People Partner

Westminster; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 48,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

School pension

Leisure facilities

Cycle to Work

Private medical insurance

Christmas shutdown period

Professional development

Free school meals

Job summary

Westminster School is seeking an experienced People Partner to deliver proactive, high‑quality HR support across the school. You will work with leaders to handle employee relations, performance management, recruitment, wellbeing and engagement, ensuring compliance with employment law and safeguarding requirements.

Based in Deans Yard, you will partner with the People & Payroll team across both Great and Under Schools, helping build an inclusive, high‑performing culture while supporting policy

Responsibilities

• People management and advisory support to leaders across the school.
• Manage employee relations cases including performance issues, disciplinary and wellbeing matters.
• Support recruitment campaigns and onboarding processes with the Recruitment and Onboarding Officer.
• Contribute to HR policy, compliance, and safeguarding aligned with school requirements.
• Participate in HR projects and continuous improvement initiatives.

Job description

### Job Introduction**Required for:** as soon as possible**Location:** Deans Yard, Westminster School**Contract:** full-time, permanent**Hours of work:** 35 hours per week, 52 weeks per week. Preferred hours are 9am - 5pm, however there may be flexibility to start earlier or later and hours may need to occasionally be adjusted to support business needs.**Salary:** £56,000 per annum**Benefits of working at Westminster include:*** Generous School pension scheme* Free access to the School's leisure facilities, including a fitness gym (restricted hours)* Cycle to Work Scheme and season ticket loans following completion of our standard probation period* Private medical insurance (opt in)* Discretionary Christmas shutdown period* Professional development opportunitiesFree school meals are also available when on-site during working hours for the role.**The deadline for applications is midday on Friday 9th October 2026. Longlist interviews will take place w/c 19th October, with final interviews taking place in-person on Monday 2nd November 2026.**Westminster School is seeking an experienced People Partner to work with the wider People Partnering team in delivering a proactive, high-quality people service across the school. Working closely with leaders and managers, the postholder provides pro-active (and where necessary reactive) guidance and support on all areas of people management including employee relations, performance management, recruitment, wellbeing and employee engagement.The role acts as a trusted partner to managers across academic and operational departments, helping them manage people matters effectively while ensuring compliance with employment legislation, safeguarding requirements and school policies. The postholder will contribute to the delivery of the school's people priorities and support a positive, inclusive and high-performing workplace culture.Working closely, collegiately and flexibly with other members of the People and Payroll team to deliver an excellent service across the School, the role will also work closely with the Under Master and Senior Management Committee of the Great School as their designated People Partner.The People & Payroll function operates and works across both The Great School and the Under School, therefore unless explicitly mentioned any reference to the \"School\" means both Great and Under Schools.**Key Responsibilities***People management** Build effective working relationships with leaders and managers across the school.* Deliver respected and valued advice and support to allocated School and departments to deliver improved performance and increase efficiency on people management issues.* Use knowledge of employment law and good practice to identify and provide innovative solutions to people problems, supporting managers in applying HR policies and procedures consistently and fairly.* Work with managers in developing solutions to difficult problems and analysing information quickly to ensure effective decision making.* Partner managers and senior managers on individual issues such as performance management, capability, disciplinary, grievance and sickness cases, up to and including dismissal, always working within accepted good practice and School procedures, escalating more complex or high-risk matters to the Head of People Partnering and Operations where appropriate.* Involvement and embedding of staff engagement activities (e.g. EDI and Wellbeing) in respect of all staff. The role will work closely with the Senior People Partner in the development, updating, creation and embedding of people focused policies and procedures, whilst also providing guidance and supervision to the Training, Development and Staff Engagement Officer as required.* Coach and train management and staff in all elements of human resources policy and procedure.*Employee Relations** Manage a range of employee relations cases including absence management, disciplinary, grievance, capability and flexible working matters, escalating to the Head of People Partnering and Operations where necessary.* Support investigations and formal meetings, preparing documentation and providing advice throughout the process.* Promote early intervention and informal resolution of workplace issues where appropriate.* Ensure employee relations matters are handled in line with employment legislation and school policies.Recruitment and onboarding* Work with the Recruitment and Onboarding Officer to support recruitment campaigns, interviews and selection processes as required and ensure the delivery of an effective recruitment and onboarding process across the School.* Promote and ensure compliance with safer recruitment practices.* Support the wider People team in auditing all new starter files before start dates to ensure compliance with the school's SCR.* Support initiatives aimed at improving staff retention.*HR Operations and Employee Lifecycle** Support the administration and delivery of key employee lifecycle processes, including contract changes, promotions, family leave, resignations and leavers.* Ensure employee records and HR systems are maintained accurately and in accordance with GDPR requirements.* Produce letters, reports and HR documentation as required.* Support payroll processes by ensuring timely and accurate people data is provided.*HR Policy and Compliance** Ensure compliance with employment legislation, safeguarding requirements and school policies.* Support the review and implementation of HR policies and procedures as directed.* Assist with maintaining accurate employee records and HR systems.* Support HR audits and reporting requirements.*HR Projects and Continuous Improvement** Contribute to HR projects and initiatives as directed by the People leadership team.* Support the implementation of improvements to HR processes and employee experience.* Participate in annual HR processes such as workforce planning, salary review administration and staff surveys.*People and Payroll Team** As part of the People & Payroll team, manage, develop, support and implement key objectives, policies and initiatives and promote pragmatic and focused ways of working, reviewing performance and driving improvement.* Work with colleagues across the team to undertake policy development and projects as required.*Self** Maintain a commitment to equality and diversity and actively promote this in all aspects of your work.* Ensure the confidentiality of records and the security of resources for which the role is accountable.* Use influencing skills to challenge and change others' perceptions about problems and issues.* Keep up to date on UK employment law, case law, benchmarking and best practice within all aspects of people management.* Develop and maintain strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, partners and colleagues internally and externally.* Contribute ideas and suggestions to enhance service delivery and customer experience.*In addition to the above areas of responsibility the position may be required to undertake any other reasonable duties relating to the broad scope of the position.****Equal Opportunities*** *We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.****Safeguarding and Child Protection**Westminster School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.***Working at Westminster**Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of around 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support