About the Role
We’re delighted to offer an exceptional opportunity for a Senior HR Business Partner to join DS Smith Packaging. You will work at the heart of our Central Functions and shape the Employee Experience strategy across the UK. This is a pivotal, high-impact role where you will partner closely with senior stakeholders to deliver our Business Strategy, influence critical decisions and drive a people agenda that enables our teams -and the organisation - to thrive.
Key Responsibilities:
Working as part of the UK Packaging HR Leadership Team, your remit will include:
Playing a key role in delivering the People & Business Strategy for Central Functions, translating strategic intent into practical action. You will lead on core programmes focused on capability development, talent and succession, and workforce optimisation, while working closely with Centres of Excellence and Shared Services to enhance consistency and service quality.
Acting as a strategic partner to Functional Directors, you will contribute to business planning, organisational design and change. You will provide credible challenge and coaching to senior leaders, supporting improved performance, stronger capability and effective organisational development. You will also promote consistent, high quality people leadership and foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
In addition, you will lead the Employee Experience agenda for UK Packaging, ensuring colleagues feel heard and connected. You will use insights to inform action, enhance employee voice, strengthen leadership visibility and refine people policies and processes to ensure they remain clear, relevant and aligned to enhancing colleague experience.
About You
This role carries significant influence and requires strong commercial judgement, advanced partnering capability and the ability to lead HR delivery across multiple functions and sites.
Education & Qualifications
- Degree or equivalent experience required
- Postgraduate HR qualification (CIPD Level 7 or equivalent) preferred
Experience
- Extensive senior HR management experience across multisite operations
- Background in manufacturing, packaging, engineering or comparable operational environments
- Demonstrated success in leading HR transformation and cultural change
- Strong commercial and business partnering capability
- Experienced in senior level stakeholder management
- Proven ability to drive collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement.
Benefits
- Competitive salary and company bonus
- Family Medical cover
- 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
- Pension scheme, life assurance and income protection
- Car allowance
Location: Remote – with regular travel across the UK (including overnight stays)
About us
We’re DS Smith, the company who are redefining packaging for a changing world. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. Today, we operate in more than 30 different countries, supporting customers across sectors like FMCG, industrial, and e-commerce. We deliver on quality, service, innovation, and added value to deliver market-leading sustainable packaging solutions our customers need. Our industry needs to transform, and we’re building the team to drive change across Europe and North America
To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.
Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.
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