People & Culture Officer in Colchester

St Helena is looking for a full time People & Culture Officer to work in their People & Culture team.

Excellent Communication Skills: Able to build positive relationships, listen actively, and communicate clearly and professionally with colleagues at all levels.

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates understanding, sensitivity, and discretion when supporting employees through a range of people-related matters.

Organisational and Attention to Detail: Effectively manages multiple priorities while ensuring accuracy in HR administration, records, and processes.

Integrity and Confidentiality: Handles sensitive information with professionalism, maintaining trust and adhering to data protection and confidentiality requirements.

Main duties of the job: In conjunction with the P&C team, to provide a comprehensive, effective and efficient service throughout St Helena, and to outside agencies, to managers, and employees by providing a pro-active support service and advice on a full range of Human Resources issues, referring to the P&C Business Partners where necessary, including recruitment, employee relations, training and workforce planning.

To investigate issues arising from disciplinary and grievance, reporting on findings and making recommendations as appropriate. To promote equality, diversity and rights in all actions and activities throughout St Helena.

Job responsibilities: To provide guidance and support on queries in relation to their employment, including pay and conditions of service. To cover the admin officer in periods of absence. To ensure accuracy of information when inputting into the HRIS System, including producing reports from these systems as required.

Planning and co-ordination of complex activities and programmes such as grievance and disciplinary hearings, induction programmes, responding pro-actively to changes as they occur to ensure the smooth running of the processes. To provide confidential support and advice throughout the disciplinary and grievance process and act as the investigating officer at disciplinary and grievance hearings through presentation of complex information, confirming the outcome of hearings verbally and in writing, compiling investigation reports and policies and advise and assist line managers in the investigation and action resulting from disciplinary matters including formalising allegations, confirming outcome of hearings and ensuring reviews of warnings are carried out.

Take formal minutes at disciplinary and grievance meetings as necessary. To use own judgement and knowledge to provide advice to line managers on different kinds of contracts of employment e.g. fixed term contracts, annualised hours contracts, bank contracts ensuring that managers have all the relevant information to make decisions. Where issues are complex, to refer to the relevant P&C Business Partner.

To provide advice and guidance to the P&C team on P&C processes, preparation of contracts and other employee documentation. Advise managers, where judgements have to be made, in dealing with complex HR matters, such as disciplinary, capability/performance, sickness/absence and grievance issues as appropriate including preparation for and presentation of appeals. Deal with procedures in a timely manner. Where issues are complex, to refer to the relevant P&C Business Partner.

To advise staff on their maternity, paternity and adoption rights as well as rights under other P&C policies, including flexible working and develop and monitor systems to deal with these. Provide advice and support for organisational change, including liaison and negotiation with employees. This can include disputed and confrontational issues where influencing and motivation skills will be required.

To write, document and continually develop P&C related procedures to ensure consistency and continuity of their implementation, both within the P&C team and across relevant functions as required. To collate data as and when required in order for the Associate Director of People & Culture and People & Culture Business Partners to evaluate and comment on statistics such as gender pay gap reporting, staff turnover and sickness absence.

Ensure professional registration is maintained for relevant staff, in accordance with internal procedures and escalate exceptions immediately to the Senior People & Culture Business Partner, to ensure this remains 100% compliant. Under the supervision of the Associate Director of People & Culture and Senior Business Partner, assist in the management of systems and paper records as required to provide information for Care Quality Commission.

To be a counter signatory to the organisation with regard to Disclosure and Barring Service applications, working within the guidelines outlined by Government to process, monitor and maintain DBS records. To ensure that manual and computerised data is managed within the requirements of the Data Protection Act.

Person Specification: Qualities: Able to understand and action allocated tasks. Highly motivated. Excellent organisation skills with attention to detail. Ability to demonstrate tact and diplomacy. A flexible approach. Creative and innovative.

Skills and Knowledge: MS Office to include Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Experience of providing general HR advice. Use of the Staff Care HR system.

Communication: Excellent verbal and written skills at all levels. Excellent telephone manner.

Experience: Previous work in a confidential environment (e.g. HR). Knowledge of relevant employment law. Ability to adapt to frequently changing priorities and demands for attention throughout the day. Dealing with welfare issues. Communicating complex and sensitive information. Working in a multi-disciplinary environment.

Qualifications: NVQ Level 3 in Administration or CIPD Level 3. Able to demonstrate excellent standard of literacy and numeracy.