Employee Relations Advisor in Manchester

Contract: 1 x permanent (1FTE)

Location: You will work from offices in Manchester City Centre and Swinton as required.

About the role

We are looking for a proactive and customer-focused Employee Relations Advisor to join our People Services team at Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). This is an exciting opportunity to support colleagues and managers across the organisation, delivering high-quality employee relations advice, guidance and administrative support that helps create a positive employee experience. As part of our Employee Relations Team, you will be a key point of contact for people managers and colleagues, providing advice on policies, procedures and employment legislation, while supporting the delivery of the People Strategy and organisational priorities. You'll work across a broad range of employee relations activities, helping managers navigate people matters confidently and ensuring our services remain efficient, responsive and customer focused.

Your role

As an Employee Relations Advisor, you will provide practical advice and support on a range of employee relations matters, helping managers and colleagues access the guidance and services they need. You will coordinate and support key employee relations processes, respond to enquiries, maintain accurate records and contribute to the smooth delivery of People Services activity across the organisation. You will support employee relations casework through document preparation, notetaking and coordination of information, ensuring processes are managed professionally, consistently and confidentially. The role also involves supporting organisational change activity, trade union engagement, training delivery and continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen the employee experience and manager capability across GMCA and Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Services (GMFRS) as required. Working closely with colleagues across People Services, you will contribute to projects, maintain people data and management information, support system administration activities and help ensure services are delivered to a high standard. There will also be opportunities to contribute to service improvements, workforce initiatives and the development of guidance, toolkits and resources that support managers across the organisation.

About you

We are looking for someone with experience in a HR or employee relations environment who enjoys building strong working relationships and providing practical support to others. You will be organised, adaptable and able to manage competing priorities while maintaining a high level of accuracy and professionalism. You will have good knowledge of employment law principles and employee relations practices, alongside strong communication and interpersonal skills. You will be confident handling sensitive and confidential information, responding to enquiries and supporting managers in a professional and solutions-focused way. You will bring excellent organisational and digital skills, a collaborative approach and a commitment to delivering excellent customer service. Most importantly, you will be passionate about creating positive workplace experiences, promoting good people management practices and supporting an inclusive and respectful working environment.

What you'll bring

• Experience delivering excellent customer service in a people-focused, HR, employee relations environment.
• Knowledge of employment law principles and employee relations good practice.
• Strong communication, interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Experience handling confidential and sensitive information appropriately.
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• Strong digital skills, including experience using Microsoft Office applications and HR, CRM or case management systems.
• Experience supporting projects, events, training activities or continuous improvement initiatives.
• A collaborative, adaptable and solution-focused approach.
• A commitment to inclusion, fairness and delivering a positive employee experience.
• Willingness to work towards CIPD membership or an equivalent professional qualification.

About us

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) brings together the city region’s ten councils and key partners including Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) - to deliver the Greater Manchester Strategy. Our shared vision is to create a thriving city region where everyone can live a good life. We work to grow an inclusive economy and ensure people have what they need to live happy, healthy lives, tackling inequalities. Our policy department includes Digital, Economy, Education, Work & Skills, Environment, Place Making, Public Service Reform, and Safer & Stronger Communities - who are supported by our essential corporate functions like Finance, Legal & Governance, People Services, Procurement and Communications. We value the diversity of our employees, and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects our diverse communities across Greater Manchester. We encourage applications from all suitably qualified individuals, irrespective of people's age, disability, Trans status and Non-binary identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. We have guidance in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability.