People & Culture Advisor

PRINCIPAL MEDICAL LIMITED; Bicester; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Principal Medical Limited in Bicester is looking for an HR/People Transformation Lead to provide specialist guidance and lead transformation projects across teams.

You will manage TUPE, advise managers on employee relations, analyse data to spot trends, and support recruitment, onboarding and lifecycle processes. This role requires CIPD qualifications and NHS-aligned practices, with occasional travel.

Qualifications

• CIPD Level 5 qualification or working towards it.
• Experience as HR/P&C advisory, supporting managers directly.
• Experience supporting or managing TUPE activity and strong employment law knowledge.
• Proven ability to handle complex services, projects or improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead transformation initiatives with expert people advice and workforce planning support.
• Manage TUPE processes ensuring compliance and supporting employees through change.
• Provide timely HR guidance to line managers on employee relations, performance and absence matters.
• Support Case Management from initial advice to resolution with fairness and legal alignment.
• Monitor P&C data to identify trends and improvements (absence, turnover, volumes).
• Support recruitment, onboarding, induction, probation and exit processes.
• Keep HR policies up to date reflecting legislation and PML needs.
• Deliver high-quality service and drive process improvements and best practices.
• Lead small to medium projects, coordinate cross-team activities, produce reports.
• Engage stakeholders and communicate specialist information clearly.
• Mentor colleagues and promote collaborative working and continuous improvement.

Skills

TUPE experience

Stakeholder engagement

Project delivery

People leadership

Policy interpretation

Education

CIPD Level 5 (or working towards)

CIPD Level 7 (or working towards)

Job description

This role will be based at our Bicester office with occasional travel to other PML locations. It is full time (37.5 hours per week) and the starting salary is £38,000 per year.

Company Description

Principal Medical Limited (PML) is a community-focused healthcare organisation delivering high quality services through a network of local clinicians. Founded in 2004 by GPs, PML was created to enable NHS healthcare professionals to bid for and provide innovative, patient-centered services. The organisation employs a growing number of staff and works with local health professionals, including GPs and primary care counsellors, across NHS and surgery premises in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. PML believes that local care providers, who understand the needs of their communities and collaborate regionally, can deliver effective and integrated primary care. The team is committed to developing services that reflect what patients want and need, ensuring the best care options for individual circumstances.

Role Purpose

To provide specialist expertise and leadership in delivering human resource matters, with a strong focus on transformation processes, ensuring consistent, high-quality operational outcomes. The role contributes to organisational effectiveness by applying advanced technical knowledge and providing support to others. It is responsible for leading and coordinating work activity and projects across teams, and for applying judgement to resolve operational and complex specialist issues. The role also involves advising and influencing stakeholders to achieve agreed outcomes.

Role Accountabilities

Transformation

• Support the delivery of organisational transformation initiatives by providing expert people advice and supporting with workforce planning activities.

TUPE

• Manage TUPE processes, ensuring compliance with employment legislation, and supporting employees throughout organisational change processes.

HR Advice & Employee Relations

• Provide timely, consistent, and professional HR advice to line managers on employee relations, performance and absence related matters.

Case Management

• Support the management of P&C cases from initial advice through to resolution, ensuring fairness, accuracy and alignment with legal requirements.

Data & Insight

• Monitor, analyse, and interpret P&C data (e.g. absence, turnover, case volumes) to identify trends and areas for improvement.

Employee Lifecycle Support

• Support key lifecycle processes including recruitment, onboarding, induction, probation and exit stages.

Policy & Process Improvement

• Keep HR policies, procedures, and practices up to date, ensuring they reflect current legislation and PML needs.

Service Delivery & Operational Excellence

• Accountable for the delivery and quality of core, standard processes and services, ensuring compliance with internal and external policies, procedures, regulations and quality standards.
• Apply specialist knowledge to resolve routine, moderately complex, and complex specialist operational issues.
• Identify and implement improvements to enhance service consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Technical Expertise & Judgement

• Use advanced technical expertise to determine appropriate approaches, methods, and solutions.
• Interpret policies, regulations, and guidelines and apply them accurately to operational practice.
• Provide authoritative advice and insight within area of specialism.
• Escalate unusual, high-risk, or exceptional matters appropriately.

Project Delivery

• Lead and deliver small to medium-scale projects, ensuring outputs meet agreed requirements, timeframes, and quality standards.
• Coordinate activities across teams or functions to support successful project delivery and operational outcomes.
• Produce documentation, analysis, and reports to inform decisions or governance processes.

Stakeholder Engagement & Influence

• Build and maintain positive working relationships across teams and functions.
• Influence, negotiate, and advise stakeholders to support effective decision-making and achieve agreed outcomes.
• Communicate specialist information clearly and with impact to different audiences.

Leadership & Team Contribution

• Provide guidance, mentoring, and day-to-day coordination to colleagues to support capability, consistency and knowledge sharing.
• Lead by example, promoting collaborative working and embedding best practice within the team or function.
• Support the development of continuous improvement initiatives and the sharing of specialist expertise across the organisation.

Person Specifications

• CIPD Level 5 (or working towards)
• Previous experience in a HR/P&C Advisory capacity, advising managers directly
• Previous experience supporting or managing TUPE activity
• Strong knowledge of employment law and HR best practice
• Proven experience dealing with complex services, projects or improvement initiatives
• Confident communicator with the ability to influence and challenge constructively.
• Able to manage a varied workload and prioritise effectively
• Strong attention to detail and problem-solving skills
• Approachable and professional
• Discreet and confidential handling sensitive information
• Collaborative team player
• Ability to drive
• Professional, ethical, and accountable approach to work
• Positive, proactive, and adaptable attitude
• Demonstrates compassionate, values-based leadership aligned to NHS principles
• Resilient and accountable; able to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Demonstrates the ability to share specialist knowledge, mentor colleagues and foster collaborative working across teams.
• CIPD Level 7 (or working towards)
• Experience in organisations of a similar size (200-500 employees)
• Proactive and improvement-focused, with a commitment to innovation and service development