HR Consultant in Surrey

We’re looking for an HR Consultant who’s not just technically sharp and commercially savvy, but who truly gives a damn. At The Little HR Department, we’re a small, passionate team that punches well above our weight, and we love helping our amazing clients. Our clients trust us to bring energy, know-how and heart to every conversation, so you’ll need to be proactive, dependable, and able to flex with the fast pace and variety that comes with working in (and with) small business. If you’re the kind of person who leads with positivity, does the right thing (even when no one’s watching), and wants to make a genuine difference to the people you support, we’d love to hear from you!

ABOUT US

The Little HR Department was founded in 2018 and is proudly run by two experienced HR professionals who wanted to break free from the corporate world and do things differently. We’re all about supporting brilliant start-ups and small‑medium organisations across the UK, offering flexible, down‑to‑earth HR support that fits their world — not the other way around. Our clients span a wide mix of sectors, and we love getting stuck in, building trusted relationships and delivering high‑quality, human HR that really makes a difference.

Our core values are:

• Human
• Give a damn
• Dependable
• Positive
• Have a conscience

THE ROLE

Reporting into our Lead HR Consultant and joining our existing team of 7, you will:

• Have a portfolio of clients with whom you will partner and manage the day‑to‑day relationship as their “go‑to” person, taking ownership of issues from initial discussion through to resolution.
• Support other clients on an ad‑hoc basis with all elements of HR.
• Use your HR expertise and understanding of clients’ organisations to deliver proactive, pragmatic HR guidance across ER, recruitment, manager support and longer‑term people planning, using sound judgement in fast‑moving situations.
• Be a trusted advisor who can recognise the challenges people’s situations can present, especially in smaller organisations, and provide appropriate options, support and guidance, balancing risk, legal requirements, commercial and practical realities and sometimes highly emotive situations.
• Work with clients who come to us for a bit of extra help from time to time, whether it’s because they are taking on their first person or need some help with a sticky issue.
• Support and collaborate with other members of the team, sharing expertise and creating a space to explore thinking, while retaining overall ownership of your own client work.
• Work in partnership with clients to set priorities and agree on deliverables.
• Plan your work effectively, recognising the need to deliver longer‑term client projects against more urgent requirements as they come up.
• Provide excellent customer service through thoughtful expectation management, transparent conversations about requirements, and proactive communication that ensures stakeholders understand and can collectively meet agreed outcomes.
• Communicate in a clear way, which is accessible to stakeholders with variable experience with managing people and the key elements of employment law and risk.
• Review and produce contracts, handbooks, and other templates for clients, and help us refine these templates to ensure they are of brilliant quality and meet our clients’ needs.
• Work with our HR Administrator, facilitating them to provide support for you and your clients, while supporting them in building their knowledge and skills.
• Support us to design and deliver cross‑client products and services, getting exposure to a huge variety of projects and HR fields, from creating brilliant templates and product bundles, evolving and delivering recruitment services and learning and development interventions, or working on projects in areas such as reward, wellbeing and EDI.

As a small organisation with a growing client base, we can offer people opportunities to be involved in a wide range of activities across various industries. We also engage the team in our own key business decisions wherever possible, as we know this helps us consider things from all angles and make better decisions.

Our office days are Monday to Thursday, but we do have a consultant “on call” on Fridays for urgent client issues between 10‑4 (although we are pleased to say this is not that often needed!) – This is shared. You will be asked to be “on‑call” every month, given a small “on‑call” allowance, and then paid in addition for any hours worked.

OUR DREAM PERSON

• Cracking technical HR knowledge, common sense and able to apply that knowledge practically.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to plan and prioritise effectively to deliver high‑quality work across multiple clients and to deadlines.
• Highly organised and resilient, comfortable working at pace in a busy start‑up consultancy environment where priorities can shift.
• Is comfortable working in true partnership with clients, setting reasonable expectations that balance the need to deliver amazing service and the need to manage overall work in a sustainable way.
• Can demonstrate that they can act as a true and trusted consultant, supporting organisations to understand the world of HR in a meaningful way, and leading them in identifying and embedding the right people approach for their organisation.
• Commercially minded but also not afraid to show our value of “have a conscience” in providing support.
• Will be flexible and open‑minded with an energetic and positive approach to their work.
• Confident using judgement, setting boundaries and progressing work independently, without needing close day‑to‑day direction.
• Confident and a great communicator; someone who builds strong relationships and leads HR conversations with clients, including challenging constructively when needed.
• Is not afraid of the sometimes unpredictable world of small businesses.
• Has a great sense of humour (this is a value we hold very dear).

THE FRILLS

We are a small but mighty business and can offer the following:

• A small, friendly team in an exciting start‑up HR consultancy environment.
• 25 days holiday (pro‑rata).
• Christmas closure.
• Paid time off for dependants - 1 day.
• Employee Assistance Programme, including face‑to‑face counselling.
• Learning and development opportunities.
• Company pension.
• Hours - 24 hours a week – Monday‑Thursday (once a month Friday “on call” for urgent client issues)
• Location – Hybrid minimum 1 day a week in our Farnham office
• Salary £43,000 to £46,000 FTE (Prorated and depending on experience FTE 37.5 hours)

WE'RE COMMITTED TO BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE, DIVERSE AND WELCOMING TEAM

We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, identities and experiences. If you need any adjustments to support or participate in our recruitment process fully, just let us know - we’ll be happy to help. We regret that, due to the salary requirement for the Skilled Worker Visa and also our own small size, we are unable to consider applicants who do not have the right to work in the UK.