People Advisor

Sage; North East; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the region is seeking a People Services Advisor to enhance the colleague experience within their People Function. The individual will provide expert guidance on employee relations, ensuring compliance while promoting a streamlined, efficient workflow. This hybrid role requires strong communication skills and a proactive approach to advising management on complex people issues.

Benefits

Generous bonuses and pension scheme

25 days of paid annual leave with an option to buy 5 more

Paid time to volunteer

Enhanced parental leave

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage

Work away scheme for up to 10 weeks a year

Qualifications

• Experience in employee relations with knowledge of local employment legislation.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to build relationships.
• Attention to detail and strong organizational capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert advice on employee relations matters including performance and grievances.
• Support managers in handling absence-related issues and ensure compliance with policies.
• Identify and drive continuous improvements in People Services processes.

Skills

Communication

Analytical Skills

Advising

Coaching

Proactive Approach

Education

CIPD Qualification (or equivalent)

Tools

ServiceNow

Job description

Job Description

As a People Services Advisor, you will play a key role in delivering a seamless, high-quality colleague experience within the People Function. You will be responsible for providing expert guidance and support to colleagues and managers on a range of people-related matters, ensuring compliance with policies, procedures, and local legislation. This role is instrumental in enhancing our People Services function by driving simplicity, standardisation, and efficiency while delivering a globally aligned and regionally tailored service.

The People Services team is a vital part of the People Operations function, supporting Sage’s global workforce across the UKI, North America, EMEA, South Africa, and APAC. Our mission is to provide an efficient, colleague-focused service that enhances engagement, optimises processes, and drives continuous improvement.

This is a hybrid role working in the Newcastle office 3 days a week and 2 from home.

• Support managers in handling absence-related issues, including unjustified absence, reasonable adjustments, occupational health, and wellbeing support pathways, collaborating with external providers.
• Assess and escalate absence trends to Employee Relations and Strategic People Business Partners to promote early intervention.
• Provide expert advice on a range of employee relations matters, including performance, investigations, disciplinary actions, grievances, redundancy, and flexible hybrid working queries/requests.
• Ensure policies and procedures are applied fairly and consistently while acting as an escalation point within the People Services team.
• Administer private health insurance claims, supporting colleagues and managers through the process, along with delivering Manager upskilling sessions
• Act as a trusted advisor, guiding managers and colleagues through key people processes.
• Use HR case management system, ServiceNow and Sage People to capture the colleague journey, manage formal communications across employee relations processes, ensuring clarity and compliance with legal standards.
• Identify and drive continuous improvements to simplify processes, establish global standards, and enhance the colleague experience.
• Assist with change programs, building business cases for People Business Partners (PBP’s) ensuring smooth transitions while maintaining compliance and engagement.
• Leverage internal systems to analyse trends, inform decision-making, and develop training and guidance materials.
• Work closely with Strategic People Business Partners, People COEs (e.g., DEI, Global Mobility, Reward, Payroll, L&D, Reporting, Benefits, Talent Acquisition), and other stakeholders to ensure a consistent and effective service.
• Ensure all activities comply with GDPR and data retention policies.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Minimum Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience in employee relations, with strong working knowledge of local employment legislation.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships across all levels of the organization.
• Currently studying towards or already hold a CIPD qualification (or equivalent).
• Exceptional attention to detail and strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet tight deadlines.
• Naturally inquisitive, with a keen interest in understanding complex processes and systems—able to distill complexity into clear, actionable insights.
• Proven ability to confidently advise, coach, and influence managers to drive effective outcomes and minimize legal risk.
• Self-motivated, proactive, and able to take initiative in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience using ServiceNow is an advantage, but not essential.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Your benefits (Only Applicable for UK Based Roles)

Benefits video – https://youtu.be/TCMtTYUUiuU

• Generous bonuses and pension scheme: Up to 8% matched pension contribution plus 2% top-up by Sage.
• 25 days of paid annual leave with the option to buy up to another 5 days
• Paid 5 days yearly to volunteer through our Sage Foundation
• Enhanced parental leave
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• Work away scheme for up to 10 weeks a year
• Access to various helpful memberships for finances, health and wellbeing