Job Description
HR Business Partner
Salary: £37,000 - £45,000
Work Type: Home-based
Location: Remote – with regular travel to London and operational locations
Hours: 35 per week
At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe everyone deserves a better life. Every day, we work to improve the quality of life for people severely affected by mental illness — and we know our people are at the heart of making that happen.
We’re looking for a values driven, forward thinking HR Business Partner (HRBP) to join our People & OD team. This is your opportunity to influence organisational culture, champion equity and inclusion, and support leaders to create high performing, compassionate teams.
About the role
As our HR Business Partner, you’ll act as a trusted adviser to senior leaders across the organisation. You’ll work in partnership with Directors, Associate Directors and Heads of Department to deliver people led solutions that are fair, equitable and aligned to our values.
You’ll combine expert employee relations practice with strategic insight — drawing on data, organisational understanding and your coaching skills to help leaders make confident, informed decisions. You’ll play a pivotal role in organisational change activity, workforce planning and embedding inclusive, values led people management practices.
A key part of this role is championing Equality, Diversity & Inclusion — ensuring fairness, belonging and equitable outcomes are woven through everything we do.
Responsibilities
Strategic Partnering
• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders, acting as a coach and critical friend.
• Provide relevant, pragmatic people advice grounded in a deep understanding of your service areas.
• Use workforce data and insights to inform decisions, spot risks and support continuous improvement.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
• Champion inclusive, equitable people practices across all HR activity.
• Support leaders to meet their responsibilities under equality legislation.
• Identify disparities in people data and support targeted interventions.
• Challenge bias and inequity constructively and professionally.
Employee Relations
• Lead and advise on complex ER cases, ensuring fair, legally compliant processes.
• Coach managers to handle people issues early and confidently.
• Support the preparation of cases for hearings and tribunals where required.
Organisational Change
• Lead or support restructures, TUPE, and transformation activity.
• Help leaders communicate change effectively and manage its impact on colleagues.
• Work with L&D colleagues to strengthen capability, engagement and wellbeing.
Policy, Governance & Best Practice
• Contribute to developing and reviewing inclusive HR policies.
• Ensure consistent and fair application of HR policies across the organisation.
• Maintain up to date employment law knowledge and share learning across the HR team.
Leadership & Professional Practice
• Support or mentor junior HR colleagues (where applicable).
• Model inclusive leadership and Rethink values.
• Commit to continuous professional development and maintain professional accreditation.
Person Specification
Essential criteria
• Ability to regularly travel to London and operational locations as required by the business.
• CIPD Level 5 qualification (minimum) or equivalent professional experience.
• Full UK Driving Licence.
• Significant HRBP or senior HR experience within a complex organisation.
• Strong, up to date employment law knowledge applied pragmatically.
• Proven experience managing complex ER cases with confidence and sensitivity.
• Experience supporting organisational change, including restructures and TUPE.
• Ability to interpret workforce data and use insights to inform decisions.
• Demonstrable experience building credible, trusted relationships with senior stakeholders.
• Strong influencing, coaching and problem solving skills.
• A clear commitment to ED&I, with experience embedding equitable and inclusive people practices.
• Confidence to challenge bias, inequity or exclusion constructively.
Desirable criteria
• CIPD Level 7 / MCIPD or working towards.
• Experience mentoring or supporting junior HR colleagues.
• Experience in the charity or public sector environment.
• Experience supporting tribunal preparation or presenting at hearings.
• Familiarity with using HR systems, dashboards or people analytics tools.
** We are expecting a high volume of applications and may need to close this advert early. Please complete applications as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Why Work With Rethink Mental Illness?
At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe that when you feel supported, you can make the biggest difference. That’s why we offer a range of benefits to help you thrive:
• Inclusive Culture: Join staff networks that champion diversity and inclusion.
• Wellbeing Support: Access our Wellbeing Hub, Employee Assistance Programme, and the Unmind mental health app.
• Recognition & Rewards: Enjoy discounts, cashback offers, and celebrate achievements through our PULSE platform.
• Flexible Working & Generous Leave: Starting at 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays and your birthday off), with options to buy or sell extra days.
• Learning & Development: Grow your career with structured onboarding and training opportunities.
• Financial & Family Support: Contributory pension scheme, enhanced family leave, and travel benefits like season ticket loans and cycle-to-work schemes.
• Referral Bonus: Earn up to £300 for introducing someone to our team.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Diversity is important to us, and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer. We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.
We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio-economic status.
Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation
We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.
