HR Advisor

Job Overview:

Are you a talented and experienced HR Advisor looking for an opportunity to join a leading College that’s recently been awarded ‘Good’ by Ofsted?  USP College are looking for an experienced HR Advisor, CIPD qualified (or equivalent) or studying towards this qualification, to join our small and supportive team.  This is an exciting time to join the College as we continue to support our learners and give them the best start in life, building on their learning, and developing young adults ready for the workplace.  

Your role as a HR Advisor is to provide high quality first line HR advice and support to all staff, including the college and senior management teams.  You must be able to effectively prioritise and manage a high volume of various types of HR queries. You must have relevant advisory experience and a passion for supporting and coaching managers and employees.  Within a small HR team, the HR Advisor will support the whole of the employee life cycle including leading on college wide wellbeing initiatives, supporting managers with the advising on employee relation cases, performance management and the appraisal cycle, absence management and preparation of monthly payroll administration.   

As this role will be the first point of contact for all HR enquiries, you must have strong communication and interpersonal skills.  In addition, you will have the ability to interpret policies and provide commercial HR advice.   A high attention of detail is required as this role will lead on all HR administration and the preparation of the monthly payroll report.  This post is based across multiple sites therefore you must have your own transport and be willing to travel between sites in Benfleet, Grays and Canvey Island, Essex.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide advice and support to Managers on employee relations issues such as disciplinary, grievance and capability, ensuring advice is consistent and based on current College policy, procedures, and legislation.
• Coach and develop managers on all areas of HR policy, procedure, and practice, including performance management, probation reviews, staffing requests and general staff related matters.
• Ensure all associated documentation is correctly prepared and supplied to Managers to support effective management of their staff.
• Facilitate staff wellbeing initiatives across all campuses.
• Provide advice and support in the effective management of both long term and short term frequent or intermittent absence, working with external organisations, where appropriate.
• Produce monthly, quarterly, and annual reports and analysis for internal and external purposes for the Director of HR, other senior management as well as external organisations.
• Drive the annual appraisal process, assisting managers with process and delivery.
• To effectively prioritise and manage a high volume of various types of HR queries.
• Assist Managers with recruitment by preparing documentation, organising, and supporting interviews.
• Organise and facilitate monthly staff induction and onboarding.
• Assist and support the HR team with all HR administration, including but not limited to, preparing, and issuing contracts of employment, processing Disclosure and Barring Service checks in line with regulatory requirements, and maintaining relevant electronic documentation and other filing systems and records.
• Have a comprehensive understanding of Safeguarding including PREVENT. Ensure this applied and embedded consistently.
• Prepare and input monthly payroll data with a high level of accuracy.
• Input into HR policy, procedure, and practice
• Undertake travel as necessary to support the Colleges present and futures HR initiatives and attend required meetings.
• Undertake ad hoc projects as requested.
• Undertake any reasonable management request to support the HR team.

THE RIGHT CANDIDATE WILL HAVE:

• CIPD qualified (or equivalent) or studying towards this qualification.
• Basic understanding of employment legislation e.g., discrimination, TUPE, statutory rates, and payments
• Significant experience of working in a HR Advisor position within a busy and fast paced environment.
• Experience of providing advice and support on all Employee Relation issues.
• Thrive on providing excellent customer service to ensure best practice is applied across the College.
• Excellent organisation and prioritising skills.
• Ability to work autonomously and independently and support senior HR members.
• Excellent influencing, coaching, and developing skills at all levels within the College.
• Experience of providing high levels of administration support including monthly payroll reports.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Self-motivated individual.
• Ability to prioritise workloads and manage own time.
• Strong stakeholder management skills.
• Experience of reviewing and contributing towards updating policies and procedures.
• Experience of working in education would be an advantage, but not necessary.

Why choose us:

Our strategy is to create a Career Focused, Digital Learning environment, ensuring that the learner experience and our relationship within our community, local and regional employers, are at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to be selected as finalists for the AoC Beacon awards for effective use of digital Technology in FE.  Providing a high achieving, focused learning environment allowing our students to achieve the grades they need for higher educations, or the skills and aptitude required to secure a suitable role in their chosen career. Our college is set in the leafy suburbs of Essex, with easy access to surrounding areas and amenities, we are based in a well-connected location both by road and rail.

What we offer:

• A dedicated and friendly team of professionals who are keen to develop and learn.
• Excellent pension provision
• Annual Staff Awards
• CPD days - opportunities to grow and development through mentorship and coaching.
• Free onsite parking
• Staff appreciation days
• Eye care vouchers
• Onsite Starbucks & Restaurant
• Well-being days & activities 
• Electric Vehicle Scheme*
• Discounted gym membership.
• Fully immersive teaching rooms allowing online teaching simultaneously at multiple locations.
• Hybrid Working available.
• Free Employee Assistance Programme available 24/7, 365 days offering legal & financial advice, as well as general support & guidance.

*subject to terms & conditions

This role is considered exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. Which means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.  It is an offence to apply for the role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

Shortlisted candidates will be required to complete a self-declaration of their criminal record or information that would make them unsuitable to work with children. Self-declaration is subject to Ministry of Justice guidance on the disclosure of criminal records, further information can be found on GOV UK

USP College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, we therefore expect all staff to share this commitment. The successful applicant will be required to undertake an enhanced disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service, and any other checks that the role requires to ascertain suitability for working with children and/or vulnerable adults, which may include online searches.

We will hold and process any personal data, including sensitive (special category) personal data, relating to you in accordance with our legal obligations, in the manner set out in the Privacy Notice for staff and in accordance with our Data Protection Policy, which is set out on the College’s website, found here.  You should familiarise yourself with our Data Protection Policy (and all other subsidiary policies to it) and comply with them at all times. Neither the Privacy Notice for Staff nor those policies form a part of your contract of employment.