People Advisor

Clifton College; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Clifton College is seeking a proactive People Advisor to join the People Team and support the delivery of an exceptional colleague experience across the Clifton College Group. You will provide expert HR guidance across the full employee lifecycle, building strong relationships with senior stakeholders and ensuring compliant, inclusive people practices.

Key duties include advising on employee relations, supporting recruitment and onboarding, maintaining records and safeguarding compliance, and

Qualifications

• CIPD Level 5 qualification or equivalent experience.
• Significant experience providing generalist HR advice.
• Up-to-date knowledge of employment law and HR best practice.
• Experience using HR systems and analysing people data is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Provide professional advice on employee relations including wellbeing, attendance, performance, conduct, probation and grievances.
• Coach managers to confidently manage people matters in line with employment legislation and Group policies.
• Promote colleague wellbeing initiatives and contribute to an inclusive workplace culture.
• Support end-to-end recruitment and onboarding with Safer Recruitment compliance.
• Maintain accurate employee records, safeguarding compliance and SCR requirements.
• Support policy development, audits and compliance activities.
• Identify learning and development needs and support delivery of training/workshops.
• Support People projects, strategy initiatives and continuous improvement.
• Produce people data, reports and insights to support decision-making.
• Build positive relationships with colleagues, managers and stakeholders across sites.
• Maintain confidentiality, professionalism and customer service at all times.

Skills

HR generalist experience

Employee relations

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Problem solving

Education

CIPD Level 5 or equivalent

Tools

HRIS systems

Payroll/HR software

Job description

We are looking to appoint a proactive and people-focused People Advisor to join our People Team and support the delivery of an exceptional colleague experience across the Clifton College Group. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced HR professional to provide expert advice and guidance across the full employee lifecycle, helping to foster a positive, inclusive and high-performing workplace culture. The successful candidate will work closely with senior stakeholders and colleagues across the Group, building strong relationships and ensuring people practices are compliant, consistent and aligned with our values.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Providing professional advice and guidance on employee relations matters including wellbeing, attendance, performance, conduct, probation and grievance cases
• Supporting and coaching managers to confidently manage people matters in line with employment legislation and Group policies
• Promoting colleague wellbeing initiatives and contributing to a positive and inclusive workplace culture
• Supporting end-to-end recruitment and onboarding processes, ensuring compliance with Safer Recruitment requirements
• Maintaining accurate employee records and ensuring compliance with safeguarding and employment requirements, including the Single Central Record (SCR)
• Supporting policy development, audits and compliance activities to ensure best practice across the Group
• Identifying learning and development needs and supporting the delivery of training and workshops
• Supporting the delivery of People projects, strategy initiatives and continuous improvement activities
• Producing people data, reports and insights to support informed decision-making
• Building positive working relationships with colleagues, managers and stakeholders across multiple sites
• Maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality, professionalism and customer service at all times

The ideal candidate will be CIPD Level 5 qualified, or able to demonstrate equivalent relevant experience, with substantial experience providing generalist HR advice and guidance. They will possess up-to-date knowledge of employment law and HR best practice, excellent communication and relationship-building skills, and a proactive approach to problem solving. Experience using HR systems and analysing people data would be advantageous, as would experience supporting people-related projects and system implementations.

Please note that this is a fully office-based role, and the successful candidate will be required to work from the office five days per week.

Clifton College is part of Clifton College Education Group, and is a leading independent day and boarding school educating over 1,200 pupils aged 3 to 18 years. The College offers day education, flexi and full boarding and is a proudly inclusive and supportive community, with over 40 nationalities represented.

Founded in 1862, the College provides an exceptional all-round education that successfully combines a rich heritage with modern state-of-the-art facilities. Located in one of the most beautiful suburbs of the vibrant city of Bristol, we are proud to offer the finest all-round education based on the highest academic and pastoral standards, and a diverse range of first-class co-curricular activities.

Closing date: 14/10/2026

Early applications are encouraged, as the College reserves the right to interview and possibly appoint candidates before the closing date.

Clifton College is committed to creating and promoting a diverse and inclusive workforce that better reflects our community. Applications are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage / civil partnerships. We particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. Please note, we require candidates to be at least 18 years of age for all roles apart from our lifeguard positions where candidates are required to be 16+ with the relevant qualifications.

We arecommitted to the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All staff and volunteers are required to share this commitment. Safeguarding is underpinned by a range of policies and procedures which encourage and promote safe working practice across the College. We make sure that all our staff are trained and supervised to a high standard so they can provide safe, effective practice.

All posts are subject to a safer recruitment process which includes the disclosure of criminal records and barring checks, scrutiny of employment history, robust referencing and other vetting checks. Due to the nature of the role, you will need to complete an enhanced criminal record disclosure (DBS check) and undergo our pre-employment screening. As a regulated sector we are required to ask for references prior to interview, by applying for this role you are consenting for us to contact your referees. Please note that this role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 therefore you will be asked to disclose all previous convictions not exempt under amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020.