HR Strategic Advisor & Mentor - Volunteer in Milton Keynes

Help eLID Hub CIC empower underrepresented talent! We need an HR Mentor to guide two Cranfield interns as they build our first HR foundation. You’ll provide strategic oversight on their projects, ensuring our growth is inclusive and robust. Perfect for an expert coach seeking social impact.

What difference will you make? As a one‑year‑old CIC, eLID Hub is at a critical "inflection point." We have proven our model of helping underrepresented groups gain experience, but to help the next thousand people we must transition from a founder‑led project to a sustainable organization.

Your impact will be felt in three key areas:

• Building the Bedrock – mentoring our Cranfield interns to establish a professional, ethical, and compliant foundation that will support every employee and volunteer we ever hire.
• Empowering Underrepresented Talent – by professionalizing HR, we directly increase our capacity to offer high‑quality workshops and bootcamps to those who need them most.
• Multiplier Effect through Mentorship – your guidance will shape the professional development of two bright Cranfield students, creating a ripple effect of excellence through their careers.

Ultimately, your involvement provides the strategic maturity we need to scale. You are the bridge between our vision of social equity and the practical reality of running a world‑class organization. Your expertise will be instrumental in establishing a robust governance framework as we recruit our first Board of Directors and Trustees, ensuring eLID Hub is led with transparency, integrity, and strategic depth.

What are we looking for? We are looking for a strategic HR leader passionate about building sustainable, inclusive organisations. The ideal volunteer enjoys sharing their "hard‑earned" wisdom with the next generation of professionals.

Most Important (Essential)

• Senior HR Experience – significant experience in HR strategy, organisational design, or talent management at a senior or director level.
• Coaching & Mentorship – experience managing or mentoring junior‑to‑mid‑level staff and providing constructive, encouraging feedback to high‑caliber students.
• Strategic Mindset – the ability to see the big picture of how HR infrastructure supports a non‑profit’s long‑term business goals.
• Empathy & DEI Focus – a deep understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at the core of eLID Hub’s mission.

Desirable Qualities

• Startup or Small Organisation Familiarity – understanding how to build lean HR systems that avoid excessive bureaucracy.
• UK Employment Law – working knowledge of UK compliance to vet the students’ work (contracts, handbooks, etc.).
• Remote Collaboration – comfortable using digital tools (Zoom, Teams, Slack) to mentor interns in a hybrid/remote setting.

The Kind of Person We Are Looking For

You are a "Critical Friend" who can spot gaps in a plan yet also celebrates creative ideas. You are patient, insightful, and excited by the challenge of helping a young social enterprise establish its professional identity. You don’t need to do the work; you need to inspire and validate the work.

Remote Work will be conducted remotely.

What will you be doing? As our HR Strategic Advisor & Mentor, you will act as a senior guide for the Founder and a professional mentor for two high‑caliber Cranfield University interns (MBA and MSc). Your role is to provide the executive perspective as we transition into a structured organisation.

Key Responsibilities

• Mentor & Quality Control – provide strategic oversight as interns design the "Founding HR Toolkit", including contracts, performance frameworks, and culture manifesto.
• Governance & Board Readiness – advise on the HR implications of establishing an Advisory Board and Board of Directors, ensuring our people strategy is board‑ready.
• Recruitment Strategy – help interns design a professional recruitment and onboarding process for future Trustees and Directors, attracting diverse, high‑level leadership.
• Strategic Sounding Board – review the 12‑18 month workforce roadmap to ensure alignment with legal and ethical standards of a UK CIC.

Structure You will work directly with the Founder. Your commitment is primarily focused on weekly or bi‑weekly strategic check‑ins to steer the interns’ deliverables toward executive‑grade quality.

Why this is a Hook for high‑level volunteers Most senior leaders on Reach Volunteering have served on boards. By making emphasise on recruiting Trustees and Directors, we speak their language.

An HR Mentor with Governance skills will help you answer questions like:

• How do we define the "Terms of Reference" for new board members?
• How do we ensure our board recruitment process is inclusive and reaches underrepresented leaders?
• How do we separate the roles of "Volunteer Staff" vs. "Non‑Executive Directors"?