HR Business Partner - Maternity Cover

Job Description: Group HR Business Partner

FTC – 12 months maternity cover - start Sept 2026

Remote UK

Reporting line: This role reports to the Global Group HRBP, who reports to the CHRO.

Location: Remote role (with occasional travel as required).

Role purpose: Provide functional HRBP support to Global Group functions, partnering with leaders, managers and employees to deliver a consistent, proactive employee experience across a global organisation. Coach managers through people processes, promote our benefits offering, and identify practical improvements to how we work.

How You’ll Work:

• Be the accessible point of contact for leaders, managers and employees, providing trusted day-to-day guidance and coordinating the right support.
• Build close working relationships with all HR partners (globally/regional/site HR, TA, Reward, Talent & Development) to ensure joined-up delivery, consistent policy application, and strong governance across locations.
• Partner with the UK Country Lead and UK HR colleagues to align UK policies and processes with global standards, balancing consistency with local requirements.

Morgan Advanced Materials is a business rich in history and innovation. Founded in the UK in 1856, we have grown into a global organisation with 70 sites in 18 countries. Our model to serve our customers where they need us has led to a diversified product range using our unparalleled expertise in ceramic and carbon materials, which we exploit to solve difficult problems for our customers across a diverse range of markets.

We are a purpose driven organisation. Our purpose is to use advanced materials to make the world more sustainable and to improve the quality of life. We deliver on that purpose through the products that we make, and the way that we make them.

We help our customers push the limits of their processes and products to meet the demanding requirements they face, from higher process temperatures to higher product performance to increasing miniaturisation.

Key Figures: Revenue £1,100.7m (2024), ~8,000 employees, manufacturing in 20+ countries, and a global customer portfolio. A UK PLC with head office located in Windsor, Berkshire UK.  Listed on London Stock Exchange; Member of the FTSE 250 Index.

What You’ll Do:

• Partner with functional leaders to translate business priorities into a practical people plan (capability, organisation health, resourcing and talent).
• Support workforce planning and resourcing, partnering with TA and regional HR teams to forecast demand and coordinate critical hiring activity.
• Use people data and insight to identify trends and risks (e.g., ER hotspots, retention, capability, wellbeing), recommend actions, and track progress.
• Facilitate the Your Voice engagement survey for supported functions: analyse results, compare to previous years, share clear insights, and support action planning and follow-through.
• Apply sound judgement and governance: ensure consistent application of policies and ER principles, managing cases to resolution and escalating to the Global Group HRBP for guidance on complex or high-risk matters.
• Support managers and employees across the full employee lifecycle, providing clear guidance, handling queries, and resolving issues with the right HR partners globally.
• Promote our employee benefits and wellbeing offering, proactively signposting resources and programmes and partnering with Reward & Benefits to drive understanding and uptake.
• Guide, coach and upskill managers through core people processes (performance, absence, probation, ER), using regular catch-ups and a clear people cadence to progress actions and improve manager capability.
• Demonstrate strong digital competence, identifying opportunities for digitalisation and automation (tools, workflows, self-service, reporting) to improve efficiency, data quality and the manager/employee experience.
• Maintain high standards of HR administration and record-keeping: keep HRIS data accurate and audit-ready, and manage secure, well-organised employee files in line with policy.
• Drive continuous improvement of HR ways of working for the function (process simplification, manager self-service, governance), using insight and feedback to implement practical, efficient solutions.
• Coordinate functional inputs to annual cycles (performance, reward, talent and engagement), partnering with Global Group HRBP and specialist teams (Reward, Talent & Development) to deliver consistent outcomes.
• Support functional change activity (org changes, consultation, operating model shifts), ensuring stakeholder alignment across regions and effective communication.

What You’ll Bring:

• CIPD Level 5 qualification (and ambition to study at Level 7) or equivalent, with a clear aspiration to grow and continually learn.
• Experience in an HR generalist/HR advisory role, with exposure to supporting stakeholders across multiple sites, functions, or geographies.
• Typically 3+ years’ experience in an HR role (generalist, advisory, HR operations or junior HRBP), with evidence of building credibility with managers and employees.
• Comfort working across time zones and cultures, with the ability to influence without direct authority and build trusted global partnerships.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment legislation and HR best practice, able to interpret requirements and apply them in practice—explaining options, risks and recommended actions to managers and the business.
• Demonstrated capability in stakeholder management and delivery of people initiatives in a matrix/global environment.
• Solutions-driven with a growth mindset: seeks feedback, takes ownership, and continuously improves ways of working.

Competencies:

• Business acumen: Understands the business context and anticipates people implications.
• Driven for results: Delivers at pace with strong follow-through.
• Customer focus: Builds trust and delivers a great employee experience.

Why Join Morgan Advanced Materials?

• Join a values-led team that prioritises safety, integrity, collaboration and ambition.
• Develop your HRBP capability with opportunities to learn, grow and gain global exposure.
• Do meaningful work that supports people and business performance.

Morgan Advanced Materials is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other legally protected status. Ind-1