People Advisor

Teaching Vacancies; Norwich; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension schemes

Annual leave

Bank holidays

Health plan

Eye care vouchers

Cycle-to-Work Scheme

Staff discounts

On-site nursery

Job summary

City College Norwich is seeking an experienced People Advisor to join its People Services team to provide professional, proactive employee relations advice across the college. You will be the first point of contact for managers on ER matters and help resolve issues at an early stage.

The role bridges administrative HR support and strategic partnering, supporting managers to apply policies consistently while escalating complex matters to the People Partner team.

Qualifications

• CIPD Level 3 qualification (or above) with hands-on HR experience.
• Willing to work towards CIPD Level 5.
• Experience in an HR or People Services environment.
• Strong relationship-building and influencing skills.
• Clear communication tailored to the audience and timely delivery.
• Proactive, take responsibility and deliver an outstanding service.

Responsibilities

• Providing first-line employee relations advice to managers and employees on policies, procedures and terms and conditions.
• Managing a range of employee relations cases including probation reviews, attendance, performance, disciplinaries and grievances.
• Supporting investigations and hearings through note-taking and administrative support.
• Coaching managers to handle people matters confidently and in line with best practice.
• Assisting with absence management processes, Occupational Health referrals and wellbeing initiatives.
• Identifying trends in ER and attendance data and escalating risks where appropriate.
• Supporting recruitment, onboarding and probation activities across the employee lifecycle.
• Maintaining accurate employee records and GDPR compliance.

Skills

HR experience

Communication skills

Influencing at all levels

CIPD Level 3

Education

CIPD Level 3 or above

Job description

What skills and experience we're looking for

People Advisor People Services | City College Norwich, Easton & Paston College 37 hours per week, 52 weeks per year

We are looking for an experienced People Advisor to join our People Services team to provide professional and proactive people advice across the college and acts as the first point of contact for managers on a wide range of employee relations matters.

The role is responsible for managing lower-level employee relations cases, supporting managers to apply policies consistently, and helping to resolve people issues at an early stage. The People Advisor bridges the gap between administrative HR support and strategic HR partnering, ensuring managers receive timely, pragmatic and legally compliant advice while escalating complex, sensitive or high‑risk matters to the People Partner team.

What you’ll be doing

• Providing first-line employee relations advice and guidance to managers and employees on people policies, procedures and terms and conditions.
• Managing a range of employee relations cases, including probation reviews, attendance management, performance concerns, flexible working requests, disciplinary matters and grievances.
• Supporting formal investigations and hearings through note-taking and administrative support.
• Coaching and supporting managers to handle people matters confidently, consistently and in line with best practice.
• Assisting with absence management processes, Occupational Health referrals and employee wellbeing initiatives.
• Identifying trends and themes in employee relations and attendance data and escalating risks where appropriate.
• Supporting recruitment, onboarding, induction and probation activities across the employee lifecycle.
• Maintaining accurate employee records and case management information, ensuring compliance with GDPR and information governance requirements.
• Developing and updating manager guidance, toolkits and people resources.
• Contributing to People Services projects, continuous improvement initiatives and organisational change activities.
• Building effective working relationships with managers and colleagues across the College to promote a positive and proactive employee relations culture.
• Working collaboratively with People Partners, People Services Administrators and Payroll to deliver an excellent people service.

What we’re looking for

• Is CIPD Level 3 qualified (or above) with solid, hands-on HR experience.
• Is willing to work towards CIPD Level 5 qualification.
• Experience of working in an HR or People Services environment Enjoys building relationships and influencing at all levels.
• Can communicate the right information, to the right audience, at the right time, in the appropriate manner.
• Proactively take responsibility to deliver an outstanding service.
• Wants a role where they can have real impact, not just provide advice from the sidelines.

You’ll be part of a collaborative People Services team that values professionalism, fairness and curiosity. You’ll have the space to think, the backing to challenge constructively, and the opportunity to influence how the college supports its people now and in the future.

As a College we are required to undertake various Safer Recruitment checks as set out within the guidance from the Department for Education Keeping Child Safe in Education. We require all staff to undertake an enhanced Adult and Child Workforce DBS Check and to register with the DBS Update Service. From 28 November 2020, changes were made to the DBS filtering rules. As DBS certificates issued before this date may have been produced under different filtering arrangements, we are unable to rely on an Update Service status check for certificates issued before 28 November 2020. In these circumstances, a new DBS application will be required.

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What the college offers its staff

• Pension Schemes
• Annual Leave Allowance
• 26 days plus bank holidays increasing annually to 31 days and 32 days after 10 years.
• College Rewards - A reward scheme providing discounts and/or cashback for purchases from a wide selection of retailers (in store and online)
• Company Paid Health Plan - Reimbursement of healthcare costs (up to limits depending on membership level), access to counselling services and 24 hour a day advice
• Eye Care Vouchers for VDU eye tests
• Specsavers vouchers provided in advance of the appointment covering the eye test cost and discounts on a selected range of glasses
• Cycle Solutions Cycle-to-Work Scheme
• In association with Cycle Solutions, this scheme allows you to hire a bike via salary sacrifice. The full cost of the bike will be split across 18 months and deducted from your gross salary.
• Discounts and promotions for: Solutions Gym, Solutions Spa, Solutions Hair Salon and Debut Restaurant at City College Norwich
• Travel - Discounted, bus, rail and park and ride tickets
• On site nursery at City College Norwich

Commitment to safeguarding

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) medical online and social media prohibition from teaching right to work satisfactory references suitability to work with children You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.