Senior HR Advisor
Hybrid Working | Company Vehicle or Car Allowance | 9-Day Fortnight | Wellbeing-Focused Organisation
Salary: £38,937 per annum, full-time (36 hours per week, 52 weeks per year).
Benefits: 9 Day Fortnight (every other Friday off), either a company car or £500 monthly car allowance, The People’s Pension enrolment, Blue Light Card (over 15,000 discounts with local, regional, and national UK brands), Bupa Healthy Minds employee assistance programme, Cycle2Work scheme, plus many more.
Location: Tiverton (Main Head Office), hybrid working (typically 2 days per week either in the office or on-site at one of our locations).
Looking for a Senior HR Advisor role that gives you the flexibility to do your best work while maintaining a healthy work-life balance?
As a leading provider of specialist education and care services, Phoenix Learning & Care operates schools, colleges, and care settings across the UK, supporting individuals who often haven't had the best start in life. Our mission is to help every person achieve their potential, and our people are at the heart of making that happen.
We're looking for an experienced Senior HR Advisor to join our People Services Team. This is one of two Senior HR Advisor roles reporting to the HR Manager, providing expert, practical, and compassionate HR support across our growing education and care services.
If you're passionate about employee relations, enjoy partnering with managers to navigate complex people challenges, and want to work for an organisation where both wellbeing and purpose matter, this could be your next opportunity.
We're a wellbeing-focused organisation that recognises the importance of flexibility, trust, and creating an environment where our people can thrive both professionally and personally.
What you will be doing:
- Managing a busy and varied employee relations caseload, including probation, short and long-term absence, performance, disciplinary, and grievance .
- Supporting managers with absence management and wellbeing processes, including occupational fitness, reasonable adjustments, risk assessments, and return to work planning.
- Working closely with the HR Manager and other Senior HR Advisor to maintain a responsive and high-quality HR service.
- Coaching managers through sensitive people processes so they feel confident handling difficult conversations, making balanced decisions, and keeping a compassionate, trauma-informed approach.
- Preparing clear documentation and supporting appropriate referrals, including occupational health and DBS referrals where required, ensuring concerns are factual, timely, and handled with appropriate care.
- Supporting organisational change activity, including workforce planning, restructures, and changes to ways of working, making sure people processes are fair, consultative, and well-communicated.
- Supporting the HR Manager with general compliance activity, including right to work checks, immigration control matters, occupational health referrals, and DBS referrals.
- Contributing to policy, guidance, and process improvements that support fair, consistent, and trauma-informed people practice.
What we are looking for:
- CIPD qualified, ideally Level 3 or above, or able to demonstrate equivalent HR experience. For this role, practical employee relations knowledge, sound judgement, and relevant experience are more important than qualification level alone.
- Strong generalist HR experience, with significant confidence in complex and high-volume employee relations casework, including absence management and sensitive safeguarding-related matters.
- A sound working knowledge of employment law, fair process and HR policy application.
- The confidence to advise, support, and appropriately challenge managers and leaders, including the ability to make and guide difficult decisions where they are needed.
- Experience of working in a multi-site environment, ideally within care, education, or another regulated setting; candidates from other sectors will also be considered where they already have substantial employee relations experience.
- An understanding of how recruitment, onboarding, and retention link to effective employee relations and workforce stability.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with good judgement, resilience, and attention to detail.
- A strong commitment to safeguarding, inclusion, health and wellbeing, and Phoenix’s values: Nurture, Flourish, and Grow.
- A full driving licence and the ability to travel regularly across South Wales, Bristol, Newbury and to other regions such as Birmingham and Manchester.
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