMEA countries, with particular responsibility for supporting the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria, and France, while partnering across additional jurisdictions as needed.
• Advise managers, employees, and HR Business Partners on complex employee relations matters, including performance management, disciplinary processes, grievances, workplace concerns, accommodations, absences, and employment separations.
• Partner with the global investigation team on workplace investigations, ensuring matters are handled objectively, consistently, and in accordance with company policies and legal requirements.
• Facilitate the resolution of interpersonal and team conflicts, promoting positive working relationships and a culture of respect, accountability, and inclusion.
• Support managers in addressing performance concerns, implementing performance improvement plans, and ensuring employment actions are fair, consistent, and appropriately documented.
• Design and deliver training and educational programs to enhance understanding of employee relations practices, employment obligations, workplace policies, and manager capabilities.
• Analyze employee relations data and trends to identify risks, root causes, and opportunities for proactive interventions that improve employee experience and mitigate organizational risk.
• Provide ER leadership and guidance during organizational changes, including restructures, workforce transitions, mergers and acquisitions, collective consultations, redundancies, and other transformation initiatives.
• Collaborate with Legal and HR partners to ensure compliance with country-specific regulatory requirements, information and consultation obligations, and works council processes where applicable. • Recommend and support the implementation of technologies, tools, and processes that enhance employee relations operations, reporting, and case management effectiveness.
• Lead regional and cross-functional projects, ensuring alignment with broader People, Employee Relations, and organizational objectives. 

Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Law, or a related field (Master's degree preferred), or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in Employee Relations, Human Resources, Employment Law, or a related field, with demonstrated success managing complex employee matters across multiple jurisdictions.
• Strong working knowledge of employment law and employee relations practices across EMEA, including significant experience supporting the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria, and France.
• Experience supporting employee relations matters in additional European jurisdictions, including Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and other EMEA countries, is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate complex cross-border employee relations matters while balancing local legal requirements, consultation obligations, works council considerations, and business objectives.
• Proven experience in grievance management, disciplinary processes, workplace investigations, resolving complex employee relations issues, and managing sensitive matters with discretion, professionalism, and integrity.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills, with the ability to assess risk and make sound, business-focused decisions.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships at all levels of the organization.
• Experience supporting organizational change initiatives within multinational environments, including workforce restructuring, redundancies and collective consultations, mergers and acquisitions, post-merger integrations, and large-scale business transformation programs.
• Experience working within a matrixed and global organization.
• Proficiency with HRIS, case management, workforce analytics, and reporting tools is preferred.
• Fluent English required; proficiency in one or more additional European languages is considered an asset.

Company Overview: 

UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people-first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry — because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge. Learn more at ukg.com. 

UKG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, including the recruitment process.       

Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process  

For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email UKGCareers@ukg.com

The pay range for this position is £60,600 to £81,850. The actual base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge and work location. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible to participate in a performance-based bonus plan and to receive restricted stock unit awards as part of total compensation. Learn more about UKG’s benefits and rewards at https://www.ukg.com/about-us/careers/benefits