Senior HR Business Partner

A boutique Bank are seeking a Senior HR Business Partner to join its London-based HR team on a 12-month maternity cover. This is a highly visible, hands-on role supporting a all staff across London and the wider European offices, working closely with senior leaders in the UK, Europe and the US.

Based in London, you will partner closely with senior managers across Investment Banking, Equities, Private Capital and Corporate Functions, with responsibility for HR delivery across the UK (c.150 employees) and oversee the European offices (c.70 employees).

This role will suit a confident, commercially minded HRBP who is comfortable with team management, managing complex employee relations work, and can provide a true "white-glove" HR service to senior stakeholders from Analyst through to C-Suite.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted advisor to senior managers, providing pragmatic, commercial HR guidance across all areas of the employee lifecycle.
• Lead on complex employee relations matters across the UK and Europe, including performance management, senior exits, disputes, disciplinary and grievance processes, and settlement agreements.
• Take a proactive approach to identifying and managing potential ER risks, minimising escalation through early intervention.
• Confidently manage ER cases involving revenue-generating, front-office populations, including MD-level stakeholders.
• Draft and manage complex senior offers, including sign-ons, buy-outs, bonuses and bespoke compensation structures, partnering closely with internal legal counsel.
• Play a key role in year-end and mid-year compensation processes, leading an end-to-end manual process across multiple jurisdictions.
• Support strategic workforce planning, hiring decisions, talent management and succession planning.
• Partner with the Recruitment Specialist on resourcing strategy, budgets and headcount planning.
• Build strong relationships with employees across all offices, acting as a visible and approachable HR presence.
• Ensure compliance with local employment legislation and review/update policies as required.
• Contribute to European and global HR projects as needed (including potential involvement in HR systems testing and implementation).
• Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and handle operational and administrative HR tasks where required in a lean environment.

Experience & Skills Required

• Proven experience as a Senior HR Business Partner, ideally within banking or wider financial services.
• Background in small to mid-sized firms or lean HR teams where autonomy and hands-on delivery are essential.
• Strong, practical experience handling complex ER cases across all levels of seniority.
• Confidence working with demanding senior stakeholders in the UK, Europe and US.
• Solid knowledge of UK employment law; exposure to European employment frameworks is beneficial.
• Comfortable working with manual processes and ambiguity where policies are not always black and white.
• Collaborative leadership style, with the ability to support and develop more junior HR colleagues without undermining their ownership.
• Calm, credible and commercially minded, with the confidence to challenge when needed.