Graduate - HR Specialist - Generalist

Atomic Weapons Establishment; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

270 hours annual leave

9-day working fortnight

Salary-sacrifice scheme

Welcome payment

Interest-free loan

Employee health and wellbeing services

Job summary

AWE is offering a Graduate Trainee - HR Specialist Generalist on the Evolve Graduate Programme in Reading, Berkshire. The role focuses on people analytics, HR business partnering, and organisational design over two years, with a September 2027 start.

You will work with leaders to support strategic priorities, governance, and data-driven decision making. The package includes a starting salary of £31,000, a 9-day fortnight, 270 hours of annual leave, and various employee benefits, development

Qualifications

• Minimum 2:2 in HRM, Business, Organisational/Business Psychology or Psychology.

Responsibilities

• Support HR Business Partners in understanding business priorities and translating them into people activity.
• Prepare workforce information, briefing materials and evidence for planning and leadership discussions.
• Contribute to organisational design by gathering information and mapping structures.
• Analyse people data to identify patterns, risks and opportunities and present findings clearly.
• Support workforce planning, change and organisational effectiveness projects through research and coordination.
• Collaborate with specialist HR teams to connect business needs with people solutions.
• Build relationships with leaders and colleagues, challenging assumptions where appropriate.
• Maintain accurate records and apply governance, GDPR and security requirements.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Communication

Stakeholder engagement

Education

2:2 in HRM/Business/Psychology

Job description

Graduate Trainee - HR Specialist - Generalist Evolve Graduate Programme | Human Resources Salary £31,000 plus benefits Location Green Park, Reading, Berkshire - onsite Duration Two years Start date September 2027 Working pattern 9-day working fortnight Programme Evolve Graduate Programme

About AWE

We are a team of remarkable people, united by one extraordinary mission: keeping the UK safe and secure. Our work supports the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent and wider national-security capabilities through science, engineering, technology and specialist expertise.

Your route

Help us turn people insight into better organisational decisions and performance. On this two-year route, you will gain experience across HR Business Partnering, Organisational Design and Organisational Intelligence. You will work with leaders, people data and organisational insight to support strategic people priorities, workforce decisions and change.

What you will do

• Support HR Business Partners in understanding business priorities and translating them into focused people activity.
• Prepare workforce information, briefing materials and evidence to support people planning and leadership discussions.
• Contribute to organisational design activity by gathering information, mapping structures and supporting option assessment and implementation planning.
• Analyse people and organisational data to identify patterns, risks and opportunities, presenting findings clearly for different audiences.
• Support workforce planning, change and organisational effectiveness projects through structured research, analysis and coordination.
• Work with specialist HR teams to connect business needs with appropriate people solutions.
• Build relationships with leaders, managers and colleagues, asking effective questions and constructively challenging assumptions where appropriate.
• Maintain accurate records and apply governance, confidentiality, GDPR and security requirements when working with workforce information.

What you will learn

• HR business partnering and strategic people planning.
• Organisational design, workforce planning and change support.
• Organisational intelligence, people analytics and insight development.
• Consulting skills, stakeholder influencing and evidence-based recommendations.
• How people strategy, structure and capability support organisational performance.

Professional development

Your structured development will include CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management. You will also receive practical experience, support from experienced colleagues and opportunities to build your professional confidence over the two-year programme.

Behaviours and qualities

• Curious: Asks thoughtful questions, seeks understanding and explores new ideas.
• Collaborative: Builds trusted relationships and works effectively across teams.
• Analytical: Uses evidence and structured thinking to understand issues and develop solutions.
• Adaptable: Responds positively to change, challenge and feedback.
• Professional: Acts with integrity, accountability, discretion and respect.
• Safety and security focused: Understands the importance of following requirements in a classified environment.

Entry requirements

Minimum 2:2 in the following degrees: Human Resource Management, Business, Organisational/Business Psychology or Psychology. You must be able to join AWE in September 2027. You must be a British National and willing and able to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance.

Salary and benefits

• £31,000 starting salary.
• 270 hours of annual leave, including bank holidays.
• A 9-day working fortnight, giving you every other Friday off.
• A salary-sacrifice benefit scheme and access to employee discounts.
• A welcome payment and the option of an interest‑free £1,000 loan.
• Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health Services.
• Regular Graduate pay reviews and structured career progression.

Support and community

• A dedicated line manager and Evolve pathway lead.
• A buddy, typically from an earlier Graduate cohort.
• A vibrant Early Careers community and opportunities to join employee networks.
• Structured development, mentoring and access to relevant professional learning.

Use of external technologies

As part of our recruitment process, AWE may use a trusted third-party AI-enabled technology provider, Spotted Zebra Solutions Ltd, to support the assessment of candidates. These tools ingest categories of personal information including your application data, responses to assessment questions and interview responses, and help us evaluate information relevant to the recruitment process, such as skills, competencies, interview responses, assessment results, and role suitability. They may generate recommendations or summaries to support recruiters and hiring managers. In some cases, you may interact directly with an AI-enabled tool during the interview or assessment process. The purpose of these tools is to improve the consistency, efficiency and quality of our recruitment process. The outputs generated are reviewed by authorised AWE recruiters and hiring managers and are used alongside other relevant information as part of the overall recruitment process. Please note: recruiting decisions will be made by recruiting and hiring teams only.

Next steps

Everyone who works at AWE brings unique skills and perspectives to the table. We recognise that great people don’t always ‘tick every box’.

That’s why we focus on your potential, your fit with our values, your transferable skills as well as your experience.

Even if you don’t meet every point above, but you feel that this role and AWE are a great fit for you.

Important things you need to know

You will need to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for the role. This will be funded by AWE. The nature of our work does mean you need to be a British Citizen who has been resident in the UK for the past 5 years in order to apply for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.

We want you to feel comfortable and able to shine during our recruitment process.

If you’re looking for a role with excitement, intrigue and something that really makes a difference then now is the time to join AWE.

We are at the start of a once in a generation – possibly two generations – programme to design and produce a replacement warhead for the UK’s continuous at sea deterrent. We will do this while continuing to deliver the Trident programme as well as managing ambitious state‑of‑the‑art capital and construction projects – some of which have never been done before.

We are recruiting right across the business: from technical roles in engineering, science, manufacturing and industrial work to business roles in areas such as IT, project management/ controls, commercial, human resources and facilities management. We also have our Evolve graduate programme, or you may be interested in an apprenticeship with our award‑winning Skills Academy.

What we do is vital to national nuclear security. Keeping our nation, everyone, our environment and everything around us safe and secure is a top priority for us. So, as you would expect, that brings with it a high level of safety and security that you will see across our sites and in how everyone who works here operates.

We are always looking for high calibre people to join our team, so why not explore the opportunities we currently have on offer.