HR Services Assistant

East Midlands Railway; East Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 23,000 - 29,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

32 days annual leave

Free travel on EMR and other Train UK

75% discount on other national rail

Discounted friends and family tickets

Personal development opportunities

Job summary

East Midlands Railway (EMR) is seeking an HR Services Assistant to deliver end-to-end HR transactional services with a continuous improvement mindset. You will be the main link between Payroll and HR, ensuring accurate pay, GDPR compliance, and responsive employee support.

The role focuses on delivering a professional HR service, collaborating with managers and colleagues, and driving improvements across HR Services.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in a HR Services setting.
• CIPD level 3 or equivalent experience.
• A ‘can do’ attitude and willingness to be flexible.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Analytical and logical thinker with a focus on process and continuous improvement.
• Proficient IT skills including email, Word, Excel, and ideally Microsoft Forms.

Responsibilities

• Become the go-to expert on terms and conditions of employment, providing first-line advice to colleagues.
• Act as the first point of contact for HR system data, supporting subject access requests and ensuring GDPR compliance.
• Work closely with the Transport UK payroll team to ensure accurate, timely pay, manage exceptions, resolve queries, and support pay awards.
• Identify and drive process improvements across HR Services, sharing best practice with the wider team.
• Liaise with third-party providers to administer employee benefits.

Skills

HR Services experience

CIPD level 3

Attention to detail

IT literacy

Communication skills

Education

CIPD Level 3 or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Forms

Job description

We are proud to be One Team at East Midlands Railway (EMR). We are passionate about keeping people safe, delighting our customers, doing the right thing and putting customers at the heart of our sustainable railway for the East Midlands. With over 2,600 employees, our people are the reason we are so successful, and our employees make a crucial contribution to this.

Ten times accredited as a Top Employer and Gold accredited for Inclusive Employers Standards, we value our people and are dedicated to making sure that everybody feels empowered to bring their authentic self to work.

At EMR we want to proactively embrace diversity across our workforce and recognise that we are under-represented in some areas. We’re therefore taking positive steps to promote a positive and inclusive culture and we welcome applications from everyone to help us better represent our communities.

We have an exciting opportunity to join our award-winning HR team as a HR Services Assistant.

Reporting to the HR Manager, this role is responsible for the end-to-end delivery of HR transactional services for our management teams and colleagues, adopting a continuous improvement philosophy to drive quality and efficiency. The role will provide a professional service focusing on HR processes in accordance with statutory requirements and Company policies and procedures while being the main interface between Payroll and East Midlands Railway.

Responsibilities include:

• Become the go-to expert on our terms and conditions of employment, providing first-line advice to colleagues.
• Act as the first point of contact for HR system data, supporting subject access requests and ensuring GDPR compliance.
• Work closely with the Transport UK payroll team to ensure accurate, timely pay, manage exceptions, resolve queries, and support pay awards.
• Identify and drive process improvements across HR Services, sharing best practice with the wider team.
• Liaise with third-party providers to administer employee benefits.

We are looking for:

• Demonstrable experience in a HR Services setting
• CIPD level 3 or equivalent experience
• An individual with a ‘can do’ attitude and willingness to be flexible
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• An analytical and logical thinker who enjoys process, detail, and continuous improvement
• Well developed use of IT systems including email, Word, Excel and ideally Microsoft forms

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a first round of video interviews, with further shortlisted candidates progressing to face-to-face interviews.

As well as a competitive salary, we’ll also offer you:

• 32 days annual leave (including bank holidays), rising to 34 days after 2 years of service
• Free travel on East Midlands Railway and other train companies operated by Transport UK
• 75% discount on other national rail train companies, including for partners and dependants
• Discounted friends and family tickets on the EMR network
• Various personal development and progression opportunities

This position is based in our Derby Head office, but we've adopted a flexible hybrid working model that creates the opportunity to work in your own way at home but also provides great spaces for in-person collaboration.

We are open minded to applications from people who wish to have flexible working. Many of our staff work flexibly in many ways. Please talk to us at interview about the flexibility you need. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

Important Notice to Candidate: AI Use Monitoring

Please be advised that all responses to questions on this application form will be carefully monitored for indications of AI assistance. It is important to us that you are being your authentic self so please base your answers on your personal knowledge and experience.

Any detected use of AI-generated content will result in disqualification from the application process. We value integrity and transparency in all applications and appreciate your cooperation in maintaining these standards.

If you're successful in this role, you'll be expected to support our frontline colleagues at some points throughout the year. This might be undertaking safety critical work, for which you'll receive training, but it could just be helping out with Customer Service when our stations are busy. We're One Team, and that means our managers step up for the frontline, not just manage from a distance. Supporting frontline colleagues is part of our DNA at EMR.

We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds , we promote equal opportunities for all. East Midlands Railway is a non-discriminatory employer committed to the recruitment and promotion of all on the basis of ability and merit irrespective of disability, race, gender, health, social class, sexual preference, marital status, nationality, religion, employment status or age. We’ll treat your application fairly and assess you for the job based on merit and skills.