People Business Partner

About the role Director level | 10-month fixed-term contract (maternity cover) This is a senior People Partner role providing strategic people leadership and business partnering across a portfolio of client groups. Working closely with senior business leaders, you will develop a strong understanding of business strategy, commercial priorities and organisational challenges, translating these into a focused people agenda that enables business performance. You will act as a trusted adviser, bringing constructive challenge, commercial judgement and people expertise to decisions on organisational effectiveness, workforce capability, talent, performance and change. Operating in a complex, highly matrixed environment, you will also lead and contribute to strategic people projects and transformation priorities. What you’ll do: Strategic business partnering

• Build credible relationships with senior leaders and act as a trusted adviser on business and people priorities.
• Develop a deep understanding of the commercial strategy, operating model, financial drivers and external factors affecting client groups.
• Translate business priorities into a clear, pragmatic people strategy and delivery plan.
• Bring commercial challenge and a people perspective to leadership decision-making, balancing performance, employee experience and organisational risk.
• Use data and insight to identify workforce trends, risks and opportunities and inform decisions. Organisation design and transformation
• Partner senior leaders on organisation design, operating model and workforce transformation.
• Diagnose organisational challenges and develop solutions spanning structure, capability, roles, ways of working and leadership.
• Lead the people aspects of complex organisational change from diagnosis and design through to implementation and embedding.
• Work effectively through ambiguity, helping leaders make pragmatic decisions while the future state is evolving. Talent, succession and performance
• Partner leaders to strengthen organisational capability and build sustainable talent pipelines.
• Lead talent and succession discussions, ensuring critical roles, successor readiness, retention risks and development priorities are understood and acted upon.
• Coach and challenge leaders to build a high-performance culture through clear expectations, differentiated performance and effective leadership. Senior stakeholder advisory
• Provide high-quality coaching, challenge and advice to senior stakeholders on complex and sensitive people matters.
• Build credibility through sound judgement, commercial understanding and the ability to simplify complex issues.
• Navigate competing priorities and stakeholder perspectives, influencing outcomes across matrix reporting lines and organisational boundaries.
• Identify and manage material people risks, partnering specialist colleagues where required. Strategic projects
• Lead and contribute to priority People and business projects, particularly where there is significant organisational, workforce or change impact.
• Translate strategic objectives into clear plans, governance, accountabilities and deliverables.
• Work across business lines, geographies and People Centres of Excellence to deliver joined-up solutions.
• Balance longer-term strategic work with emerging priorities in a fast-paced environment. People leadership
• Provide leadership, coaching and direction to People Partners and colleagues supporting the relevant client groups.
• Potentially hold direct line-management responsibility for People Partners, alongside matrix leadership across the broader People team.
• Create clarity on priorities and accountabilities while empowering colleagues to deliver effectively.
• Build strong partnerships across the wider People function and specialist teams to provide an integrated service to the business. What you’ll need:
• Significant experience operating as a senior People/HR Business Partner within a complex commercial organisation.
• Strong commercial acumen and the ability to translate business strategy, performance drivers and priorities into meaningful people interventions.
• Demonstrable experience partnering, coaching and constructively challenging senior leaders.
• Strong organisation design and organisational effectiveness capability, with experience leading significant transformation and organisational change.
• Strong talent management, succession, workforce planning and performance management capability.
• Experience using workforce data and insight to support strategic decision-making and leading complex cross-functional People projects.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, highly matrixed and sometimes ambiguous environment, establishing clarity and momentum.
• Strong influencing skills, excellent judgement and the ability to move confidently between strategic thinking and practical execution.
• Experience leading, coaching or developing People professionals through direct or matrix leadership. What success looks like
• Trusted partnership: quickly establishes credibility with senior stakeholders and translates commercial priorities into clear people priorities.
• Business impact: strengthens organisational capability, talent and succession while leading change and transformation effectively.
• Delivery through the matrix: creates connectivity across the People function and delivers priority projects with pace, clarity and visible impact. Why CBRE When you join CBRE, you become part of the global leader in commercial real estate services and investment that helps businesses and people thrive. We are dynamic problem solvers and forward-thinking professionals who create significant impact. Our collaborative culture is built on our shared values — respect, integrity, service and excellence — and we value the diverse perspectives, backgrounds and skillsets of our people. At CBRE, you have the opportunity to chart your own course and realise your potential. We welcome all applicants. Applicant AI Use Disclosure We value human interaction to understand each candidate's unique experience, skills and aspirations. We do not use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to make hiring decisions, and we ask that candidates disclose any use of AI in the application and interview process. Equal Opportunities We are an equal opportunities employer and do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability or age. For information about accommodations we can make during the recruitment process, please visit: https://www.cbre.co.uk/careers/accommodations