Senior HR Advisor - Must drive and have your own car

YOU MUST
Drive and have your own car
Able to start Jan 2027
An established, multi-site organisation is looking to strengthen its People team with the appointment of an experienced Senior HR Advisor.
This is a fixed-term opportunity and would suit someone who enjoys a hands-on, operational HR role with plenty of autonomy and stakeholder interaction.

Your new role

As Senior HR Advisor, you will act as a trusted point of contact for managers, providing pragmatic HR advice across a broad range of people matters.
A significant part of the position will involve Employee Relations, so you will take ownership of a varied and often complex caseload. This could include disciplinaries, grievances, investigations, absence, capability, performance concerns and other sensitive employee matters. You will support cases from the initial issue through to resolution, making sure managers understand both the process and the potential risks involved.
Your wider remit will include:

• Advising managers on day-to-day HR matters and helping them make fair, commercially sensible decisions.
• Taking ownership of complex ER cases and ensuring matters are progressed efficiently and appropriately.
• Conducting or supporting investigations and helping managers prepare for formal meetings and outcomes.
• Advising on absence management, occupational health, capability and employee wellbeing matters.
• Supporting managers through organisational changes, including changes to roles, structures and staffing requirements.
• Providing guidance on recruitment requirements and helping ensure new appointments are appropriately approved and managed.
• Working with the wider People team to provide a positive joining experience for new employees.
• Supporting managers with probation, performance and development conversations.
• Contributing to talent and succession discussions and helping managers identify development needs within their teams.
• Reviewing existing HR processes and supporting the introduction of clearer, more effective ways of working.
• Helping create and maintain HR policies, manager guidance and supporting documentation.
• Keeping up to date with employment legislation and translating changes into practical advice for the business.
• Delivering coaching or guidance to managers on key HR processes and responsibilities.
• Supporting reward-related activity, including salary reviews and general queries relating to employee terms and benefits.
• Contributing to employee engagement, culture and wellbeing activity.
• Using people information and management reporting to identify trends, highlight potential risks and support better decision-making.
• Maintaining accurate HR records and ensuring employee changes are processed correctly through the organisation's HR systems.
• Supporting leaving processes and reviewing employee turnover information to identify recurring themes.

What you'll need to succeed

You will already have established experience within a broad HR Advisory position and be confident operating with a good level of independence.
Most importantly, you will need to be comfortable managing a busy and complex Employee Relations workload. You should be able to assess situations quickly, understand employment law implications and provide managers with clear recommendations rather than relying on substantial escalation or supervision.

You will ideally bring:

• Strong experience at HR Advisor or Senior HR Advisor level.
• Extensive hands-on exposure to Employee Relations, including more complicated or sensitive cases.
• Experience managing multiple cases simultaneously and prioritising effectively when workloads increase.
• Practical experience of disciplinaries, grievances, investigations, performance management, absence and capability.
• A sound understanding of UK employment legislation and how to apply it in real workplace situations.
• Confidence advising and challenging managers, including those who may have limited experience of handling formal HR matters.
• Experience supporting restructuring, workforce changes or other organisational change activity.
• Exposure to recruitment, onboarding and broader employee lifecycle processes.
• Previous involvement in writing, reviewing or implementing HR policies and procedures.
• Strong HR systems capability and confidence maintaining accurate employee information.
• Experience using people data or HR reporting to highlight trends and issues.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with the confidence to work with stakeholders at different levels.
• Good judgement and the ability to handle confidential matters sensitively.
• Strong organisation and attention to detail, particularly when balancing several priorities.
• A practical, solutions-focused style and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment.

A CIPD Level 5 qualification or equivalent would be highly desirable, although relevant practical experience will be equally important.

What you'll get in return

This is an opportunity to take on a genuinely broad Senior HR Advisor position where you will have significant exposure to Employee Relations alongside wider generalist HR activity.
The position offers hybrid working, with a minimum expectation of two days per week on site.
This is a fixed-term contract and salary and additional benefits have not been provided at this stage.

What you need to do now

If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.
If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.

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