HR Administrator

About the Role

Are you passionate about people and committed to delivering exceptional HR support? At Haberdashers’ Academies Trust South, we believe that great staff make great schools. We’re looking for an HR Administrator to join our dynamic team and play a key role in supporting our mission: Every School an Excellent School, by delivering high-quality HR administrative support across Borough Academy, other Trust schools and the Central Team as required. This role involves managing the full recruitment cycle, onboarding and offboarding processes, payroll administration and any other HR related administration. Flexibility to work across multiple sites is essential.

Why You’ll Love This Role

• Work for a supportive Principal and senior leadership team at Borough Academy, set in a fantastic location near Borough Market, and be part of a diverse, vibrant educational community.
• Join a supportive HR team, with a comprehensive induction and ongoing professional development through the HR Taskforce.
• Be the friendly first point of contact for HR queries, delivering a professional, welcoming experience for every member of staff.
• Own the end-to-end employee journey—supporting recruitment, onboarding and offboarding, payroll, and a wide range of day-to-day HR administration.
• Contribute to a Trust that values equity, diversity, and inclusion at its core.

What You’ll Do

• HR Admin & Compliance – Provide excellent administrative support throughout the employee life cycle ensuring good attention to detail.
• HR Systems – Accurately and promptly input data into People systems, including new starters, leavers, contractual changes, maternity/paternity leave, absences, and annual leave.
• Recruitment – Manage the full recruitment cycle: work with managers to define job requirements, prepare job descriptions and adverts, post vacancies on the Trust website and job boards, and support interviews and assessment centres.
• Onboarding & Off‑boarding – Manage employee onboarding and offboarding in accordance with Trust procedures.
• Payroll – Administer payroll in accordance with the Trust procedures, ensuring proper authorisation and accurate processing.

What We’re Looking For

• Excellent written and verbal communication
• At least 2 years experience of working as a HR Generalist or in an administrative role
• L3 CIPD qualification or equivalent
• Working across a partnership of schools or across schools within a Multi-Academy Trust setting is desirable

Reporting Line

Reports to: Senior HR Advisor (Hatcham College & Borough Academy)

Staff Development

We value our people. Professional learning is central to our success, and as a new employee, you will receive support from the Senior Directors of People and Professional Learning, alongside your line manager, to help you reach your full potential.

Key Responsibilities

• Recruitment – Ensure all recruitment requests have budget approval before starting any activity. Manage the full recruitment cycle: work with managers to define job requirements, prepare job descriptions and adverts, post vacancies on the Trust website and job boards, and support interviews and assessment centres. Handle all recruitment administration, including interview invitations, references, conditional offers, and post-offer documentation. Liaise with recruitment agencies as directed by the Senior HR Advisor (Hatcham College & Borough Academy).
• Onboarding & Offboarding – Complete all pre-employment checks in line with the Trust’s Safer Recruitment Policy (references, DBS, Right to Work, qualifications, medical checks, overseas police checks). Collate and verify pre-employment documentation and raise concerns promptly. Ensure compliance with Right to Work checks before employment begins. Coordinate with relevant stakeholders to resolve anomalies in the pre-employment process. Manage leaver administration and offer exit interviews.
• Payroll – Identify and correct payroll errors, ensuring proper authorisation and accurate processing. Input payroll data into Access (HR and payroll system) in line with school workforce census requirements monthly and verify changes against authorisation. Respond to payroll queries and escalation as needed. Support annual pay reviews and issue letters promptly. Administer family-friendly leave (e.g., maternity, paternity), ensuring timely documentation uploads.
• HR System – Accurately and promptly input data into Arbor and Access systems, including new starters, leavers, contractual changes, maternity/paternity leave, absences, and annual leave. Produce and update standard management reports to support decision-making by the Associate HR Business Partner and SLT.
• HR Administration & Compliance – Complete the DfE School Workforce Census for Hatcham College and assist other Academies as needed. Maintain the Single Central Record and ensure compliance with safer recruitment requirements, including agency staff checks. Deliver administrative support for HR processes such as probation, appraisals, investigations, including diary management where required. Prioritise workload effectively to meet deadlines for payroll and recruitment. Monitor and manage HR and job inboxes daily. Prepare standard letters (e.g., offers, leavers, payroll changes). Administer sickness absence records accurately and on time. Maintain up-to-date HR spreadsheets for payroll, recruitment, onboarding, DBS renewals, etc. Provide first-line support for staff queries, ensuring responses are professional, accurate, and timely. Manage the Sponsorship Management System (SMS) as a Level 1 user.