HR Assistant (Maternity Cover)

Havant & South Downs College; Penshaw; On-site; GBP 14,000 - 17,000; Part time

Job summary

Havant & South Downs College is seeking a friendly, organised People Services Assistant to cover a fixed-term maternity position. The role is 24 hours per week, with core hours 10:00am–2:30pm, Monday to Friday, and 1.5 hours flexibly scheduled weekly.

You will provide first-line support for People Services and recruitment queries, assist with onboarding, payroll administration, learning and development, wellbeing, and leaver processes, and help improve processes.

Qualifications

• Strong administrative skills, with careful attention to detail and accuracy.
• Experience of working in a customer-focused role in a busy environment.
• Recent experience of using HR and payroll systems, including processing employee changes, starters or leavers.
• Experience of recruitment and pre-employment checks, including onboarding.
• Confidence using Microsoft Office, including Word and Excel.
• A professional and customer-focused approach, with discretion, confidentiality, diplomacy and sensitivity.
• The ability to organise and prioritise your workload, manage deadlines and work both independently and as part of a team.
• Good interpersonal skills and the ability to build effective working relationships with colleagues at all levels.
• A willingness to learn, attend training and contribute ideas that improve the employee experience.
• A commitment to inclusion and to HSDC's values and behaviours.

Responsibilities

• Onboarding and compliance: Support and coordinate the new-starter process, including references, DBS checks, Right to Work checks, overseas checks and accurate Single Central Record administration.
• A positive new-starter experience: Help make the journey welcoming and well organised, including pre-employment meetings and one-month check-ins.
• Contracts and payroll administration: Prepare offer letters, contracts and other documents using agreed templates; calculate pro-rata salary and leave information for final approval; process payroll changes by the relevant cut-off dates.
• Systems and data: Record starters and changes accurately on the HR/Payroll system, process starter pension notifications and help maintain complete, high-quality data.
• Recruitment support: Support recruitment administration and take part in interview panels when required.
• Learning, development and wellbeing: Help monitor mandatory training, process enrolments, book rooms, send confirmations, record completion and support wellbeing initiatives.
• Employee relations and meetings: Provide administrative support to Business Partners, prepare meeting packs and take clear, accurate notes or minutes where requested.
• Leavers: Help coordinate exit interviews and ensure leaver administration is completed efficiently.
• Customer service: Respond helpfully and professionally to People Services and recruitment queries by email and telephone.

Skills

Administrative skills

Customer-focused

Attention to detail

Microsoft Office

Communication skills

Organisation and prioritisation

Discretion and confidentiality

Teamwork

Tools

HRIS systems

HR/payroll systems

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

24 hours per week - Core hours 10:00am to 2:30pm, Monday to Friday, with the remaining 1.5 hours worked at an agreed time each week.

Fixed Term until February 2027, We are looking for a friendly, organised and detail-focused People Services Assistant to join our team on a fixed-term maternity-cover basis. This is a varied administrative role that supports colleagues and candidates throughout their experience with HSDC.

You will work across a diverse range of People Services administrative duties, helping us maintain high-quality and robust processes. You will provide first-line support for People Services and recruitment queries received by email or telephone and proactively support the team with day-to-day administration.

The role includes supported work across recruitment, onboarding, payroll administration, learning and development, wellbeing, employee relations and leaver processes. You will also be encouraged to suggest practical improvements that make our processes simpler and more effective.

What you will be doing

• Onboarding and compliance: Support and coordinate the new-starter process, including references, DBS checks, Right to Work checks, overseas checks and accurate Single Central Record administration.
• A positive new-starter experience: Help make the journey welcoming and well organised, including pre-employment meetings and one-month check-ins.
• Contracts and payroll administration: Prepare offer letters, contracts and other documents using agreed templates; calculate pro-rata salary and leave information for final approval; process payroll changes by the relevant cut-off dates.
• Systems and data: Record starters and changes accurately on the HR/Payroll system, process starter pension notifications and help maintain complete, high-quality data.
• Recruitment support: Support recruitment administration and take part in interview panels when required.
• Learning, development and wellbeing: Help monitor mandatory training, process enrolments, book rooms, send confirmations, record completion and support wellbeing initiatives.
• Employee relations and meetings: Provide administrative support to Business Partners, prepare meeting packs and take clear, accurate notes or minutes where requested.
• Leavers: Help coordinate exit interviews and ensure leaver administration is completed efficiently.
• Customer service: Respond helpfully and professionally to People Services and recruitment queries by email and telephone.

Key Requirements

• Strong administrative skills, with careful attention to detail and accuracy.
• Experience of working in a customer-focused role in a busy environment.
• Recent experience of using HR and payroll systems, including processing employee changes, starters or leavers.
• Experience of recruitment and pre-employment checks, including onboarding.
• Confidence using Microsoft Office, including Word and Excel.
• A professional and customer-focused approach, with discretion, confidentiality, diplomacy and sensitivity.
• The ability to organise and prioritise your workload, manage deadlines and work both independently and as part of a team.
• Good interpersonal skills and the ability to build effective working relationships with colleagues at all levels.
• A willingness to learn, attend training and contribute ideas that improve the employee experience.
• A commitment to inclusion and to HSDC's values and behaviours.

Would you like to work for us? We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice, seeking only the best people to help our students and colleagues realise their dreams and potential.