HR Assistant in Preston

Join us as an HR Assistant and become a vital part of our fast-paced HR Shared Services team. In this role, you’ll deliver high‑quality administrative support across all James Fisher divisions, helping to keep our people processes accurate, efficient and running seamlessly. You’ll gain hands‑on experience across the full employee lifecycle, providing a responsive and customer‑focused HR service that employees can rely on. Your attention to detail and proactive support will enable our divisional HR teams to focus on strategic priorities, making your contribution essential to the success of our wider HR function. This is a fantastic opportunity to build a strong foundation in HR, develop your skills, and grow your career within a supportive and collaborative environment.

What you’ll be doing:

• Deliver accurate, end‑to‑end HR administration across the full employee lifecycle, meeting SLAs and service standards.
• Maintain confidential and accurate employee records across HR systems, ensuring data integrity and audit readiness.
• Manage high volumes of HR transactions and queries via the Shared Services ticketing system, providing a responsive, customer‑focused service.
• Coordinate onboarding and offboarding processes, including pre‑employment checks, system updates and documentation.
• Administer employee changes, benefits and lifecycle updates, working closely with payroll to ensure accurate and timely processing.
• Produce HR data and reports to support metrics, analysis and business decisions.
• Provide first‑line guidance on HR policies and procedures, escalating complex matters as needed.
• Contribute to continuous improvement by identifying ways to enhance HR processes, efficiency and service delivery.

What we’re looking for:

• Experience in an administrative, customer service or shared services environment, with the ability to manage high volumes of work and competing priorities to deadlines or SLAs.
• Strong organisational skills, high attention to detail and accuracy.
• Clear, professional communication skills and a customer‑focused approach to supporting employee and manager queries.
• Resilient and adaptable, able to work effectively in a fast‑paced, process‑driven environment while maintaining accuracy under pressure.
• HR or HR Shared Services experience and familiarity with HRIS, ticketing or CRM systems are desirable but not essential.
• Competent in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and Outlook, with the ability to follow established processes and identify opportunities for improvement.

Why join us:

• Competitive benefits tailored to the division.
• Opportunities for career growth and visibility across the organisation.
• A supportive, inclusive culture that values your ideas and contributions.
• Work that truly makes a difference in safety, innovation, and global capability.

At James Fisher and Sons, we are committed to taking positive action on diversity and strongly encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and recognise that our success is driven by the talent and diversity of our workforce.