People & Culture Advisor - Human Resources Contract Role (Temp to Perm) in Chester

Accelerating Life-Changing Solutions to Global Healthcare Challenges is the vision that unites us through a shared sense of purpose, whatever the role. It speaks to the significant challenges that exist within global healthcare, and how we, as one team, can help to deliver better solutions and outcomes for our partners and for patients everywhere, sooner.Your job description outlines the important role and responsibilities that you own in achieving this vision.

Importantly too is how we go about living our vision. This is defined by the Prime mission:

Through a pioneering fusion of the finest expertise in science, strategy, evidence, technology and creativity we deliver the world-class outcomes that our global partners trust to achieve their goals.

It speaks to collaboration and to everyone’s responsibility to bring together the diverse expertise that exist across our team to deliver world-class outcomes.

On this foundation, we have defined four core values, these represent the shared principles that guide our behaviours every day, whatever your role:

Be Brave, Be Human, Be Passionate, Be Exceptional.

At Prime these values are integral to who we are. They are there to guide you in your role and support you on your personal journey to success. They shape our culture and support us in achieving our vision together, as one global team.

This is a hands‑on interim role - hybrid from our Knutsford office - with a strong and deliberate emphasis on Employee Relations (ER). Based on a successful 3-month period, this role will turn into a full-time permanent position.

Our People & Culture Advisors are trusted advisers who influence,challengeand build effective relationships at all levels across the business.They work independently managing a high-volume of ER caseloads,supporting and coaching managers, and ensuring cases are progressed promptly,fairlyand consistently. Alongside ER delivery, they own the end-to-end onboarding experience and design practical, innovative peopleprocessthat improve service quality,efficiencyand employee experience.
The ideal candidate for this role must be able tooperateconfidently from day one, exercise sound judgement,identifyand elevate material risk, and work collaboratively with the Senior People & Culture Operations Manager and Senior People & Culture Business Partners. The ability to balance empathy and employee experience with commercial awareness,consistencyand risk management is key. Someone proactive,curiousandimprovement-focused, with the ability to turn ideas into workable, sustainable processes will thrive in this environment!

Key responsibilities:

• Onboarding & Induction

  • Creating a competitive,consistentand welcoming onboarding experience that reflects Prime’s culture and gives new starters the clarity, tools,relationshipsand support needed to succeed quickly.
  • Partnering with line managers, VPs, Business Heads, Recruitment, IT and Employee Experience to ensure contracts, data, equipment, system access, inductionplansand role expectations are ready at the right time.
  • Gathering feedback and using onboarding data and early employee experience insights to continually improve the journey across locations and employee groups.

• Employee Relations

  • Day-to-day ownership of a considerable, high-volume portfolio of ER cases, independently progressing matters frominitialassessment through to resolution.
  • Managing complex and sensitive disciplinary, grievance, performance, capability, conduct,attendanceand long-term sickness cases, as well as appeals and flexible working matters.
  • Leading or supporting fair and thorough investigations, including scoping allegations, preparing questions, interviewing witnesses, evaluatingevidenceand producing clear, balanced investigation reports and recommendations.
  • Advising and coaching managers through informal and formal processes, enabling them to lead confidently, holding effective conversations and making fair, evidence-based decisions.
  • Providing clear, commercially aware advice grounded in UK employment law, ACAS guidance, company policy andestablishinggood practice;identifylegal, employee-relations and reputational risk early.
  • Constructively challenging inconsistent,unsupportedor high-risk management decisions and escalating material risk or proposed dismissals to theappropriate seniorP&C lead before action is taken.
  • Identifyingthemes and recurring root causes from casework and recommend preventative manager guidance,trainingor process improvements.

• Company policies and compliance

  • Reviewing and improving policies, manager guidance,templatesand toolkits so that they are clear, legallycompliantand operationally workable.
  • Keeping up to date with relevant UK employment law and good practice, sharing changes and practical implications with the wider P&C team.
  • Identifyinggaps in policy understanding or compliance and developing targeted communications,educationor manager support to address them.
  • Maintaining confidentiality, data protectionstandardsandaccuraterecords across all activity.

• Performance Management

  • Coaching and supporting managers to address performance concerns early, setting clear expectations and using informal support appropriately before escalation.
  • Developing robust performance improvement plans with measurable expectations, suitable support, evidencerequirementsand proportionate review periods.
  • Supporting formal performance and capability processes whererequired,maintainingprocedural fairness,consistencyandaccuratedocumentation.
  • Contributing to company performance-review activity and helping managers set meaningfulobjectivesin order to deliver constructive feedback.

• Payroll Support

  • Ensuring employee changes and onboarding information provided to Payroll are complete,accurate, approved andsubmittedby agreed cut-off dates.
  • Working with Payroll and P&C colleagues to resolve data issues and improve the accuracy and efficiency of hand-offs.

• Statutory Request & Employee Support

  • Providing confident, up-to-date guidance on family leave and pay, flexible working, time off and other statutory employment rights.
  • Managing requests from receipt to outcome, gathering relevant information,facilitatingmeetingsand supporting fair,timelyand well-documented decisions.
  • Recognising when individual circumstances require careful risk assessment, reasonableadjustmentsor specialist escalation.

• Compensation & Benefits

  • Advising employees and managers on the application of compensation and benefits processes and supportingaccurate, consistent employee communications.
  • Signposting available benefits and wellbeing resources appropriately, particularly where they may support an employee during an ER matter or return to work.

• Process Improvement & Generalist Delivery

  • Assessing existing P&C processes and design practical, innovative improvements that reduce manual activity, strengthencontrolsand improve manager and employee experience.
  • Creating clear process maps, standard operating procedures, templates,checklistsand manager self-service guidance, reducing dependency on individual knowledge.
  • Using HR systems andappropriate automationto simplify workflows, improvevisibilityand generate meaningful data on service delivery and case trends.
  • Deliveringaccurateemployee-lifecycle activity, including contractual changes, family leave, probation,absenceand offboarding, where needed to support team capacity.
  • Working across P&C, Recruitment, Payroll,ITand the business to resolve operational gaps and ensure a seamless service.
  • Providing a clear handover of live cases, risks, actions, improvedprocessesand supporting documentation at the end of the assignment.

Skills & Knowledge Required

• CIPD Level 5 or above, or equivalent demonstrable professional experience, is desirable.

• 3-5 years of experience in a People/HR Advisor or similar generalist role

• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law, ACASguidanceand fair procedure; international or US experience isadvantageousbut not essential.

• Experience working in a fast-paced agency environment

• High-level of confidentiality, organization, attention to detail and sounds judgement

• Ability to produce high-quality investigation reports, outcomedocumentationand defensible case records.

• Experience supporting the full employee lifecycle

• Excellent questioning, investigation,analysisand written communication skills, with close attention to evidence and detail.

• Proficiency in MS365 including Word, PPT, Excel, Outlook and Teams

• Familiarity with HRIS/HR systems (familiarity with HiBob a plus!)

• 33 days annual leave

• Birthday day off

• Christmas shutdown period

• 5% pension contribution

• Private medical health insurance

• Medical cash plan

• Hybrid Working