US Retail People Relations Manager

Full time

US Retail People Relations Manager

United States of America, Illinois, Chicago 1 day ago

Job category

HR

Experience level

Senior

Relocation available

This role is not eligible for relocation

Job type

Professionals

Travel required

Up to 10% travel should be expected with this role

Job code

RQ105107

Job Description

Retail People Relations (RPR) is a globally connected team within People, Communications & Culture, responsible for providing expert People Relations support across bp’s retail COCO network.

RPR team members partner closely with business leaders, People & Culture (P&C) teams, legal, and external stakeholders to deliver consistent, high-quality guidance on all People Relations matters. The team’s expertise spans everything, including (but not limited to) general RPR queries, policy interpretation, workplace investigations and disciplinary, grievance resolution, business change (eg. divestments and acquisitions), and support with Industrial Relations.

The Retail People Relations (RPR) Manager provides strategic leadership in People Relations across bp’s retail COCO network in the market, ensuring compliance, mitigating risk, and building a positive approach to People Relations. This role partners with RPR Managers in all markets and local P&C business partners, to drive consistency in People Relations practices and provide subject matter expertise in all areas of People Relations.

In this role you will oversee and implement the regional People Relations strategy, providing expertise on labour rights, modern slavery, policy, and concerns management. The role acts as a key liaison between the markets ensuring connection, efficiency and aligned ways of working.

Key Accountabilities

Strategic Leadership: Provide guidance to business leaders on all aspects of People Relations, ensuring compliance with country-specific regulations and global bp policy. Build PR capability related to but not limited to policy interpretation, grievance resolution, discipline, PIPs, investigations, arbitration, and mediation.

Team Development: Develop and deploy tools that proactively support a positive People Relations environment and capability. This could include (but not limited to) mentoring, coaching, and encouraging peer-to-peer support. Effectively train teams on policy interpretation and exceptions.

Business Change Support: Lead People Relations support for acquisitions, divestments, and other large-scale workforce changes.

Operational Excellence: Develop, manage, and oversee country-specific policies, ensuring best practices in consultation and workforce engagement.

Compliance & Risk Management: Monitor team performance against SLAs and collaborate with BI, and E&C to ensure adherence to SLAs. Where potential People Relations risks are identified, take ownership to provide solutions which mitigate the risk.

Policy: Support the Specialist and Advisory team with the development, implementation, and maintenance of People Relations policies, providing guidance on local adaptations while maintaining global consistency.

Stakeholder Engagement: Act as a key point of contact for business leaders, PC&C teams, legal, BI, E&C, and external regulatory bodies.

Labour Rights & Modern Slavery: Drive awareness, training, and proactive engagement on LRMS across field-based teams.

Works Council & Consultation (where relevant): Manage works council relationships and lead the consultation process for people-related changes.

Industrial Relations: Support the Group People Relations team where required, including collective consultation, negotiation, comms and engagement activity, governance and industrial action response plans.

Psychological Safety: Provide guidance to business leaders on creating to create a more inclusive, supportive and diverse workplace, and drive psychological safety within their own team by encouraging transparency, respect, and constructive feedback

Required Qualifications:

Skills

Managing change

Psychological safety

Legal and regulatory environment and compliance

Stakeholder management

Continuous improvement

Performance and planning

Commercial competence

Agile core principles

Creativity and innovation

Customer service delivery excellence

Workforce Planning

Resilience

Teamwork

Leadership

Customer centric thinking

Knowledge sharing

Essential Experience and Job Requirements:

Experience in People Relations, HR, or employment law, preferably in a retail or operational environment.

Strong expertise in handling complex employee relations matters, including grievances, performance management, and investigations.

Experience leading or influencing teams in a matrixed environment.

Strong understanding of regional labour laws and compliance requirements.

Demonstrated ability to partner with business leaders to drive people-related strategies.

Experience with large-scale workforce changes, such as acquisitions, divestments, and organizational restructuring.

Technical

Advanced knowledge of employment law, policy interpretation, and workplace investigations.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to interpret case trends and recommend proactive solutions.

Proficiency in HRIS/Case management systems (e.g., Workday, Salesforce).

Ability to design and implement people-related policies and procedures.

Knowledge of works council and consultation processes where applicable.

Behavioural:

Stakeholder management – builds trusted relationships with business leaders, legal teams, and external regulators.

Problem-solving – demonstrates critical thinking and applies sound judgment to resolve complex issues.

Leadership – mentors and develops team members, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Resilience – remains calm and focused in high-pressure situations and ambiguous environments.

Collaboration – works effectively across multiple teams, functions, and geographies.

Business insight – understands the commercial impact of People Relations decisions.

Inclusion & diversity – proactively creates an inclusive and psychologically safe workplace.

Continuous improvement mentality – finds opportunities for efficiency and process enhancements.

Key relationships – internal, external

Internal (i.e. within bp) key relationships:

Retail Business Leaders (Operations, and other functional leaders)

Legal & Compliance Teams

P&C Business Partners

Corporate People Relations

Ops & Advisory

HSSE

BI/E&C

HR Technology & Process Improvement Teams.

External (i.e. outside of bp) key relationships:

External Legal Counsel

Regulatory and Government Authorities (eg Fair Work Commission, Labour Boards)

Works Councils / Trade Unions (where applicable)

Third-party Investigation and Mediation Providers

Role reporting relationships

12-15 direct reports

Why join us

At bp, we support our people to learn and grow in a diverse and ambitious environment. We believe that our team is strengthened by diversity. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment in which everyone is respected and treated fairly.

There are many aspects of our employees’ lives that are meaningful, so we offer benefits ( https://exploreyourbenefits.com/landing.html) to enable your work to fit with your life. These benefits can include flexible working options, a generous paid parental leave policy, and excellent retirement benefits, among others!

How much do we pay (Base)? $128,000 - $238,000 *Note that the pay range listed for this position is a genuinely expected and reasonable estimate of the range of possible base compensation at the time of posting.

This position is eligible for US Benefits – Core. This position offers paid vacation depending on your years of relevant industry experience and will range from 120 – 240 hours[LC1] of vacation per year for full time employees (60 - 240 hours of vacation per year for part time employees). You will also be eligible for 9 paid holidays per year and 2 personal choice holidays. You may learn more about how we calculate paid vacation and view our generous vacation and holiday schedules at Core U.S. Benefits. Bp has a parental leave policy as well, which offers up to 8 weeks’ paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. Learn more by visiting Core U.S. Benefits.

We offer a reward package to enable your work to fit with your life. These offerings include a discretionary annual bonus program, long-term incentive program, and generous retirement benefits that include a 401k matching program. These benefits include a pension for eligible employee[LC2] . You may learn more about our generous benefits at Core U.S. Benefits.

As part of bp’s wellbeing package, bp offers access to health, vision, and dental insurance, as well as life and Short-Term Disability and Long-Term Disability. You may learn more about our generous benefits at Core U.S. Benefits.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform crucial job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to request any accommodations.

Legal Disclaimer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity/neurocognitive functioning, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with an accessibility need may request an adjustment/accommodation related to bp’s recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.). If you would like to request an adjustment/accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us.

If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy. This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.

Our innovative Energize recognition points programme and spot awards translate exceptional performance into tangible rewards, to motivate our high performers.

Pay

bp offers competitive pay in line with industry standards, making us an employer of choice.

Discretionary bonus

We offer discretionary bonuses to reward strong company, business unit and individual performance, and recognition awards, including those related to long service to recognize commitment to the company.

Retirement & savings

We offer a range of discretionary retirement and savings plans to help provide you and your family with financial security.

Insurance benefits

To give you additional peace of mind, bp provides valuable insurance benefits in some countries. These are designed to provide financial assistance to employees and their families if employees become unwell or die in service.

Equity

Depending on your location and job level, there may be equity (stock and share) options you are eligible to join so you can be part of bp’s success.