Senior HR Advisor

Phoenix Learning & Care Group; Tiverton; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 43,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company car

Car allowance

Job summary

Phoenix Learning & Care Group is seeking an experienced Senior HR Advisor for a hybrid role based from Tiverton or Bristol. The role supports care and education settings with high-volume ER caseloads, covering absence, performance, disciplinary matters and safeguarding concerns.

You will work with the HR Manager and a colleague to deliver a high-quality People Services service. You will apply trauma-informed, compassionate decision-making while maintaining confidentiality, and travel to sites

Qualifications

• CIPD Level 3 or above or equivalent HR experience; practical ER knowledge matters most.
• Extensive experience in employee relations casework including absence, performance, disciplinary and investigations.
• Solid knowledge of employment law, fair process and HR policy application.
• Ability to advise, support and challenge managers with difficult decisions.
• Experience in multi-site environments, ideally in care/education with safeguarding exposure.
• Understanding of how recruitment, onboarding and retention link to ER and workforce stability.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, resilience and attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Manage a busy employee relations caseload including repetitive short-term absence, long-term absence, performance, disciplinary, grievance, investigations, hearings and appeals.
• Support managers with absence management and probation processes, including occupational fitness and return-to-work planning.
• Work closely with the HR Manager and the second Senior HR Advisor to maintain a responsive HR service.
• Coach managers through sensitive processes to handle difficult conversations with a compassionate, trauma-informed approach.
• Prepare documentation and referrals (occupational health and DBS) ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Contribute to policy, guidance and process improvements to support fair, trauma-informed people practice.

Skills

Employee relations

HR generalist

Employment law

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

Education

CIPD Level 3 or above

Job description

About The Role

Senior HR Advisor

Salary:£38,937 The role also comes with either a company car or a £500 monthly car allowance, depending on preference. Full time, 36 hours per week, with 9 Day Fortnight.

Hybrid role:based from Tiverton or Bristol, with a combination of office working, site visits and working from home. On average, we would expect this to be around two days per week from home, with three days per week either in the office or out on site.

Phoenix Learning and Care operates schools and colleges, as well as care services for children and adults. The People we support are some of the most vulnerable in society, and often have not had the best start in life.

We are looking for an experienced Senior HR Advisor to join our People Services Team. This is one of two Senior HR Advisor roles reporting into the HR Manager and will provide high-quality, practical and timely HR support across Phoenix’s care and education settings.

The role is largely employee relations focused, so you will be confident managing a varied and busy caseload, including repetitive short-term absence, long-term absence, performance, disciplinary, grievance, investigations, hearings and appeals. Some cases will be extremely sensitive and may involve safeguarding concerns, so you will need to be able to handle information carefully, work with appropriate confidentiality and keep the needs of the People we support and Team Members firmly in mind.

As a trauma-informed organisation, we want our people practice to be supportive, reflective and fair, while still being able to address concerns directly when this is required. You will need to be comfortable making difficult decisions where they are needed, doing so in a compassionate, legally sound and trauma-informed way.

The main areas of travel are likely to be South Wales, Bristol and across to Newbury, with travel to other regions, including Birmingham and Manchester, as Phoenix continues to open and develop new sites. We aim to take a personal approach and meet face to face where this adds value, particularly for sensitive matters, while also balancing this with online meetings where they are appropriate and effective.

This role would suit someone who has a real passion for employee relations and already brings strong ER experience. Experience within care, education or another regulated safeguarding environment would be ideal; however, we are open minded to candidates from other sectors where they can demonstrate significant employee relations experience and a genuine interest in developing their understanding of our sector.

What you will be doing:

• Managing a busy employee relations caseload, including repetitive short-term absence, long-term absence, performance, disciplinary, grievance, investigations, hearings and appeals.
• Supporting managers with absence management and probation processes, including cases involving occupational fitness, reasonable adjustments, return to work planning and, where appropriate, cases that may progress through to termination of employment.
• Working closely with the HR Manager and the second Senior HR Advisor to maintain a responsive and high-quality HR service.
• Coaching managers through sensitive people processes so they feel confident handling difficult conversations, making balanced decisions and keeping a compassionate, trauma-informed approach.
• Preparing clear documentation and supporting appropriate referrals, including occupational health and DBS referrals where required, ensuring concerns are factual, timely and handled with appropriate care.
• Supporting organisational change activity, including workforce planning, restructures and changes to ways of working, making sure people processes are fair, consultative and well communicated.
• Working with managers to support Team Member health and wellbeing, recognising when further advice, occupational health input or risk assessment is needed.
• Supporting the HR Manager with general compliance activity, including right to work checks, immigration control matters, occupational health referrals and DBS referrals.
• Contributing to policy, guidance and process improvements that support fair, consistent and trauma-informed people practice.

What we are looking for:

• CIPD qualified, ideally Level 3 or above, or able to demonstrate equivalent HR experience. For this role, practical employee relations knowledge, sound judgement and relevant experience are more important than qualification level alone.
• Strong generalist HR experience, with significant confidence in complex and high-volume employee relations casework, including absence management and sensitive safeguarding-related matters.
• A sound working knowledge of employment law, fair process and HR policy application.
• The confidence to advise, support and appropriately challenge managers and leaders, including the ability to make and guide difficult decisions where they are needed.
• Experience of working in a multi-site environment, ideally within care, education or another regulated setting; candidates from other sectors will also be considered where they already have substantial employee relations experience.
• An understanding of how recruitment, onboarding and retention link to effective employee relations and workforce stability.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with good judgement, resilience and attention to detail.
• A strong commitment to safeguarding, inclusion, health and wellbeing, and Phoenix’s values of Nurture, Flourish and Grow.
• A full driving licence and the ability to travel regularly across South Wales, Bristol, Newbury and to other regions such as Birmingham and Manchester.