People & Culture Manager in Southampton

Shape our people strategy. Lead with purpose. Make a difference.

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: 30 per week, to be worked at least 4 days a week, hybrid working available 1 day per week.

Salary: £45,000 FTE (£36,000 pro-rata for 30 hours)

About us: Social Care in Action (SCiA) is a values-driven charity with over 30 years experience in supporting people across Southampton and the surrounding areas to live independently, stay connected, and thrive. With services spanning home care, extra care, specialist care, day services, and community transport, our teams make a meaningful difference every day. Our people are central to everything we do. As we continue to strengthen our culture, modernise our people practices, and support high-performing teams, this role is essential to our future. With a workforce of circa 180 staff and ambitious plans to grow in line with service expansion, we are at an exciting point in our journey. We are actively investing in the transformation of our people practices and the digitalisation of our HR systems, with Employment Hero at the centre of that work.

About the Role: We are looking for an experienced, confident and values-led HR professional to lead the operational delivery of our People & Culture function. This is a key leadership role within the organisation, acting as the senior operational expert responsible for employee relations, compliance, safer recruitment, workforce data, and day-to-day support to managers. You will work closely with the Head of People & Culture to translate organisational strategy into operational practice, ensuring managers feel supported, policies are applied consistently, and our culture continues to strengthen. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a broad generalist environment, enjoys a mix of casework, system improvements, coaching managers to provide the best leadership to our workforce.

• Operational People & Culture Leadership: Lead day‑to‑day operational delivery of the People and Culture function, ensuring a responsive, professional, and values‑driven service. Translate the organisational People and Culture strategy into clear operational plans and priorities. Act as the primary point of contact for operational people matters, ensuring consistency and fairness across all services. Embed organisational values and behaviours through people processes and management practice.
• Employee Relations & Case Management: Lead on employee relations cases including absence, performance, disciplinary, grievance, and capability processes. Manage cases in a timely, proportionate, and legally compliant manner, coaching and guiding managers throughout. Prepare and quality‑assure documentation, investigation processes, and outcome letters to ensure robust, defensible outcomes. Escalate complex or high‑risk matters, such as TUPE, restructures, or safeguarding‑related issues, to the Head of People and Culture, as appropriate.
• Policy, Governance & Compliance: Lead the development, implementation, and review of people policies and procedures in line with employment law, social care regulations, and organisational values. Ensure compliance with safer recruitment standards, GDPR, CQC expectations, and internal governance requirements. Maintain accurate records and audit trails to support inspections and external scrutiny. Contribute to identifying and mitigating people‑related risks, supporting the People Risk Register.
• Recruitment, Workforce & Talent Management: Oversee operational recruitment processes to ensure safe, efficient, and values‑based hiring across all roles. Support workforce planning, recruitment pipelines, and onboarding to ensure services are appropriately staffed. Ensure induction, probation, and mandatory training processes are consistently applied and monitored. Contribute to retention initiatives and workforce insight through data analysis and feedback.
• People Data, Systems & Reporting: Oversee the accuracy and...