Regional People Manager - Retail

Vacancy Information

Due to an upcoming retirement, we have an exciting opportunity for a Regional Retail People Manager to join the Greggs People Team. 

Reporting into the Head of People (Retail), you’ll lead a team of People Advisors to support our South East Region, covering more than 500 shops and 7,000 Greggs colleagues across an area stretching from Peterborough to Portsmouth and Swindon across to Margate.

This is a fantastic role for someone who wants to make a real impact on the colleague experience at Greggs. You will play a key part in our mission to develop a high‑performance culture and a future‑ready workforce. Equip leaders to drive performance, engagement, and nurture an inclusive, values‑led culture. Deliver robust recruitment, development, and succession planning to build a strong talent pipeline for a growing business

If you’re passionate about people, leadership, and shaping the future of our Retail teams, this role offers the chance to make a meaningful difference at scale. We can offer you:

• Management Bonus Scheme which is worth up to 17.5% of your salary

• Pension scheme with matching employer contributions up to 7%

• Company car or car allowance

• Colleague discount, up to 50% off our own-produced products

• Profit share - We want everyone to share in the success of the business, so we distribute 10% of our profits to all our colleagues who have at least 6-month service, or more, each year

• 25 days (5 weeks) annual leave, pro-rated, increasing with service (in addition to bank holidays), plus 1 additional floating day

• The opportunity to purchase additional annual leave twice a year

• Colleague share plans, giving you the opportunity to save and invest in Greggs, with the chance to buy Greggs shares at a discounted rate

• Private Medical Insurance which is free for you and subsided for your dependants

• Income Protection should you become unable to work due to long-term sickness

• Death in service benefit which provides a lump-sum payment equal to 4 times your year's salary

• Virtual GP, Physiotherapy and Lifestyle Consultations - we provide access to a fantastic total wellbeing app for you and your family

• Employee Assistance Programme - we provide all colleagues with access to an EAP helpline providing mental health support as well as financial and legal support

• Savings and discounts, including digital gift card discounts, online cashback, in-store and online coupons and lifestyle offers

• Career progression and learning and development opportunities

• A company who cares about our communities; the environment and being a better business! Click here to read about The Greggs Pledge

• Colleague Networks - internal groups where colleagues and their allies can share their own experiences, offer feedback on the way we do things at Greggs, and provide support to one another

What you'll do

As a Regional People Manager you will directly manage a team of People Advisors, providing coaching, support and guidance to drive their professional and personal growth. Provide focused People support to retail leaders, managers and colleagues, ensuring the team offers pragmatic advice across HR policies and employee relations matters. Lead key HR projects and initiatives, embedding the People Strategy and core programmes across the region, while building credible and trusted relationships at all levels of the organisation.

Employee Relations

• Act as a point of escalation for the People Advisors, ensuring all employee relations cases are managed in a timely manner, in line with Greggs policies and relevant legislation, to mitigate risk to the business and protect the colleague experience.
• Manage complex ER casework including disciplinaries, grievances, absence cases and preparation for tribunal cases
• Use mediation, facilitation, influencing and coaching skills to support line managers and colleagues with early dispute resolution
• Maintain strong relationships with our union, acting as the main point of contact for the region and chairing regional JCC meetings

Colleague Experience 

• Ensure effective recruitment and succession planning is in place, in partnership with the regional retail leadership team, recruitment and retail L&D
• Support Greggs’ learning and development strategy to build management capability within the region
• Lead the implementation of DE&I initiatives within the region 
• Partner with the regional retail leadership to facilitate the annual engagement survey, analyse results and ensure robust action plans are in place. 
• Participate in ad-hoc projects and national initiatives with the broader People Team
• Provide insights and feedback to shape our strategy and annual planning process

Reporting, Process & Analysis

• Contribute to the development of all ER policy and procedure, ensuring it reflects the commercial needs of the business, aligns with Greggs values and is always legally compliant.
• Review people data to inform decision making, identify trends / opportunities and make recommendations for change
• Ensure all compliance related activities are actioned in a timely manner 
• Focus on continuous improvement through identifying and developing improved ways of working.

About you

You will fit right into this role if you can demonstrate:

• Good knowledge of UK employment law
• Significant experience in end-to-end management of a broad range of ER cases at different levels of complexity, ideally gained within a fast-paced retail environment
• Previous experience in resolving whistleblowing cases and engaging with legal counsel on tribunal cases
• Previous experience leading, coaching and engaging a remote, regionally based team 
• Experience working within a unionised environment, or familiar with regular interactions with trade union representatives
• Have a track record of building credible relationships with business stakeholders including operational colleagues, functional experts and Trade Union representatives.
• Experience of delivering people plans and programs across a large, remote population
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to influence and present ideas and opportunities. 
• Comfortable working with data to generate insights and inform decision making
• Have excellent IT skills including Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Excel, Teams, Success Factors and a willingness to learn and embrace new technologies (AI, co-pilot)
• Enjoy being part of a hard-working team, sharing the same end goal, and celebrating results together.
• Are supportive of an inclusive culture – recognising and valuing that difference is good.
• Want to develop and are ready to work alongside some great people and have lots of fun on your Greggs journey!

A CIPD qualification or equivalent would be beneficial but is not essential. A full UK driving licence is essential.

About Greggs

Here at Greggs, we love what we do, and we have fun! What makes Greggs so special is our culture – the way we are, the way we behave and the way we support each other. We're hard-working, but above all else we're family; and it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from or what your favourite bake is, we’d love you to join us! We want everyone to feel welcome at Greggs and our colleagues to be able to be themselves at work, whatever their background, preferences, or views.