HR Manager CV Example & Template
A complete two-page CV for an HR manager with a generalist background in a 450-person UK business, followed by what hiring directors and recruiters check first. Use the layout, swap in your own headcount, turnover and case figures, and state your CIPD level exactly as your membership record shows it.
Last reviewed October 2026
Example HR Manager CV
Priya Nair
HR Manager, employee relations and talent, Assoc CIPD
Manchester, UK
Profile
HR manager with nine years of generalist experience, the last four in a 450-person engineering and services group. I lead a team of three, handle complex employee relations cases, and run recruitment, onboarding and reward reviews. I measure my work in turnover, time to hire and case outcomes. Looking for a head of HR or senior HR manager role in a growing business.
Experience
HR Manager
Jan 2022 – Present
Calder Engineering Group · Manchester
- Lead an HR team of three supporting 450 employees across four UK sites; own the people budget of £310,000 and report monthly to the managing director.
- Cut voluntary turnover from 19% to 13% in 18 months by introducing stay interviews, a first-year check-in schedule and a clearer pay progression framework.
- Handle around 40 formal employee relations cases a year, from grievance to capability, with no tribunal claims lost and every case documented to ACAS Code standards.
- Reduced average time to hire for engineering roles from 54 to 38 days by agreeing hiring criteria upfront with managers and moving to structured interviews.
HR Advisor, then Senior HR Advisor
Aug 2017 – Dec 2021
Northfield Retail Partnership · Manchester
- Advised store and area managers across 32 shops on absence, disciplinary and flexible working cases, and drafted letters and outcome records.
- Rebuilt the induction programme for 600 seasonal hires, raising completion of mandatory training within two weeks from 61% to 93%.
- Ran the annual pay review for 900 staff, modelling three options against budget and presenting the preferred one to the finance director.
- Supported two collective consultation exercises in partnership with union representatives, completed on the planned timetable.
HR Assistant
Sep 2015 – Jul 2017
Greenfield Care Services · Bolton
- Processed contracts, right-to-work checks and references for 220 new starters a year with no compliance errors found in an internal audit.
- Maintained the HRIS and produced monthly absence and headcount reports for 14 care home managers.
- Took minutes at disciplinary and grievance hearings and kept case files up to date.
Education
CIPD Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Strategic People Management
2020 – 2021
Manchester Metropolitan University (CIPD centre)
Dissertation on stay interviews and early-tenure retention in engineering.
BA (Hons) Business and Human Resource Management, 2:1
2012 – 2015
University of Salford
Skills
Employee relations and case management · UK employment law and ACAS Code · Recruitment and structured interviewing · Reward and pay benchmarking · Workforce planning · Organisational change and consultation · HR analytics and Excel reporting · Workday and BambooHR · Absence management · Coaching line managers · Policy writing
Professional membership
- Associate Member of the CIPD (Assoc CIPD)
Why this HR Manager CV works: what shortlisters check first
Your CIPD level, stated exactly
Most UK HR manager adverts ask for CIPD Level 5 or Level 7, or equivalent experience. CIPD offers Foundation, Associate and Advanced levels, and membership grades from Foundation Member up to Chartered Member and Chartered Fellow. Write your qualification and membership as the CIPD record shows them, and do not claim Chartered status unless you hold it.
Case evidence in employee relations
Hiring directors want to know how you handle difficult cases. Give the volume and type, such as grievances, capability and redundancy consultation, and the outcome: tribunal claims avoided, cases resolved at an early stage, process changes. Keep details anonymous, but give a sense of scale and what you were personally responsible for.
Business numbers, not HR activity
Turnover, time to hire, absence rate, engagement scores, pay budget and cost per hire let a director see what you changed. Pair each number with the action you took. If you lead a team, state its size and how many employees you support. An HR manager role is judged on influence with senior managers, so show that.
Employment law you apply, not just know
Name the areas you work in daily: ACAS Code, TUPE, redundancy and consultation, family leave, flexible working and right to work checks. A list of statutes on its own says little. Show where you used the law in a decision, a policy or a case, and that you know when to bring in an employment lawyer.
Systems and reporting
Name your HRIS and applicant tracking systems, such as Workday, BambooHR, SAP SuccessFactors or Cezanne. Add the reporting you produce, for example monthly turnover and absence dashboards for the leadership team. Excel and Power BI skills help for any role that reports on workforce data.
Key skills recruiters look for
How to write each section of a HR Manager CV
Profile
Give your level, years, company size and what you own: employee relations, recruitment, reward or change. Add one metric. HR manager adverts are often generalist, so say where your depth lies and where you want to grow next. Avoid lines such as 'strategic partner' without proof.
Experience
Start each job with the size of the business, your team and who you report to. Then write three or four bullets showing a business result: lower turnover, faster hiring, a restructure completed, a policy that cut absence. Each bullet should name the action and the number.
Qualifications
Put your CIPD qualification first, with the level and year. Then your degree. If you are studying towards a higher level, say which and when you finish. Add membership grade as shown on your CIPD record, and any employment law or coaching qualifications.
Skills
Keep it to real, testable skills and systems. Group them if you like: employee relations, talent, reward and data. Use the exact terms in the job advert, because many employers screen CVs by keyword before a person reads them.
Cover letter
A short letter that names the size of the workforce, your top case or project, and what the business needs from HR right now is read more often than a generic one. Mention the sector, the stage the company is at and one result that matches.
More example bullet points
Strong HR Manager CVs lead with measurable impact. Here are examples of the kind of bullets that make recruiters stop scrolling:
Led talent acquisition for 150-person company, reducing time-to-hire from 45 days to 22 days while improving quality-of-hire scores
Designed and launched employee engagement program improving eNPS from +12 to +45 over 18 months
Managed complex restructuring affecting 80 roles, maintaining full employment law compliance with zero tribunal claims
Common HR Manager CV mistakes
- Listing HR duties such as 'recruitment, onboarding and policies' with no numbers.
- Claiming Chartered CIPD membership when you hold Associate membership.
- Naming individuals or sharing identifying details of employee relations cases.
- Leaving out the size of the workforce you support and the size of your team.
- Writing a skills list of buzzwords such as 'people-focused' with no evidence anywhere on the page.
Full guide
HR Manager CV guide: what recruiters actually look for →
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How to tailor your HR Manager CV for each application
Every HR Manager job posting is different. The skills they prioritize, the seniority they expect, the setting — all of it shapes what your CV should emphasize. A CV that gets an interview at one employer can miss at another, even for the same job title.
The fastest way to tailor your CV is to paste the job description into NextCV. The AI reads the posting, maps it to your experience, and rewrites your bullets to match what the employer is scanning for. 1 free preview, no signup required — you only pay when you want a clean PDF download. Sign up free for 3 more.
HR Manager CV FAQ
Do you need a CIPD qualification to be an HR manager?
Not by law, but most UK adverts ask for CIPD Level 5 or 7, or equivalent experience. CIPD offers Foundation, Associate and Advanced qualifications. If you do not have one, make sure your CV shows employee relations cases, outcomes and responsibility for a team or budget.
How long should an HR manager CV be?
Two pages for most HR managers in the UK. Heads of HR with a long career can use three, but the first page must carry the profile, current role and best results. Keep earlier roles short and drop jobs older than fifteen years.
What are the best metrics for an HR manager CV?
Voluntary turnover, time to hire, cost per hire, absence rate, engagement or pulse survey results, case volumes and outcomes, pay review budgets and the headcount you support. Use the figures you track and give the period they cover.
How do I show employee relations experience without breaching confidentiality?
Keep everything anonymous and general: number of cases a year, types such as grievance or capability, and results such as early resolution or no claims. Do not name employees, departments or distinctive circumstances that might identify someone.
Should an HR manager list Chartered CIPD status?
Only if you hold it. Chartered Member status comes through upgrading membership, not directly from a qualification. State your actual grade, such as Associate Member, with the qualification level, and add the year if you can.