Interim HR Manager
Role Title: Interim HR Manager (Maternity Cover)
Reporting to: Director of HR & Facilities (handover) and then reporting into senior leadership during maternity leave
Contract Type: Fixed-term (Maternity Cover). Open to part-time or full-time.
Location: Office-based, Fareham.
Salary bracket: £45,000-50,000 FTE (pro-rata, depending on experience)
Purpose of the role:
This role provides leadership, coordination, and oversight of the HR function during a period of maternity leave.
The Interim HR Manager will ensure continuity of HR operations, maintain team alignment, and support decision-making, while enabling the continued development of the HR Business Partnerinto a more autonomous, business-facing role. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape and support an HR function in transition, with a strong emphasis on coaching and development rather than full operational ownership.
The role will work alongside an external HR consultancy that will provide specialist advice on complex employee relations and employment law matters.
This is not a traditional “hands-on HR Manager” role. The emphasis is on leading, coaching, and enabling the team, rather than personally owning all technical or complex HR delivery.
Responsibility for day-to-day HR delivery sits within the existing team with the HR Business Partner remaining as the primary HR contact for management.
Key responsibilities:
HR Leadership & Oversight:
- Provide direction and oversight across HR activities to ensure consistent and effective delivery in alignment with business needs
- Support prioritisation of workload across the HR team
- Maintain visibility of key people matters and risks within the business
Employee relations oversight:
- Oversee employee relations activity across the business, ensuring consistency and appropriate handling
- Support the HR Business Partner in managing ER cases, providing guidance and challenge where needed
- Work collaboratively with the external HR consultancy on complex or high-risk cases, ensuring appropriate advice is sought and applied
- Ensure a pragmatic, commercially balanced approach to decision-making
Coaching & Development (core focus):
- Coach and support the HR Business Partner in developing:
- Independent ownership of ER cases
- Confidence in decision-making
- Stakeholder management and influence
- Provide structured feedback and create opportunities for development
- Support the transition from supporting to owning HR activity.
Team Cohesion & Communication:
- Ensure strong communication and collaboration across the HR team
- Establish and maintain a clear operating rhythm, including:
- Regular 1:1 check-ins
- Monthly team meetings
- Promote clarity of roles, responsibilities and priorities
- Encourage effective working relationships across HR, Payroll, and Operations
Stakeholder Engagement:
- Provide support and guidance on stakeholder matters where appropriate
- Enable the HR Business Partnerto remain the primary point of contact for managers
- Engage directly with senior stakeholders on more complex or sensitive matters where required
Working with external HR consultancy:
- Collaborate with HR Business Partner to coordinate support from the external HR consultancy
- Ensure appropriate use of consultancy support for complex ER matters and legal or compliance queries
- Translate external advice into practical actions within the business
Ideal Candidate:
- HR professional with broad generalist experience
- Strong background in employee relations and employment law
- Confident collaborating with external advisors and able to use external expertise effectively without over-reliance
- A natural coach and mentor who enjoys developing others and building capability with the ability to balance support with appropriate challenge
- Pragmatic and commercial – able to make balance, risk-aware decisions
- Comfortable working in a role that is not the “face” of HR and focused on outcomes rather than visibility but able to step where needed without taking over.
- Adaptable and collaborative, works well within a structured but evolving environment.
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Fixed term contract, Temporary
Contract length: 11 months
Pay: £45,000.00-£50,000.00 per year
Expected hours: 16 – 37.5 per week
Benefits:
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
