Senior People Advisor | Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust; Bristol; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent NHS Trust in Bristol is seeking an experienced Senior People Advisor to provide HR expertise to prison healthcare services. The role involves advising on HR policies, employee relations, workforce planning, and delivering training sessions. Candidates should be proficient in using HR systems such as ESR and Healthroster. With strong communication skills, the advisor will support managers in managing absence and design recruitment initiatives. This is an opportunity to foster staff engagement and wellbeing within the Trust.

Benefits

Continuous professional development

Employee wellbeing programs

Qualifications

• Proven experience in providing HR support for healthcare services.
• Ability to advise on HR policies, employee relations, and staff engagement.
• Strong understanding of workforce planning and compliance systems.

Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for HR inquiries.
• Support managers with employee absence management.
• Deliver training on HR policies to staff.

Skills

HR advice

Employee relations

Workforce planning

Compliance

Training delivery

Communication skills

Education

Relevant HR qualification

Tools

ESR system

Healthroster system

Job description

Overview of the Post

The Senior People Advisor delivers expert HR support to prison healthcare services within the Forensic & Offender Healthcare Directorate, providing consistent application of HR policies, workforce planning, employee relations and staff engagement.

Responsibilities

General

• Act as the first point of contact for managers and staff, providing professional HR advice on recruitment, retention, employee relations and change management.
• Support managers with absence management, disciplinary and grievance processes.
• Use ESR and Healthroster systems for workforce planning and compliance.
• Advise on contractual issues and interpretation of terms and conditions.
• Participate in recruitment activities and act as HR representative on selection panels.
• Deliver training and presentations on HR policies and procedures.
• Promote staff wellbeing and equality initiatives.

Employee Relations

• Advise and support managers on appropriate action for absence issues in line with Trust policies.
• Identify staff triggered in line with the sickness absence policy from ESR reports.
• Communicate with managers, setting up advisory meetings and hearings.
• Liaise with Occupational Health where necessary.
• Work with managers on short‑term and long‑term sickness absence to reduce and maintain absence levels.
• Provide support, advice and training to develop managers’ confidence and competence when dealing with conduct and capability concerns.
• Provide employment relations advice on disciplinary and grievance processes and work alongside Investigating Officers to ensure investigations are fair and timely.
• Promote informal resolution mechanisms to address concerns.
• Keep up to date with current employment legislation and best practice.

Workforce Information

• Utilise workforce information to support workforce planning, identifying trends and areas of concern.
• Support the implementation and use of the Electronic Staff Record and Healthroster systems, ensuring compliance.
• Use the Trust’s computerised HR information systems to input and retrieve information and support service delivery.

Contractual and Policy Advice

• Offer advice to managers and staff on interpretation and application of terms and conditions of service, contractual issues, and policies.
• Advise managers on fixed‑term, honorary, and temporary contracts.
• Support the HR Business Partner in ensuring Trust policies and terms and conditions are updated and implemented.
• Provide advice on rostering practices, recruitment and temporary staffing appointments.
• Participate in design and delivery of training and development events for managers and staff on People policies and procedures.

Recruitment and Retention

• Support the HR Business Partner in developing recruitment and retention initiatives tailored to the services and region.
• Identify new ways of working and collaborate with the local community to promote opportunities and Oxleas as an employer of choice.
• Advise managers on design of job roles, team structures and the Agenda for Change job evaluation process.
• Act as HR representative on selection panels, ensuring best practice and equal opportunities.

Communication

• Provide complex information in a user‑friendly format to a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Confidently present information and provide training to large groups of people.

Staff Engagement

• Support local implementation of the Trust’s health and wellbeing agenda.
• Assist in development of action plans to address staff survey results.
• Promote a culture that embeds and values equality and diversity throughout systems, behaviours and service delivery.

Corporate Contribution

• Implement the Trust’s People Strategy and Workforce Plans, ensuring business unit requirements are represented.
• Represent the Trust on local forums to shape policy development and share best practice.
• Provide cover to other services as required by the Head of HR to meet overall Trust priorities.

General (Improvement and Development)

• Suggest improvements to working practices, policies and procedures across the People Directorate.
• Actively participate in own PDR and other development opportunities within the remit of this role.
• Work on own initiative seeking guidance from management when required.

This advert closes on Monday 22 Dec 2025.