Job Description

Job Title: HR Manager
Location: Southport
Salary: Competitive
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: Full Time

Ready to own the people agenda, report directly to the CEO, and help shape a fast-growing, award-winning healthcare business from the inside out? This could be the role you’ve been waiting for.

About Us

The MCL Group is a fast-growing organisation operating across the healthcare and occupational health sector, with services spanning occupational health, employee assistance programmes, resourcing, and remote medical support. With a strong clinical reputation, a pipeline of new contracts, and big ambitions for what comes next, we need someone exceptional to lead our people strategy.

We’re proud to be Great Place to Work® Certified In fact, 90% of our employees say The MCL Group is a great place to work, compared to just 54% at a typical UK company. That’s not a number we take for granted. It’s the result of a genuine commitment to our people, and we’re looking for someone who will help us protect, build on, and evolve that culture as we grow.

This isn’t a back-office support role. It’s a seat at the top table from day one.

Based at our Head Office, Martin House in Southport, you’ll report directly to the CEO and take full ownership of the HR function, leading and developing your own HR team. You’ll be the go-to person for everything people, from shaping strategy in the boardroom to rolling up your sleeves and making things happen on the ground.

If you’re an experienced HRBP or HR Manager who’s ready to step up, this is it. You’ll have the autonomy to shape the function, a team to lead and develop, the backing of a CEO who values people, and a growing business that will grow with you.

What You’ll Be Doing

People & Culture

• Develop and deliver the people strategy, directly aligned to the company’s commercial objectives and growth plans.

• Partner with the CEO and senior leadership team on organisational design, workforce planning, and change management.

• Lead, mentor, and develop the HR team, building capability and ensuring high standards of delivery across the function.

• Lead on all employee relations matters, ensuring fair, consistent, and legally compliant outcomes.

• Drive talent acquisition, onboarding, and retention, making sure we attract and keep the best people in the sector.

• Design and implement performance management frameworks, appraisals, probation reviews, and succession planning.

• Champion employee engagement, wellbeing, and the culture that earned us Great Place to Work® Certification.

• Drive diversity, equity, and inclusion across the business.

Reward, Payroll & Compliance

• Own the payroll function, including governance, sign-off, and driving the move towards automated, efficient systems.

• Review and optimise the benefits offering (health, life assurance, wellbeing) to ensure we’re competitive and fair.

• Ensure full compliance with GDPR, IR35, ISO standards, and sector-specific regulatory requirements.

• Oversee contractor management and IR35 risk assessments.

• Keep all HR policies, procedures, and handbooks up to date and legally watertight.

Workforce Planning & Analytics

• Lead workforce planning and people analytics, providing the CEO and leadership team with data-driven insights on utilisation, turnover, staffing, and cost.

• Partner with Finance and Operations to forecast headcount and support smart resource allocation.

• Build meaningful HR reporting and dashboards that drive better decisions.

Learning & Development

• Own the L&D strategy, from mandatory training (GDPR, clinical, sector-specific) to CPD for clinicians and leadership development programmes.

• Implement systemised tracking of training compliance, competencies, and professional development.

• Build a culture of continuous learning and growth at every level.

Change & Growth

• Lead on TUPE transfers, restructuring, and integration as the business grows through acquisitions and contract wins.

• Drive organisational change initiatives including skill mix reviews, new contracts, operational redesign.

• Champion the adoption of modern HR systems and digital platforms, replacing manual processes and driving efficiency.

What You’ll Bring

We’re looking for someone ambitious, capable, and ready to take ownership. You don’t need to have done every single thing on this list, but you do need the drive and ability to make this role your own.

• CIPD Level 5 or above (Level 7 preferred), with a strong grounding in UK employment law.

• Solid experience at HRBP, Senior HR Manager, or HR Director level, ideally in healthcare, occupational health, or another regulated environment.

• Proven track record across the full HR generalist remit: ER, talent, reward, payroll, L&D, and organisational change, with experience of leading and developing an HR team.

• Strong knowledge of GDPR, IR35, and ISO compliance frameworks.

• Hands-on and execution-driven. You’re not afraid to get stuck in alongside your team.

• Commercially sharp. You understand the business and can translate its priorities into a people plan that delivers.

• Experience of TUPE transfers, restructures, and integration in a growing business.

• A data-driven mindset with experience in workforce analytics, HR reporting, and HR systems (e.g. Sage HR or similar).

• A confident, credible adviser who earns trust quickly, whether with the CEO, clinicians, and operational leaders alike.

• Excellent communication, influencing, and organisational design skills with a pragmatic, solutions-first approach.

What Can We Offer You?

• Competitive salary, negotiable based on experience.

• Generous annual leave plus bank holidays.

• Lifa Assurance

• Salary sacrifice pension scheme.

• Health and wellbeing benefits.

• Direct access to the CEO with no layers, no bureaucracy, real influence from day one.

• A genuine step-up opportunity for your career, with the scope to grow as the business scales.

• Full ownership of the people function. Build it, shape it, make it yours.

• Join a Great Place to Work® Certified organisation where 90% of employees say this is a great place to work.

• A growing, purpose-driven healthcare business where the work you do genuinely matters.

• A supportive, ambitious team that values what great HR looks like.

Location

This is an office-based role at our Head Office, Martin House, Southport. We believe in the power of being together: collaborating, problem-solving, and building relationships in person, and you’ll be at the heart of the business from day one.

Not sure if you’re ready? If this role excites you and you’ve got most of what we’re looking for, we’d love to hear from you. Apply and let’s have a conversation.

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals regardless of background.