Senior HR Adviser in Winchester

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior HR Advisor to join the Education Personnel Services team at Hampshire County Council. Are you looking for a challenging and diverse role working as part of an exceptionally friendly and supportive group of HR professionals, with an opportunity to make a real difference?

The Education Personnel Services team plays an important role in helping our school leaders and Governors to support and manage their staff. We do this through our helpdesk service, casework management, training provision, and strategic support. Our caseworkers, policies, and guidance enable school leaders and Governors to perform their role effectively and you will play a key role in the full range of HR activities including absence, misconduct, capability, grievance, restructure, TUPE and much more.

We pride ourselves in delivering a high-quality HR Advisory and consultancy service to over 700 Hampshire and Oxfordshire schools. You'll contribute to the practical resolution of matters ensuring that employment decisions have regard to the needs of the school and take account of legislative requirements, relevant procedures and good employment practice.

The Role: At EPS you'll have the benefit of being surrounded by an incredibly supportive group of colleagues who in turn work with our schools in supporting them to give the very best education possible to the children of Hampshire and beyond. You'll provide bespoke support through our Help Desk function and take responsibility for your own diary in order to manage your assigned casework. You'll have the benefit of a very thorough induction process and be supported throughout by colleagues and a Team Leader who in addition to helping you manage your cases will also be looking closely at your developmental needs.

To ensure you have the appropriate equipment to carry out your role, as an organisation we have ensured our team have remained highly connected to our schools and we will ensure you are set up with essential IT and office equipment at home.

What you’ll do: At least once a week you'll come to our office in Winchester and, with colleagues, staff the Help Desk function. The remainder of the week you'll work from home fulfilling your Help Desk duties and managing your casework. You'll have 1 to 1 contact with Governors, school leaders, and Headteachers who seek advice through our contact model (urgent phone calls, a chat function and a mail request form) and provide guidance on any number of school staffing related matters. Other days you'll be working on your own allocated casework. You'll manage your own diary in order to maintain the progress on those issues and make good use of travel to individual schools where appropriate and necessary.

What we’re looking for: You'll be CIPD qualified or have relevant experience dealing with multiple complex employee relations casework. You'll have a pragmatic approach to solving problems, identifying risk and recommending options with a good grounding of employment law and best practice. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills will ensure you have the confidence to advise, influence and critically challenge educational professionals, HR colleagues and Union representatives alike, to ensure cases are resolved successfully in a timely manner. Excellent IT skills, time management and attention to detail are essential for accurately recording customer interactions on our systems, analysing reports and monitoring customer feedback.

25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, Flexitime, Business mileage and parking paid away from your main work base. To find out more, please visit our benefits package.

Additional Information: Contact Details for an Informal Discussion: Martin Myers, Casework Team Leader on martin.myers@hants.gov.uk or 0370 779 4434. Hampshire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment.

In order to combat discrimination, no unnecessary conditions or requirements will be applied which could have a disproportionately adverse effect on any one group. All sections of the population will have equal access to jobs. No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity, unless a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) applies.

We are a Disability Confident Employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.