Senior People Advisor

Arbor Education; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave + bank holidays +

Job summary

Arbor Education is seeking a Senior HR Advisor to join the People team in the UK. You will support HR business partners, manage employee relations, and contribute to key people projects to enable growth.

The role requires a generalist HR background, strong knowledge of UK employment law, and a CIPD Level 5 (or equivalent). You'll thrive in a fast-paced environment with a proactive, people-first mindset.

Qualifications

• Solid HR generalist background with ER exposure.
• CIPD Level 5 preferred.
• Solid knowledge of UK employment law.
• Experience in process improvement and ownership.
• Thrives in fast-paced environments.
• Strong attention to documentation and data.
• People-first mindset and proactive approach.
• Clear communication in policy updates and data interpretation.
• Organised with strong prioritisation skills.
• Experience in tech or agency environments is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Coach managers through investigations, disciplinaries, grievances and performance management.
• Act as first point of contact for managers for difficult conversations and policy application.
• Keep UK policies current and compliant, build new processes where gaps exist.
• Track ER and absence data, spot trends, share insights with Partners.
• Support M&A and TUPE integration projects as the business grows.

Skills

ER management

Policy knowledge

UK employment law

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

CIPD Level 5

Tools

HRIS systems

Excel

Google Sheets

Job description

Location: Leeds (Hybrid) - minimum 2 days per week in the office

Salary: £40,000 - £45,000

About us

At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better.
We believe in a future of work in schools where being challenged doesn’t mean being burnt out and overworked. Where data guides progress without overwhelming staff. And where everyone working in a school is reminded why they got into education every day.
Our MIS and school management tools are already making a difference in over 13,000 schools and trusts. Giving time and power back to staff, turning data into clear, actionable insights, and supporting happier working days.
At the heart of our brand is a recognition that the challenges schools face today aren’t just about efficiency, outputs and productivity - but about creating happier working lives for the people who drive education everyday: the staff. We want to make schools more joyful places to work, as well as learn.

About the role

The People Operations Team at Arbor sit at the heart of the business and are passionate about creating an environment and culture for people to do their best work. In line with our values we believe in creating space for people to “own it with openness” and drive a culture where “everyday is a school day”.
We are looking for a collaborative and engaging Senior HR Advisor to join our People team and help us create a world class experience for our UK team at all stages of their employee journey. The remit and focus of the role is to work closely with, and support, our People Business Partners to deliver on our people strategy as well contributing to some of our larger strategic projects that enable us to continue our growth. It’s a broad and exciting role, so we’re looking for someone up for a challenge - if you’re a communicative and passionate person, this is the role for you.

Core responsibilities

• Employee relations: Coach managers through investigations, disciplinaries, grievances, performance management, flexible working and sickness cases. Own your caseload and elevate to the People Business Partners as needed.


• Manager coaching: Act as the first point of contact for managers, helping them handle difficult conversations and apply policy with confidence.


• Policy and process: Keep UK policies current and compliant, and build new processes where gaps appear.


• People data: Track ER and absence data, spot trends and share clear insights with the People Business Partners.


• M&A and TUPE: Support integration projects as the business grows, including TUPE transfers.

About you

We're seeking someone with a solid foundation in HR who’s confident managing the day-to-day while also comfortable getting into the detail of broader HR projects. You may already be in an HR Advisor role and looking to gain wider generalist exposure. A CIPD qualification at Level 5 (or equivalent experience) is preferred. Beyond that, we’d love to see:

• Prior experience in a generalist HR role – with good exposure to ER and policies.


• A good knowledge of UK employment law


• Experience with processes improvement and taking ownership of these including creating new ones should the need arise


• The ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment


• Great attention to detail, especially when it comes to documentation and data


• A proactive, people-first mindset. We want someone who spots what needs doing and jumps in


• Confidence using HRIS systems and Excel/Google Sheets for reporting


• Clear communication skills, whether you’re writing a policy update, interpreting HR data, or chatting through a flexible working request


• A caring but professional demeanour with the ability to earn people’s trust and handle sensitive situations


• Strong organisation and prioritisation skills. You’ll be working on a lot of different things at any one time and it’s important you know what to prioritise and when


• Experience in a fast-paced, commercial environment such as tech or agency would be a real plus

What we offer

The chance to work alongside a team of hard-working, passionate people in a role where you’ll see the impact of your work everyday. We also offer:

• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays and additionally, 5 extra company wide days given over Easter, Summer & Christmas.


• Life Assurance paid out at 3x annual salary


• Comprehensive wellness benefit provided by AIG Smart Health, which provides a 24/7 virtual GP service, Mental health support, Counselling, and personalised Health Checks


• Private Dental Insurance with Bupa


• Salary sacrifice Pension provided by Scottish Widows


• Enhanced maternity and adoption leave (20 weeks full pay) and paternity (6 weeks full pay) pay


• 5 free return to work maternity coaching sessions, helping you adapt to this new exciting time of life!


• Access to services such as Calm and Bippit (financial wellbeing coaching)


• A dedicated wellbeing team who champion initiatives such as mindfulness, lunch n learns, manager training, mental health first aid training and much more!


• All of our roles champion flexible working and we are happy to discuss what this means to you


• Social committees that plan team, office and company wide events to bring people together and celebrate success


• Dedicated professional development training budget (CPD courses, upskilling resources, professional memberships etc)


• Volunteer with a charity of your choice for a day each year


• Dog friendly offices!

Interview process

1. Phone screen


2. 1st stage


3. 2nd stage

We are committed to a fair and comfortable recruitment process, so if you require any reasonable adjustments during your application or interview process, please reach out to a member of the team at [e-mail].

Our commitment is also backed by our partnership with Neurodiversity Consultancy, Lexxic who provide us with training, support and advice.

Arbor Education is an equal opportunities organisation

Our goal is for Arbor to be a workplace which represents, celebrates and supports people from all backgrounds, and which gives them the tools they need to thrive - whatever their ambitions may be so we support and promote diversity and equality, and actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

Refer a friend

Know someone else who would be good for this role? You can refer a friend, family member or colleague, if they are offered a role with Arbor, we will say thank you with a voucher valued up to £200! Simply email: [e-mail]

Please note: We are unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time.