People Officer in Watford

This role is an opportunity for someone with the appropriate values, experience, and ambition to play a pivotal part in our People & Culture Team.

We’re Hertfordshire Mind Network. We deliver essential mental health support in Hertfordshire, providing a diverse range of services from our Wellbeing Centres and other locations across the county. We help individuals experiencing mental ill health to make choices, find their solutions, build resilience and manage their wellbeing. We offer opportunities for individuals to get support to allow them to recover from or live with mental ill health.

About the role: As People Officer, you will provide high-quality, accurate support across the full employee/volunteer lifecycle, while also contributing to employee and volunteering relations, and continuous improvement of our People & Culture services. You will be a role model for our values and a key contributor to a positive team culture.

As People Officer you will be part of a team who support a headcount of approximately 250 employees, 200 volunteers and 150 self-employed individuals across Hertfordshire. You will be instrumental in ensuring that all individuals employed or volunteering within Hertfordshire Mind receive advice, guidance in a responsive, knowledgeable, and customer-focused way.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Employee Lifecycle
• Deliver a high-quality, confidential and customer-focused People service from recruitment through to leaving.
• Advise line managers on recruitment; selection, interview and safer recruitment.
• Provide People advice for queries from the People & Culture team in line with policies, managing and or escalating complex issues as appropriate.
• Systems, Data & Reporting
• Produce timely and accurate People management information to assist organisational decision-making.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records within the HR information system, including new profiles, personal data, annual leave and absence reporting.
• Oversee monthly payroll data collation, including hours, absences, and any contractual changes, ensuring timely submission to Payroll.
• Ensure annual holiday renewal and other system updates are effectively completed and communicated.
• Employee Relations & Case Management
• Manage employee relations cases, such as sickness absence, conduct, capability, disciplinary, grievance, family focussed leave, flexible working requests.
• Undertake casework, guiding and advising on relevant procedure including gathering evidence and drafting investigation reports, tracking case progress and ensuring communications and actions are completed.
• Provide consistent and fair advice to managers in accordance with policies, escalating complex issues as appropriate.
• Projects & Continuous Improvement
• Contribute to projects such as employee engagement initiatives, policy updates, wellbeing programmes, and system improvements.
• Support quality assurance processes in line with National Mind policies and ISO9001 standards.
• Identify opportunities to improve people processes, recommending and implementing enhancements under the guidance of the People & Culture Director.
• General Responsibilities
• To support any member of the People and Culture team and to cover team absence as required.
• Note taking for meetings as required.
• Promote Hertfordshire Mind services by attending events, campaigns, and open days to raise awareness of mental health.
• Uphold Hertfordshire Mind policies and procedures, including the Equalities Statement.
• Maintain strict confidentiality at all times.
• Undertake any other reasonable duties as required by the Senior Leadership Team.

Benefits:

• Annual leave entitlement of 25 days per year pro rata, rising to a max. of 29 days after 5 years employment (plus 8 days Bank Holidays).
• Birthday leave day.
• Cash plan health cover (after 6 months employment).
• Eligibility for blue light card.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Ongoing training relevant to your role.

Please note: The ideal candidate will need to be able to travel and cover the area Herts Mind Network serves. Candidates in Greater London may not be suitable for this role as it is not only in Watford. Being able to drive and having access to your own vehicle (or equivalent) is essential for this role.

Closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon Thursday 16th July 2026. Interviews will be held week commencing 22nd July 2026. We will close the advert prior to this date if we receive sufficient applications.

We welcome applications from all suitably-qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial, ethnic or social origin, colour, religion, belief, or sexual orientation. In addition, during the various stages of recruitment, specific measures can be taken to ensure equal opportunities for candidates with disabilities or special needs.

Hertfordshire Mind Network is committed to the Disability Confident and Mindful Employer charters. We actively recruit staff who have a lived experience of mental ill health. Our inclusive approach recognises the unique skills, knowledge, and perspectives that lived experience brings to our team.

No agencies please.