Junior People Advisor in Colchester

About The Opportunity

Ready to Make the Jump from Administrator to Advisor?

Location: Colchester (Hybrid: 3 days in office) Contract: 6-Month Fixed-Term Contract (FTC) Salary: £27,000 – £32,000 (Dependent on experience and CIPD status)

Join us at TES as a Junior People and Culture Advisor on a 6-month fixed-term contract. This is an exceptional opportunity for an ambitious HR professional (ideally CIPD Level 3 qualified or actively studying toward Level 5) who is ready to own and advise on routine operational people matters.

You will be the vital link between our administrative functions and our Senior Advisory team, providing essential, compliant, and prompt support across our TES Operational teams.

Core Focus Areas

First-Line Employee Relations (ER) & Performance

• Provide initial guidance and support to line managers on routine employee queries, including managing holiday entitlement, sickness reporting, and general policy interpretation.
• Manage all necessary documentation for performance review cycles and low-level ER cases (e.g., initial stages of short-term absence and return-to-work procedures).
• Attend formal disciplinary or grievance meetings alongside the Senior Advisor to take accurate minutes and ensure procedural compliance.

Compliance & Policy Implementation

• Assist the team in ensuring all employee files and HR practices maintain regulatory compliance with both internal policies and external legal requirements.
• Manage the administrative requirements for highly specialised external compliance, including Network Rail and Sentinel database requirements.
• Support the People Team in communicating and embedding new or updated company policies and procedures across the operational sites.

People Data Integrity & Reporting

• Take hands‑on responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of all people data across our platforms (HRIS, Sentinel, etc.).
• Generate standard monthly HR reports (e.g., headcount, labour turnover, absence rates) and use strong IT proficiency to manipulate this data in Microsoft Excel (e.g., utilizing VLOOKUPs, Pivot Tables, and charting) for strategic analysis.

Recruitment & Employee Lifecycle

• Own the operational HR administration for the entire recruitment process, including drafting and issuing formal correspondence (offer letters, contracts, and contract variations).
• Ensure a smooth, compliant, and positive onboarding experience for all new starters.

Health & Wellbeing Support

• Provide key administrative support to the Health & Safety function to ensure TES meets all legal requirements.
• Assist with the coordination and internal communication of our employee Health & Wellbeing Programmes.

About You

What You Will Bring

• Experience: Previous HR experience (1-2 years) in a fast‑paced HR Administrator or Coordinator role is essential, with direct exposure to low‑level employee relations case management.
• Knowledge: A CIPD Level 3 qualification is highly desirable, or you must be actively pursuing or have completed CIPD Level 5 studies.
• Skills: A good foundational knowledge of UK employment law and a demonstrable ability to handle highly confidential information with discretion. Strong technical skills, particularly in Microsoft Excel, are non‑negotiable for success in this role.
• Attitude: Proactive, highly organised, and confident in your ability to communicate and build rapport with line managers at all levels.

About Us

At TES we are committed to creating safe railway working environments and offer a wide range of professions and occupations within the Railway sector. Our continuing success depends on our people, which is why we are committed to attracting, retaining and developing our people with the skills, knowledge and experience to ensure an excellent delivery of our services.

TES are committed to the equality of opportunity. No worker or candidate will be discriminated against regardless of their gender, gender reassignment, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, religion and belief. This information is kept fully confidential and accessibility is strictly limited in accordance with the Data Protection Act.