People Officer in Somerset

The People Officer plays a key role in delivering a professional, customer-focused People service across Homes in Somerset. Working with the People Business, the role provides operational HR support throughout the employee lifecycle, helping to ensure compliance with employment legislation, organisational policies, and best practice.

The role supports recruitment, onboarding, colleague relations, learning and development, people data management, absence management, change activities, workforce planning, and colleague engagement initiatives. The People Officer acts as a trusted first point of contact for managers and colleagues, providing practical advice, guidance, and administrative support while promoting the organisation's values, culture, and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

What will I have to do?

• People Operations
  • Provide day-to-day HR advice and support to managers and colleagues on people policies, procedures, and employment matters.
  • Support the administration of the employee lifecycle including recruitment, onboarding, contractual changes, promotions, transfers, and leavers.
  • Draft employment documentation including contracts, letters, policy correspondence and management reports.
  • Ensure all colleague records are accurate, up-to-date and maintained in accordance with GDPR requirements.
  • Maintain HR systems and ensure data integrity across all People processes.
• Employee Relations
  • Provide advice and administrative support for absence management, probation reviews, disciplinary, grievance, capability and flexible working processes.
  • Support managers to apply People policies consistently and fairly.
  • Assist with investigations, hearings and formal meetings, ensuring accurate documentation and records are maintained.
  • Escalate complex employee relations matters to the People Manager or People Business Partner as appropriate.
• Learning and Development
  • Support learning and development activities across the organisation.
  • Maintain training records and compliance data.
  • Produce reports to help managers monitor mandatory training and competence requirements.
  • Identify training gaps and support the delivery of development initiatives that enhance colleague performance and compliance.
• People Data and Reporting
  • Produce regular and ad hoc People metrics and reports.
  • Analyse workforce data and identify trends relating to absence, recruitment, turnover and training compliance.
  • Support managers by providing accurate and timely people information to support decision making.
  • Ensure reporting processes are accurate, secure and compliant.
• Change and Project Support
  • Assist with workforce planning and People projects.
  • Contribute to the continuous improvement of People Team processes, systems and services.
  • Support the delivery of organisational objectives through effective project and administrative support.
• Engagement, Culture and Inclusion
  • Promote Homes in Somerset's values and behaviours in all interactions.
  • Support colleague engagement activities, wellbeing initiatives and internal events.
  • Champion equality, diversity and inclusion across all People activities.
  • Contribute to building a positive, inclusive and customer-focused culture.

What you will bring:

• CIPD Level 3 qualification or equivalent experience.
• Experience working in an HR, People Officer or HR Administrator role.
• Good knowledge of employment legislation and HR best practice.
• Experience supporting employee relations processes.
• Experience of using HR systems and maintaining employee records.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to handle confidential information appropriately.
• Ability to build effective working relationships with managers and colleagues.
• Strong customer service and problem-solving skills.
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Experience producing People metrics and reports.
• Experience supporting recruitment and workforce planning activities.
• Experience within housing, local government or a regulated environment.
• Knowledge of competence, compliance or learning management systems.

System Skills

• HR Information Systems (HRIS) - Maintaining colleague records, processing contractual changes, producing reports and workforce data, monitoring absence and employment information.
• Learning Management Systems (LMS) - Recording training activity, monitoring compliance training, producing learning reports.
• Microsoft 365 - Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong organisational and planning skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities effectively.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Coaching and influencing skills.
• Analytical and data-focused approach.
• High level of professionalism and integrity.
• Attention to detail and commitment to accuracy.
• Customer-focused and solution-oriented mindset.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Commitment to continuous improvement.
• Ability to support positive cultural change and colleague engagement initiatives.