Senior HR Advisor

Impact Food Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading school catering company is seeking a Senior HR Advisor to provide guidance across the employee lifecycle, support operational managers, and lead the People Services team. The ideal candidate will have strong HR advisory experience, leadership skills, and a solid understanding of UK employment law. This is an opportunity to make a real impact in a growing organization focused on creating a positive food culture.

Benefits

Flexible salary options

Fantastic benefits

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a People/HR Advisory role, ideally in a fast-paced, operational setting.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills.
• Strong understanding of UK employment law and people practices.

Responsibilities

• Provide guidance to empower managers to lead fairly and consistently.
• Support managers through formal investigations and hearings.
• Collaborate with People Business Partners to develop proactive people strategies.

Skills

People/HR Advisory experience

Leadership

Communication skills

UK employment law knowledge

Management of ER cases

Job description

Overview

Role: Senior HR Advisor

Salary: Flexible & Fantastic Benefits

Location: Woking

Senior HR Advisor

At Impact Food Group, we re more than just a school caterer. We re on a mission to create a positive food culture and help more students enjoy healthier, better-quality food. Making a positive social impact is at the heart of everything we do. We re constantly learning, evolving, and improving every way, every day.

Through our industry-leading brands Innovate, Hutchison, Cucina, and Chapter One we cater for over 550,000 students and operate in more than 800 schools nationwide, growing every year.

We re now looking for a talented and highly organised People Services Manager to lead our Shared Services team and support our operational managers with expert people guidance. If you re ready to make a real impact in a company that s redefining what it means to work in catering, this is your moment.

Guided by our values, integrity, bold, impactful, integrity, and community; you will help us shape a workplace and culture we can all be proud of.

What you ll be doing

As Senior HR Advisor you ll play a dual role: working with a Head of People / People Director and acting as a trusted advisor to a new operational region in our business, and leading our People Services Coordinators to deliver exceptional service across the employee lifecycle. You ll ensure our people processes run smoothly, our team is supported and developed, and our managers are empowered to lead brilliantly.

Key Responsibilities of the Senior HR Advisor Include:

• Providing timely, practical guidance to empower managers to lead fairly, consistently, and brilliantly.
• Advising and supporting managers through formal investigations and hearings, ensuring every step is handled with care and integrity.
• Guiding and coaching on short- and long-term sickness cases, including Occupational Health referrals and reasonable adjustments to contribute to a positive culture where employees feel supported.
• Supporting capability procedures and performance improvement plans that help people grow and succeed to make a difference and improve knowledge.
• Collaborating with People Business Partners to spot trends and shape proactive people strategies that are decisive and challenge the norm.
• Taking the lead, collaborating with the wider People department to process employees transferring via TUPE at peak periods and succeeding as a team.
• Lead and support the development of the team of People Coordinators. Ensure the timely response to general employee enquiries and action taken on maternity, paternity, flexible working, and probationary period enquiries from employees and managers across our entire operation.

More about you -

• Proven experience in a People/HR Advisory role, ideally in a fast-paced, operational setting.
• Proven experience in leading a team setting objectives, leading by example and establishing best practices.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills you know how to coach, guide, and inspire.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and people practices, including TUPE processes.
• Confidence in managing ER cases end-to-end, including disciplinary, grievance, absence, and capability.
• Considerate and ready to both learn from and share your knowledge with colleagues to be part of a fantastic People Team.

If you re a collaborative, solution-focused HR professional who thrives in a busy and purposeful environment, we d love to hear from you. Join us and be part of a team making a genuine difference in the lives of students across the UK.