Purpose of the Role

As People Partner, you'll play a vital role in shaping the employee experience at Origin during a key time for our People function. Covering maternity leave, this interim role brings the opportunity to step into a hands-on and strategic people role, supporting our 130-strong team across our three channels: wholesale, retail, and e-commerce.

You’ll work closely with the Director of People & Culture to ensure the smooth running of all people processes, while also contributing deeper experience and confidence across the full employee lifecycle, from onboarding and compliance to engagement, development, and wellbeing.

What You’ll Do

Employee Engagement & Wellbeing

• Coordinate our engagement initiatives, including employee surveys, analysing data and supporting follow-up actions.
• Regularly review and improve our health and wellbeing offer, conducting research to recommend new benefits or approaches.
• Work with stakeholders to strengthen engagement and enhance company culture.
• Lead or support wellbeing campaigns, mental health initiatives, and recognition programmes that reflect our values.

Employee Support & Development

• Act as a trusted first point of contact for employee queries and line manager support.
• Support and advise on probation, performance and capability processes, tracking progress, prompting reviews, and identifying development needs.
• Provide confident, empathetic guidance on employee relations cases, escalating as appropriate.
• Support the implementation of learning and development opportunities, including internal training programmes and external providers.

HR Administration & Compliance

• Own HR administrative processes across departments, supporting the Director of People & Culture with consistent, compliant and efficient delivery.
• Manage employee lifecycle processes in our HRIS (Bob), including onboarding, contracts, changes, and accurate reporting of starters, movers, and leavers.
• Lead on the coordination of payroll input and data accuracy in collaboration with our Finance team.
• Maintain and develop our suite of HR policies and ensure legal compliance (e.g. RTW, GDPR, ACAS best practice).
• Maintain our Employee & Manager Handbooks to ensure accuracy and compliance.

• Oversee the People@ inbox to triage queries, provide first response guidance, and ensure timely issue resolution.

• Coordinate customer visits to our HQ, collaborating with internal teams and local partners to ensure a welcoming experience that highlights our culture and community.

People Analytics & Data

• Collect and analyse people metrics, including absenteeism, ED&I, turnover and engagement trends.
• Generate monthly reports using analytic dashboards to prepare monthly Board Report, to support strategic decision-making.
• Support the Director of People & Culture with annual HR budget planning and tracking of People-related costs (e.g., recruitment, training, and benefits).
• Maintain accurate pay and role records within HR systems and provide support during annual reviews.

Recruitment & Retention

• Partner with hiring managers on job descriptions, attraction strategies, shortlisting and selection.
• Manage job postings, ATS workflows (Teamtailor), and pre-employment checks including right to work and references.
• Deliver a consistent, values-led onboarding and offboarding process that ensures legal compliance and a positive experience.
• Support the development of talent pipelines and proactive retention initiatives.

HR Systems & Processes

• Manage and maintain HRIS and ATS platforms, ensuring data integrity and ease of reporting.
• Monitor and track the completion of key HR documentation such as performance reviews, one-to-ones, and ER case notes.
• Continuously seek ways to improve processes and automation within the People function to save time and improve employee experience by keeping up to date with monthly feature releases across all people systems.

What You’ll Bring

Skills & Experience

• CIPD Level 5 qualified (or working towards, with strong demonstrable experience).
• Solid generalist HR background with experience across the full employee lifecycle.
• Good working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Experience in fast-paced, people-first environments such as hospitality, retail or production.
• Confident working with data, systems, and employee communications.
• Organised, proactive and solutions-focused with the ability to work autonomously.

Values & Mindset

At Origin, our values are more than words, they guide how we work, lead and grow. In this role, you’ll be expected to bring the following mindset to everything you do:

• You’re committed to continuous improvement, for yourself, for others, and for the business.
• You take ownership, seek feedback, and look for smarter ways of working.

• You value meaningful relationships and take the time to support, coach and uplift others.
• You bring empathy, patience and a belief in everyone’s potential to develop.

• You actively contribute to an inclusive and respectful workplace.
• You collaborate generously and bring people together with purpose and care.

Why Join Us?

At Origin, we’re proud to do things differently.

We’re a purpose-driven, B Corp certified business, rooted in specialty coffee but powered by people. From farms to cafes, every part of our journey is guided by our values and our commitment to doing the right thing, for people, planet and product.

As People Partner, you’ll play a key role in shaping the experience of working here. You’ll join a passionate, growing team where your voice will be heard, your ideas welcomed, and your work will have real impact.

You’ll have the space to lead, the support to grow, and the opportunity to be part of something meaningful, every single day.

Everyone is Welcome at Origin

We believe that different perspectives make life richer and more inspiring. At Origin, we welcome everyone with open arms—regardless of race, colour, age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, parental status, or age. Even if your skills or experience don’t perfectly match a specific role, we still encourage you to apply. Your unique experience could be exactly what we’re looking for.