HR Business Partner

Teaching Vacancies; Croydon; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading education charity in Croydon seeks an experienced HR Business Partner to support academy leaders, delivering expert advice on employee relations, workforce planning, and organisational change. The role requires significant HR experience, particularly in managing complex cases and influencing senior stakeholders. Commitment to safeguarding children is essential. This role offers competitive benefits including a performance bonus and professional development opportunities.

Benefits

Performance and Loyalty Bonus

Pension Scheme

Wellbeing Cash Plan

Qualifications

• Significant experience at HR Business Partner or senior HR advisory level.
• Proven experience managing complex employee relations cases.
• Ability to coach and influence senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted HR partner to academy leaders.
• Provide expert advice on employee relations cases.
• Coach senior leaders in people management.

Skills

Employee relations expertise

Stakeholder influencing

Change management

Job description

Overview

What skills and experience we's looking for: We are looking for an experienced HR Business Partner to support academy leaders and deliver high quality people-focused advice across the Federation.

This is a hands-on role where you will work closely with senior leaders, providing expert advice on employee relations, workforce planning and organisational change. You'll lead complex casework, coach leaders on effective people management, and support initiatives that improve engagement, wellbeing and performance.

The role involves regular visits to academies, building strong relationships and ensuring consistent, high-quality HR practice. You'll also contribute to HR projects, policy development and leadership training.

If you\'re a proactive, solutions-focused HR professional with strong ER experience and a passion for education, we\'d love to hear from you.

We would like to hear from you if you have:

• Significant experience operating at HR Business Partner or senior HR advisory level within a complex organisation, influencing senior stakeholders
• Proven experience managing complex employee relations cases, including change management and restructuring, with strong employment law knowledge
• The ability to coach, influence and challenge senior leaders with credibility, empathy and professionalism

For a full job specification, please download the Job Pack.

What the school offers its staff

The Harris Federation is a leading education charity with 55 Harris primary and secondary academies across London and Essex. The founder, Chairman and sponsor of the Harris Federation, Lord Harris of Peckham, opened our first school in 1990. We now educate some 38,000 young people and closing the gap between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers has always been a core mission.

The Harris Federation has a track record of accomplishment in achieving success through rapid school improvement and has built an unrivalled reputation for running outstanding academies in London.

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level to senior leadership. We look for talented individuals who share our vision for creating exceptional places of learning, and are committed to ensuring that every child in London has access to the best possible education. In addition to the opportunities for career progression, training and development, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme, a Wellbeing Cash Plan and many other benefits.

Further details about the role

Your responsibilities will include:

• Acting as a trusted HR partner to academy leaders, providing proactive, pragmatic advice on workforce planning, engagement, performance and wellbeing
• Providing expert advice and support to managers on complex employee relations cases, including disciplinaries, grievances, sickness absence, capability management and restructures, ensuring legal compliance and timely resolution
• Coaching and supporting senior leaders to strengthen people management capability and embed best practice, including informal dispute resolution
• Providing expert advice and support to leaders on organisational change, including restructures and TUPE transfers, supporting with managing consultation processes and trade union relationships
• Analysing workforce data and trends to inform HR initiatives such as retention, attendance improvement, and improving the employee experience

For a full list of job responsibilities, please download the Job Pack.

What we are looking for

Commitment to safeguarding

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants. Before applying, please review our Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders.