HR Business Partner – Dandara

Location: Manchester or Milton Keynes

Are you an experienced HR professional who enjoys making a real difference to a business and its people?

At Dandara, we know that great businesses are built by great people. As one of the UK's leading privately owned property developers, we're passionate about creating exceptional places to live and work – and that starts with the people who make it happen.

We're looking for a confident, commercially minded and proactive HR Business Partner to join our HR team, based in either Manchester or Milton Keynes.

This is a fantastic opportunity for an established HR Business Partner who enjoys building relationships, solving problems and making a genuine impact. You'll be working closely with managers and senior leaders, providing practical HR advice, supporting business growth and helping to shape a positive, high-performing workplace culture.

What you'll be doing

No two days will be the same! You'll be involved in a broad range of HR activities, combining hands-on operational support with opportunities to influence how we develop our people and business.

• Be a trusted partner: Build strong relationships with managers and senior leaders, providing practical, commercially focused HR advice that makes a difference.

• Take ownership of employee relations: Confidently manage disciplinary, grievance, absence and performance matters, helping managers navigate complex situations fairly and effectively.

• Develop our managers: Coach, guide and challenge managers to build their confidence and capability in managing their teams.

• Support business growth: Work alongside our Recruitment team and business leaders on workforce planning, talent development, succession planning and employee retention.

• Help shape change: Support organisational changes, restructures and TUPE processes, ensuring people are at the heart of business decisions.

• Turn data into insight: Use HR reporting and people analytics to identify trends, influence decisions and recommend improvements.

• Make things better: Identify opportunities to simplify processes, improve the employee experience and introduce smarter, more efficient ways of working.

• Champion our culture: Help create an inclusive, engaging and supportive environment where people can perform at their best.

What we're looking for

We're looking for someone who combines strong HR knowledge with a practical, people-focused approach.

You'll ideally bring:

• Experience in an HR Business Partner role, with the confidence to provide independent HR advice.

• A solid understanding of UK employment law and experience managing a range of employee relations cases.

• The ability to build credibility and influence managers and senior stakeholders at all levels.

• A commercial mindset – someone who understands that good HR is about finding practical solutions, not simply quoting policies.

• Excellent communication skills and the confidence to have challenging conversations when needed.

• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to juggle priorities in a busy environment.

• A proactive, solutions-focused attitude and a genuine enthusiasm for improving how things are done.

• Confidence working with HR systems, data and reporting to support better decision-making.

A CIPD Level 5 qualification or above would be great, but we're equally interested in candidates who can demonstrate strong practical HR experience.

Experience within property development, or a similar operational environment would be advantageous, although it's certainly not essential. We're also keen to hear from people who embrace technology and are interested in how tools such as AI can help make HR more effective and efficient.

Why join Dandara?

At Dandara, you'll have the opportunity to work within a diverse and evolving business where HR plays an important role in supporting our people and future growth.

You'll be joining a collaborative HR team, working alongside experienced colleagues whilst having the freedom to take ownership, share ideas and make a genuine contribution.

This isn't a role where you'll simply be following processes. We want someone who will question, improve and help us move forward.

What's in it for you

• £Competitive basic based on experience

• Discretionary Bonus Scheme

• 33 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays)

• Private Medical Insurance

• Employee Assistance Programme - EAP

• Health Hero digital doctor - 24 hr virtual help and appointments

• Health Assured Wisdom App

• 3x salary life assurance (paid option to increase to x4)

• Cycle to Work Scheme

• Employer matched pension scheme of up to 5%

• Flexible benefits including shopping vouchers, airport parking and reduced gym membership

No Agencies please, we've got this one ourselves.