People Business Partner

Role Overview

We are looking for a commercially minded People Business Partner to deliver HR support with a strong emphasis on proactive recruitment, direct sourcing, and headhunting across the company group. This role involves managing the entire recruitment process, building sustainable talent pipelines, and advising managers on staffing solutions, alongside providing first-level HR support and escalating complex cases when necessary. The position can be located anywhere nationally.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement proactive recruitment strategies through direct sourcing and headhunting.
• Collaborate with leaders and hiring managers in Network and Support Functions to convert workforce plans and vacancies into clear, commercially viable recruitment approaches.
• Take full ownership of the recruitment cycle from initial role briefing and market mapping to candidate sourcing, assessment, offer management, pre-employment checks, and onboarding handover.
• Seek out and engage passive candidates via headhunting, referrals, professional networks, social media, and targeted campaigns.
• Create and maintain talent maps and pipelines for key roles, minimizing the dependency on recruitment agencies.
• Provide guidance and constructive challenge to hiring managers on role design, candidate profiles, salary positioning, selection processes, and market trends.
• Develop accurate, inclusive, and attractive job descriptions, person specifications, advertisements, and candidate communications aligned with the employer brand.
• Conduct candidate screening, coordinate interviews, deliver evidence-based feedback, and ensure a consistent, high-quality candidate experience.
• Manage relationships with agencies and suppliers ensuring compliance with agreements, service standards, and cost controls.
• Expand attraction channels through social media, recruitment events, colleges, trade networks, and partnerships to enhance the Group's market presence.
• Maintain precise and compliant recruitment documentation, vacancy data, and applicant tracking records.
• Monitor recruitment metrics such as time to hire, cost per hire, source effectiveness, agency spend, offer acceptance rates, vacancy risks, and candidate conversions, using insights to optimize recruitment outcomes.
• Drive continuous improvement in recruitment processes, tools, and hiring manager skills, while ensuring fairness, data protection, and legal compliance.
• Serve as the initial HR contact for managers on routine people issues, offering pragmatic guidance within policy and delegated authority levels.
• Support employee relations activities involving absence management, probation, performance issues, conduct, flexible working requests, and general employee inquiries, escalating complex or high-risk issues as needed.
• Assist with workforce planning, organisational change, employee engagement, retention strategies, succession planning, and talent development initiatives.
• Coordinate with Payroll, Reward, Learning & Development, and other specialist teams to resolve people-related queries and ensure timely support delivery.
• Analyze people data to identify trends, highlight workforce or compliance risks, and recommend practical solutions.
• Participate in People-related projects and continuous improvement efforts as assigned by the Head of People.

About GSF Car Parts

GSF Car Parts stands as one of the foremost automotive parts distributors in the UK, supplying thousands of independent garages throughout the UK and Ireland. Operating over 220 branches with a turnover exceeding £475 million, the company boasts a rich heritage grounded in decades of trusted service. The network benefits from specialist central teams in procurement, marketing, national accounts, and advanced integrated IT systems, including the industry-leading catalogue platform, Allicat, and access to the Servicesure national garage programme.