Global Employee Relations Lead (12 month FTC)

Company Description We’re Checkout.com – you might not know our name, but companies like eBay, ASOS, Klarna, Uber Eats, and Sony do. That moment when you check out online? We make it happen. Checkout.com is where the world checks out. Our global network powers billions of transactions every year, making money move without making a fuss. We spent years perfecting a service most people will never notice. Because when digital payments just work, businesses grow, customers stay, and no one stops to think about why. With 19 offices spanning six continents, we feel at home everywhere – but London is our HQ. Wherever our people work their magic, they’re fast-moving, performance-obsessed, and driven by being better every day. Ideal. Because a role here isn’t just another job; it’s a career-defining opportunity to build the future of fintech. Job Description Role overview | Context We’re looking for an experienced Employee Relations Manager to design and elevate our global ER approach. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in building frameworks from the ground up and someone who can take existing ER foundations, strengthen them, and enable our People team to confidently handle ER matters at scale. This is not a full-time case-handling role. Instead, you will focus on building the systems, tools, policies, and capabilities that enable our People teams and managers to manage ER situations effectively. You will also act as a backup subject-matter expert for complex or sensitive cases when needed. We are looking for someone who combines deep ER expertise with strong commercial judgment, an ability to simplify complex situations, and a mindset oriented toward scalable design. They will modernise how we approach ER globally, leveraging process redesign, technology, and AI, while striking the right balance between legal compliance and pragmatic business outcomes. Role overview | Remit and Responsibilities Build & Enhance Employee Relations Capability Develop a clear ER strategy and operating model that aligns with our business structure, risk appetite, and future scale. Create modern, user-friendly frameworks, playbooks, and toolkits that equip People Partners and managers to independently navigate ER issues (grievances, disciplinaries, performance management, redundancies, sickness absence management, etc.). Design decision trees, case categorisation models, escalation pathways, and quality standards that reinforce consistency, speed, and commercial decision-making. Introduce mechanisms that reduce dependency on ER specialists while improving capability across the People Partner and leadership populations. Training & Capability Uplift Develop and deliver structured training for People Partners, managers, and leaders on ER best practices, investigations, performance management, and policy application. Provide live, on-the-job coaching and case mentorship to build capability and reduce escalations. Build digital self-service content and learning modules that empower employees and decrease reliance on ER experts. Facilitate quarterly ER simulation training using real Checkout case patterns to build confidence and decision-making ability. Policy Ownership & Expansion Audit and benchmark existing ER policies, identifying opportunities for simplification, clarity, and alignment to our culture, legal standards, and commercial needs. Draft and implement updated and new ER-related policies (conduct, grievances, investigations, performance management, etc.) that are globally consistent but locally adaptable. Build a global ER policy architecture that supports scale, transparency, and ease of application by non-experts. Process Redesign (Including AI Integration) Assess and strengthen Employee Relations case management practices by identifying opportunities where tooling could add value, and designing and embedding effective internal processes, frameworks, and guidance to enable consistent, efficient case management and re ... (truncated, view full listing at source)