HR Advisor in Fareham

Hythe Engineering is a trusted partner to some of the UK’s leading Defence, Renewable, and Nuclear contractors. We specialise in bespoke design and manufacturing solutions, with an emphasis on quality, safety, and technical excellence.

The Role

Are you an experienced HR Advisor looking for an autonomous, generalist role where you can really make your mark? We're seeking a proactive and organised individual to manage HR across the full employee lifecycle, reporting directly to our Managing Director.

You'll take ownership of recruitment, onboarding, employee relations, benefits, compliance and payroll liaison, while also looking for opportunities to improve the way we work using in-house tools such as AI and automation. This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys variety, works well independently, and wants to shape HR practice within a growing engineering business.

Key Responsibilities

• Support recruiting managers to attract and recruit the best talent, screening candidates and organising interviews, and ensuring best-practice recruitment and selection procedures are followed and that recruitment is authorised and within budget.
• Manage the onboarding and induction process for new starters, including generating offers and onboarding documentation via the HRIS, completing right to work checks, calculating prorated holiday entitlement, and administering the vetting process.
• Support managers in handling probationary periods and performance reviews.
• Ensure all roles have a current job description and person specification in line with the Company’s structure.
• Liaise with benefit providers to administer employee benefits and complete annual reviews.
• Complete an annual review of HR policies and procedures, ensuring they remain relevant, compliant and reflect best practice.
• Ensure confidentiality and compliance with GDPR at all times, including co-ordinating responses to Data Subject Access Requests.
• Advise and support managers on disciplinary, grievance, capability and absence matters, including collating evidence, taking notes and drafting letters; liaise with the Managing Director and employment lawyers on tribunal cases.
• Ensure HR information systems (HRIS) are fully utilised and kept accurate and up to date.
• Monitor and ensure HR systems are kept up to date with employee absence records.
• Liaise with the payroll company on hours worked and absences, and submit starter, leaver and any changes to personal details or terms and conditions.
• Continuously look to improve HR processes and ways of working, utilising in-house tools such as AI (Claude) and automation where appropriate.
• Support job evaluation, grading and salary/benefit benchmarking activity.
• Work with the Director of QHSE to ensure security clearances and naval base passes are tracked and renewed.
• Manage the offboarding process using the HRIS, generating leaver documentation, calculating prorated holiday entitlement and any other termination payments, and liaising with managers.

What We’re Looking For

• Good knowledge of human resources, best practice and employment law
• Generalist HR experience
• Strong knowledge of recruitment and selection best practice
• Sound judgement and problem-solving skills
• Ability to use initiative, and to remain calm and patient in stressful situations
• Excellent written and oral communication skills at all levels
• Good administrative skills with strong attention to detail
• Proactive, self-motivated and able to manage multiple tasks

Requirements

• Please note that roles at Hythe Engineering require security clearance. Successful candidates must obtain and maintain appropriate clearance for this position.
• Contributory pension scheme (salary exchange)
• Private medical insurance, including optical and dental
• 24/7 employee assistance programme
• 25 days annual holiday allowance plus bank holidays