HR Advisor

The William Reed Group; Brighton, City Of London, Gatwick; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A global media group is seeking an HR Advisor to join their team in Brighton. This role focuses on key HR processes including onboarding, payroll coordination, and employee relations. The ideal candidate will have proven HR experience and a solid understanding of UK payroll processes. The position offers a hybrid working model, competitive benefits including a generous leave policy, and a supportive work environment.

Benefits

25 days annual leave

Cultural celebration day

Volunteer day

Contributory Pension

Life Assurance Scheme

Wellbeing benefits

Cycle to Work Scheme

Electric Car Scheme

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a generalist HR Assistant/Advisor role.
• Solid understanding and experience of UK payroll processes.
• Experience in using and developing a cloud-based HRIS.

Responsibilities

• Lead onboarding and offboarding processes.
• Coordinate training activities and performance management.
• Manage payroll and benefits processes.
• Support employee relations and HR systems management.

Skills

Generalist HR experience

Understanding UK payroll

CIPD Level 5

Excel proficiency

Attention to detail

Interpersonal skills

Stakeholder management

Proactive communication

Education

CIPD Level 5

Tools

HRIS

Job description

We are a global media group delivering exceptional content through events, digital, data & insight.

From agribusiness, ingredients and food processing, to retail, hospitality & fine dining – we provide the inspiration, insight and connections to power our customers’ success.

We have offices in Gatwick, Brighton and London, UK; Montpellier, France; Singapore and Chicago, US. In line with the Company’s current Agile Working Policy, the successful candidate would be eligible to work part of the week from our Gatwick office and to work remotely for the rest of the week.

Position

Position: Full time – permanent

Location: Gatwick / Hybrid

Are you an HR professional, looking to build on your generalist experience in a role that offers variety, autonomy, and the chance to shape how HR supports the business?

We’re looking for an HR Advisor to join our supportive and fast-paced team. In this role, you’ll take ownership of key HR processes across the employee lifecycle, from onboarding and probation tracking to payroll coordination, performance management, and supporting employee relations. You’ll work closely with managers and People & Culture colleagues, using your knowledge and initiative to keep things running smoothly and contribute to a positive employee experience.

What you’ll be doing:

• Lead onboarding and offboarding processes, ensuring a smooth and professional experience for new starters, leavers, and internal movers.
• Coordinate inductions and probation support, providing regular feedback and support to Managers and employees during probationary period.
• Coordinate training activity, including booking external courses and managing LinkedIn Learning licences.
• Support development planning, working with managers to review team needs and suggest relevant training options.
• Manage the annual PDR process, coaching and supporting Managers through any performance improvement issues within their teams in accordance with our performance policy.
• Contributing to development the of our wellness programme, ensuring our Managers are informed and supported in managing employee wellbeing
• Monitoring absence rates in allocated business areas and supporting Managers in any absence management or capability issues within their teams.
• Manage payroll and benefits processes, including monthly updates, scheme administration, pension enrolment, and responding to employee queries.
• Support the Head of Operations and People Partners with employee relations, competently and compassionately handling matters such as reorganisations, redundancies, disciplinary and grievance issues.
• Manage all maternity, paternity and shared parental leave requests ensuring employees feel informed and supported and all admin and payroll related tasks are completed.
• Maintain and manage HR systems, ensuring accurate employee data, responding to queries, running reports, and supporting system administration, including building workflows and templates to improve efficiency and consistency.
• Pro-actively identify projects that would improve the HR service and make recommendations to People & Culture colleagues.

Requirements

What you’ll need:

• Proven experience in a generalist HR Assistant /Advisor role
• Solid understanding and experience of UK payroll processes
• CIPD Level 5 (or working towards)
• Experience in using and developing a cloud based HRIS
• Confident using excel to export and manipulate data
• High attention to detail and excellent organisational skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities.
• Excellent teamwork and stakeholder management skills
• Comfortable with taking initiative and working proactively to identify process improvements and system automation to reduce manual admin and improve workflow efficiencies
• Confident speaking with individuals from diverse backgrounds and varying levels of expertise, and able to adapt communication style to suit different audiences and situations.

Other information

Company Benefits and Initiatives Include:

• 25 days annual leave in addition to bank holidays – increasing by one additional day after 6 years, up to a maximum of 30 days.
• An additional day of leave for you to take on a cultural celebration day or on your birthday if you like. A day for you! At William Reed, we call this our “MeDay”.
• A volunteer day to take for supporting a chosen charity and giving back to the community.
• Opportunity for hybrid working
• Contributory Pension
• Life Assurance Scheme
• Group Income Protection
• Enhanced family-friendly leave pay entitlements
• Wellbeing benefits, including: A health care cash plan, Employee assistance programme, Virtual GP service and Access to health & wellbeing resources and tools.
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme

Why work for us:

We provide a supportive work environment and are committed to maintaining a healthy work/life balance for all of our employees. Working for William Reed means that you will be joining a stable organisation that is committed to developing its employees and brands.

We warmly welcome and encourage applications from talented individuals of all backgrounds and characteristics.

If you need any support in accessing this opportunity, please do not hesitate to discuss this with us.