Advisor Schools HR Business Partnering

Education Authority; Omagh; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dynamic HR professional to lead a team in delivering best practice HR services. This role offers an exciting opportunity to gain diverse experience in various HR functions, including recruitment, employee relations, and policy implementation. The successful candidate will play a key role in supporting HR transformation initiatives and will have the chance to develop their career in a supportive environment. If you are passionate about human resources and eager to make a difference, this position is perfect for you.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Professional development opportunities

Health and wellness programs

Pension scheme

Employee assistance program

Qualifications

• Minimum of two years' experience in a HR support role.
• Knowledge of relevant employment legislation and HR policies.

Responsibilities

• Manage a team providing HR services within a designated area.
• Deliver recruitment exercises and ensure compliance with HR policies.

Skills

Human Resources Management

Team Leadership

Employee Relations

Recruitment and Selection

Performance Management

HR Policies and Procedures

Education

HNC/HND or equivalent qualification

Experience in HR support role

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

HR Management Systems

Job description

JOB DESCRIPTION

REPORTS TO: Operational Line Manager within assigned functional area

RESPONSIBLE FOR: Supervisory responsibility for up to 15 members of staff or organisation of a specialised area of work.

Upon appointment successful candidates will be assigned to a HR service area, staff at this grade will have the opportunity to rotate around Senior HR Advisor posts, both for personal development and to meet the needs of the Service. Although the post-holder will be assigned to a specific functional area on appointment the post-holder may be required to undertake duties in other functional areas to cover peak periods of work or vacancies. This therefore presents an excellent opportunity for anyone with an interest in further developing their career in Human Resources to gain a wide range of experience as a platform for a future HR Management role.

EA’s HR & Corporate Services Directorate is under-going significant transformation and this is well underway. We have already completed restructuring at all levels of our directorate and successfully digitised a number of our critical services including recruitment. Change programmes are on-going in relation to the digitisation of our core HR and payroll system and the NI Substitute Teachers Register. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to gain exposure to a range of HR transformation projects, technology and systems.

This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time.

JOB PURPOSE

• To organise and manage a team of staff providing a best practice HR service within a designated functional area or manage a specialist area of work within the HR&CS Directorate.
• The post-holder may have supervisory responsibilities for up to 15 members of staff organised in groups or teams as necessary and will be responsible for the day to day management of functional activities within a discrete operational area.
• Specific knowledge of the functional area or specialist area will be developed to provide advice and guidance to line managers and school leaders.
• The post-holder will be required to exercise judgement or discretion within a framework of rules, practice and precedent and will be required to identify and select the most appropriate course of action from a range of options.
• Work may involve undertaking research and investigation, analysis of results and drawing up recommendations. The post will involve review of existing practices and identification of new solutions to operational problems.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Staff Management and Service Delivery

• Responsible for best practice service delivery in a designated functional area or a specialised area of work.
• Where required the post-holder will manage a dedicated support team and duties will include assigning work, co-ordinating activities, dealing with recruitment and resourcing issues, approving annual leave requests, and dealing with any attendance management/disciplinary issues.
• Review the performance of reporting staff, identifying individual/team training requirements and initiating further training.
• Assist with the review and revision of systems and work processes as required in consultation with senior staff.
• Contribute to the Business Plan setting, reviewing, and/or identifying performance measures and targets for the effective and efficient delivery of service.

Main Activity Areas

Post-holders will be assigned to manage staff and/or to manage a specialised area of work within one of the following functional areas in accordance with service need and workload. Please note that the list below is not intended to be exhaustive. Staff may have the opportunity to rotate around Senior HR Advisor posts, both for personal development and to meet the changing needs of the HR Directorate.

• Business Partnering Support
• Operational HR Services
• Recruitment and Resourcing
• HR Business Support
• Pay, Policy and Conditions / Teaching Services Support

HR Business Partner Support

• Provide administrative support for HR School Business Partners and/or Corporate Business Partners in relation to programmes of work to address whole school or corporate HR issues including transformation, reorganisation, restructuring, leadership and governance.
• Provide first line advice and support for schools and Directorates in relation to taking forward processes for staff redundancies, variation of contract and cessation of fixed term contracts including administration of any related redeployment processes.

HR Services

• Line management and support for staff providing first line response to queries and associated HR transactional services for non-teaching staff in relation to:
  • Terms and conditions of employment and relevant policies and procedures including all EA flexible working policies and procedures (career break, job-share and flexible working etc.).
  • Flexible retirement for non-teaching staff; and dealing with occupational health (OH) referrals and transactional processing of ill health and flexible retirement applications.
  • Processing of maternity, paternity and shared parental leave applications and administration of childcare voucher scheme.
  • Administration of NILGOSC pension scheme for all non-teaching employees in relation to contractual and automatic enrolment.

• Support for line managers and schools in relation to OH referrals, return to work meetings, medical suspension or redeployment and associated work with the Equality Unit as required in relation to cases involving reasonable adjustments.
• Assist with review and improvement in efficiency and consistency of HR business processes and support the development of resources for Boards of Governors, principals and managers and the implementation of new systems and ways of working.
• Assist in the planning and delivery of workshops/presentations for service users in relation to service improvement initiatives and implementation of revised policies and procedures.
• Manage input of data and effective use of the Human Resources / Payroll system to ensure the timely payment of non-teaching staff and the provision of key management information.

Recruitment and Resourcing

• Manage delivery of recruitment exercises for EA schools or corporate directorates ensuring all end-to-end recruitment and selection lifecycle activities are delivered meeting KPI requirements, customer expectations and relevant best practice guidance and legislative requirements.
• Responsible for day to day management of workload and distribution of work.
• Resolve any service requests/queries/escalations as referred by direct reports and escalate complex queries and issues to Service Delivery Lead as required.
• Lead, train and develop direct reports & implement appropriate performance management activities. Take responsibility for providing direction and improvement on operational resourcing processes and technology.
• Provide direct HR support to selection panels when required for corporate recruitment exercises and Principal / VP appointment panels.
• Participate as required in the development of training materials and delivery of Recruitment and Selection training.
• Participate in projects or working groups which contribute to continuous improvement.

HR Business Support

• To be responsible for the development, management, implementation and maintenance of comprehensive administrative support for HR Services including co-ordination and completion of administrative work.
• To assist the service in ensuring the effective and efficient management of the team’s respective workload, in order to facilitate the coherent delivery of services in accordance with EA policies and procedures.
• To provide administrative support involving the handling of general correspondence and enquiries, undertaking requisitions and diary management, and update of relevant information sites.
• To assist in the collation and preparation of reports, reviews and briefings emanating from the Service and respond to requests for information as and when necessary.
• To manage the organisation and administration of a range of training courses, workshops and seminars for the service as required (arrange dates, take bookings, data input of evaluations and training records, produce training reports etc.)
• To attend and take minutes of meetings convened by the Service including attendance at meetings on behalf of the Head of Service as and when necessary.

Pay, Policy and Conditions (Teaching)

• Administrative support for the Pay, Policy and Conditions team.
• Support for centralised management of transferred redundancy process across schools and reporting of redundancies to DE. Support for HR Business Partners in provision of first line advice and support in relation to taking forward processes for staff redundancies, variation of contract and cessation of fixed term contracts including administration of any related redeployment processes.

Other Responsibilities

• Comply with the Authority’s policy on Data Protection (in particular processing sensitive personal information) and EA’s Candidate Privacy Notice for those seeking employment is properly complied with.
• Comply with the Authority’s Equal Opportunities Policy, relevant Codes of Employment and Practice and other relevant legislation. In accordance with relevant equality legislation and EA policies on diversity in the workplace the post-holder is expected to promote good relations and pay due regard to equality of opportunity in carrying out their duties.
• Ensure that procedures and policies are reviewed/developed in line with legal and strategic requirements and are applied consistently throughout EA.
• Undertake other related duties within the grade and competence of the post-holder as required.
• The post holder may also be required to work outside normal office hours on occasions.

In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the post-holder is expected to promote good relations, equality of opportunity and pay due regard for equality legislation at all times.

To view the summary of terms and conditions for this post, click here .

PERSON SPECIFICATION

NOTES TO JOB APPLICANTS

1. You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how, and to what extent you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria, where relevant.

2. You must demonstrate how you meet the criteria by the closing date for applications, unless the criteria state otherwise.

3. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is outlined in the table below.

4. Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form.

5. Please note that the Selection Panel reserves the right to shortlist only those applicants that it believes most strongly meet the criteria for the role.

6. In the event of an excessive number of applications, the Selection Panel also reserves the right to apply any desirable criteria as outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting, in which case these will be applied in the order listed. It is important therefore that you also clearly demonstrate on your application form on how you meet any desirable criteria.

Section 1 - Essential Criteria

The following are essential criteria which will initially be measured at the shortlisting stage and whichmay also be further explored during the interview/selection stage. You should therefore make it clear on your application form how, and to what extent you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.

Factor Essential Criteria Method of Assessment Qualifications/
Experience

Hold a HNC/HND or above examination qualification or equivalent and have a minimum of two years’ experience working within a Human Resources support role;

OR

Have a minimum of four years’ experience working within a Human Resources support role.

Demonstrable experience of successfully providing advice and guidance to managers and staff on more complex/non-routine queries.

Demonstrable experience of providing high quality, effective and proactive service delivery to managers and staff.

Shortlisting by Application Form

Knowledge

Demonstrable knowledge in at least one of the following three areas:

• Relevant employment legislation
• Terms and conditions of employment
• Relevant HR policies and procedures

Demonstrable knowledge of Information Technology systems for example Microsoft Office Suite, MS SharePoint, Taleo (or similar on-line recruitment system), Resourcelink, Oracle HR (or similar HR system).

Shortlisting by Application Form

Other

The successful candidate will be required:

to have access to a suitable vehicle (appropriately maintained and insured for Education Authority business) that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion;

OR

be able to provide sufficient information on the application form that will satisfy the employer that he/she has access to an appropriate alternative form of transport that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion.

Shortlisting by Application Form

Section 2 - Essential Criteria

The following areadditionalessentialcriteria which will be measured during the interview/selection stage in line withEA’s Game Changing People Model.

Factor Essential Criteria Method of Assessment Skills/
Abilities

In line with EA’s Game Changing People Model, we will look for evidence of:

Good organisational skills and ability to prioritise a busy workload to deliver effective results on time.

Ability to communicate and work effectively with others and provide leadership to a team when required.

Ability to use own initiative and judgement to solve problems and respond to others.

Ability to take a responsive and customer focused approach to work.

Interview

Values Orientation
Evidence of how your experience and approach to work reflect EA’s ethos and values. You will find information about our Values here .

Interview

Section 3 - Desirable Criteria

Some or all of the desirable criteria may be applied by the Selection Panel in order to determine a manageable pool of candidates. Desirable criteria will be applied in the order listed. You should make it clear on your application form how, and to what extent you meet the desirable criteria, as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.

Factor Desirable Criteria Method of Assessment Qualifications/
Experience

Hold an Associate level (or higher) membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Have a minimum of six months demonstrable experience in the supervision of staff.

Shortlisting by Application Form

Our Values

Through the selection process we will also seek evidence that the personal values of candidates align with those of the EA. This will include evidence of commitment to equality and excellence in service delivery. These reflect our aim which is to meet the needs of all our children and young people equally, removing barriers to learning and ensuring equality of access to excellent education services so that every child can develop to his or her full potential.

DISCLOSURE OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 defines working directly with children or young people or in specified places as ‘regulated activity’.

In the event that you are recommended for appointed to a post that involves ‘regulated activity’, the Education Authority will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background.Please note that youWILLbe expected to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate. Details of how to make payment will be sent to you at the pre-employment stage.

Further information can be accessed onwww.nidirect.gov.uk/campaigns/accessni-criminal-record-checksorwww.justice-ni.gov.uk/articles/about-accessni

APPLICANT GUIDANCE NOTES

To view the applicant guidance notes, please click here .

To learn about the many great benefits of joining the Education Authority, click here.

The Education Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer