HR Business Partner- Maternity cover
12months FTC
£100,000 Benefits
London (3 days in office)


Middlemore have partnered exclusively with a market leading Financial services firm to lead on the search for a HR Business Partner to join their established, close-knit team for a 12month maternity contract. As the HR Business Partner, you will be responsible for a client group of c.300 FTE across Technology, Claims, Data and Operations.


The HR team are very well established and well-integrated within the business, so this often results in a high volume of day-to-day hands-on activity across Employee Relations, People and L&D. The business has an excellent COE so this role will have a generalist remit, but you will gain exposure to ad-hoc HR projects. The ideal candidate will have a solid background operating in a business partner capacity and will enjoy building and nurturing stakeholder relationships across the business. Key priorities will include:

• Partner the Tech, Data, Claims, and Operations leadership teams (approx. 170 Tech, 80 Claims, 50 Ops).
• Support a UK and India (small FTE) split workforce, ensuring one-team culture and cohesion as the India hub continues to grow (expected to double headcount next year).
• Provide strategic HR partnership to leaders and EC members with coaching, challenging, and shaping decisions with a long-term, organisational lens rather than purely transactional focus.
• Lead or support organisation design, workforce planning, and headcount optimisation, managing fixed cost challenges and workforce agility.
• Manage complex employee relations activity (disciplinaries, grievances, investigations) in line with cultural principles and regulatory frameworks (SMCR, non-financial misconduct).
• Drive talent, progression, and development planning within Tech and Data, balancing fast-moving career expectations and retention needs in a competitive talent market.
• Act as a trusted adviser and culture ambassador, modelling curiosity, challenge, and commercial pragmatism.

• HR Business Partner experience - including partnering with managers, handling employee queries, supporting on projects, enabling leaders to deliver on their functional strategies, internal mobility, Employee Relations, Culture and Conduct etc.
• Experience supporting a centre of excellence & own client group
• Insurance experience would be advantageous for this hire