HR Officer in Didcot

As HR Officer for Hachette UK Distribution, you will work closely with the HR Business Partners and HR Assistant to drive and deliver our people objectives. You will support all aspects of the employee lifecycle and focus on managing a variety of employee relations cases and practice updates. You may also support key people projects for 2026 and work closely with employees and managers to provide HR guidance and advice.

What you’ll be doing:

• Building relationships with employees and managers by being a visible presence in the business – providing trusted and pragmatic advice and guidance on HR policy and practice.
• Effectively supporting and managing certain employee relations cases, escalating more complex cases to our HRBPs as required.
• Working with the team to support aspects of the employee lifecycle, including recruitment, onboarding, probation, absence and performance management.
• Advising and supporting managers with recruitment activity and advice on recruitment best practice.
• Ensuring HR policies and procedures are up to date and contributing to the ongoing review and development of HR processes and standard operating procedures.
• May support a range of HR projects for 2026, including communication and engagement, employee value proposition, and people development.
• Together with the HR Assistant, support the team with reporting and management of our HR systems.
• Keeping up to date with changes in employment law, monitoring trends in employment practices and advising on appropriate proactive action with support from the HR Business Partners.
• Supporting the HR Assistant with payroll and onboarding cover where needed.

These are the main requirements of the role and are not an exhaustive list of duties. It is intended to reflect the nature, range, and context of the work, which will change over time.

Personal Attributes/Skills:

• Excellent communication skills - can communicate in a logical way, to listen and to clearly present information to others.
• Able to adapt approach and style to the situation.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritise a variety of activities.
• Can generate ideas and solutions offering a range of options.
• Comfortable to deal with sensitive issues and to maintain confidentiality at all times.
• Demonstrates a high level of initiative and autonomy, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Keenness to build positive relationships with all colleagues through understanding the business.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Team player with a positive, ‘can do’ attitude.
• Takes pride in providing first-class partnering to managers and employees across our business.

Experience/Knowledge:

• Proven experience of managing employee relations cases end to end, escalating more complex cases where needed.
• Proven experience of coordinating aspects of the employee lifecycle including recruitment, onboarding, absence and performance management.
• Sound understanding of Human Resources practice and a good grasp of employment law and forthcoming changes.
• High level of competency in the use of MS Office package.
• Desirable - CIPD qualified or studying.

About Hachette UK Distribution:

We, Hachette UK Distribution, are a leading book distribution company in the UK. We are one of the most advanced distribution centres in Europe, with leading-edge automation and modern systems which will ensure world-class service to customers and publisher clients. We ship in excess of 60 million books globally each year and supply one out of every four books to the UK trade. Our mission is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity. Hachette UK Distribution is part of the Hachette UK publishing group.

The Culture:

We are incredibly proud of the contribution publishing makes to the world and are continuously evolving our inclusive, transparent, open and progressive culture. We believe our people and creativity can only thrive in an environment where everyone feels free to share ideas, opinions and criticism. The company makes diversity an integral part of its publishing and staff identity, through a programme called ‘Changing the Story’, which is one of the core pillars of our business strategy. The other key pillars of strategy are ‘understanding consumers’, ‘owner mentality’ and ‘growth mindset’ and we actively look to recruit people who are able to demonstrate these behaviours.

Benefits:

• Great working environment
• Product discount
• Social events