Job Description

Are you an influential, forward-thinking HR professional who thrives on driving people strategy, supporting leaders, and delivering meaningful organisational change? We're looking for an experienced

HR Business Partner

to support our Higher Education and Pabulum divisions -- partnering with leadership teams across universities, colleges, and state schools to deliver high-impact people initiatives.


This is a truly varied and strategic role, covering a large colleague population across the UK. If you're passionate about people, performance, and building strong, engaged teams, we'd love to hear from you.

About the Role

As the HR Business Partner for Higher Education and Pabulum, you will lead the people plan across both areas, ensuring alignment with the wider Education People Plan. You'll work closely with senior leaders to drive excellence across talent management, onboarding, organisational design, change, reward, employee relations, engagement, and leadership capability.


You'll also play a key role in contributing to the wider UK&I people agenda, supporting business growth, retention, and high-performance culture.


We ensure you're rewarded for all your hard work, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes but is not limited to:

Car or Car Allowance Contributory pension scheme Grow your career with our Career Pathways and MyLearning programmes Quick access for you and your immediate family to a Digital GP, and wider healthcare benefits Exclusive travel discounts with TUI, Expedia, Booking.com and many more Save money on your food shop with discounts on Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and many more Up to 44% off cinema tickets to enjoy your favourite blockbuster Receive cash rewards every time you spend and use them on a wide range of brands Un-wind with us with free wellness, mindfulness and exercise classes You can share all discounts and offers with your friends and families

Key Responsibilities

Strategic People Leadership

Partner with leadership teams to shape, deliver, and embed people plans supporting business growth, retention, and long-term objectives. Proactively challenge and coach leaders across all aspects of line management, performance, talent, change, and engagement. Drive continuous improvement and positive cultural change in line with agreed priorities. Contribute to UK&I-wide HR initiatives and organisational development projects.

People Insights & Performance

Use People Dashboard data to shape people initiatives and track delivery of key KPIs. Focus on reducing attrition and absence, and minimising associated costs. Improve compliance and efficiency across DBS and Right to Work processes. Enhance usage and accuracy of core HR systems (PeopleWorks, OurTime, etc.).

Capability, Talent & Performance

Improve line manager capability, reducing reliance on HRBP and HR Services while increasing accuracy and confidence. Champion a high-performance culture, ensuring clarity of accountabilities, KPIs, and regular performance conversations. Lead the talent review process, improving succession pipelines for key roles. Partner with Resourcing to strengthen external talent pipelines and deliver a seamless end-to-end recruitment experience. Create and support development plans for top talent.

Leadership Coaching & Engagement

Coach leaders to enhance their effectiveness and support high-performing teams. Drive initiatives that improve engagement, belonging, wellbeing, recognition, and inclusion. Promote awareness and adoption of people tools, frameworks, and policies. Lead ad hoc projects and HR activities as required.

About You

You'll thrive in this role if you are:

A confident HR Business Partner with strong stakeholder influence and leadership coaching skills. Data-driven, with the ability to translate insights into action. Experienced in reducing attrition, improving engagement, and building capability. Knowledgeable in HR policy, ER best practice, compliance, and people systems. Highly organised, proactive, and comfortable managing a wide range of priorities. Passionate about delivering an exceptional people experience and driving meaningful change.

As part of Compass you'll help to feed people, fuel progress and forge connections in around 6,000 venues. Join us to grow your career with the industry leader, and get competitive pay, great perks and unrivalled opportunities for learning and development, at one of the UK's biggest businesses.


Compass Group UK&I is committed to fostering an environment where every individual can truly be themselves at work and has equal opportunities to advance in their careers. We strive to build a culture that respects and celebrates the unique talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and abilities of all our team members. We want our colleagues to feel valued, empowered to reach their full potential, and to thrive - because diversity is our strength!