HR Officer in Oxford

Application Deadline: 7 September 2026

Department: Human Resources

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Central Oxford

Compensation: £33,951 - £43,482 / year

Our Human Resources Team provides a comprehensive HR service to colleagues across the College, supporting the delivery of our people priorities and the College’s Strategic Plan. We pride ourselves on providing a responsive, collaborative and trusted service and are committed to continuing to develop how we work.

We are seeking an experienced HR Officer to lead the day-to-day delivery of our HR service. Working closely with the Head of HR, the postholder will coordinate day-to-day operations across the HR team, deliver a broad range of generalist HR work and provide confident, pragmatic advice to managers and staff. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced HR professional who enjoys taking ownership, working with a talented and engaged team and improving how services are delivered. The successful candidate will have scope to help modernise our ways of working, making better use of systems and technology and developing accessible, more efficient HR processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational HR delivery: Deliver a broad range of generalist HR work across the employee lifecycle, taking direct responsibility for matters appropriate to the level and experience of the role. Coordinate day-to-day HR operations and priorities, working alongside the team to ensure an effective, responsive and high-quality service. Act as a point of coordination and guidance for the HR team, resolving operational issues and supporting colleagues to take appropriate ownership within their areas of responsibility, escalation to Head of HR where appropriate.
• HR Advice and Casework: Act as a principal operational HR adviser to managers and staff, providing pragmatic and professional advice across a broad range of employment and people-management matters. Manage routine and moderately complex employee relations matters, supporting managers to apply College policies and procedures fairly, confidently and consistently. Exercise professional judgement in resolving operational HR issues, recognising when matters require escalation to the Head of HR because of their complexity, risk or wider implications. Build effective working relationships with managers and colleagues across the College, supporting good people-management practice and appropriate management ownership of employment matters.
• Service Development: Maintain a broad overview of the HR service, identifying opportunities to improve effectiveness, consistency and the experience of managers, staff and candidates. Enable and support HR team to improve processes and ways of working within their areas of responsibility, coordinating improvements where these cut across the wider HR service. Contribute to HR projects and the effective implementation of new policies, processes, systems and initiatives. Provide appropriate operational cover for the HR function, including providing cover for the Head of HR during any periods of absence, operating within the scope and authority of the role.

The postholder may be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade and nature of the post.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

Essential

• HR experience and knowledge: broad practical generalist HR experience supported by a CIPD qualification (or equivalent professional knowledge and experience), with up-to-date knowledge of employment legislation and HR best practice.
• Experience of supervising or coordinating the work of others, including allocating priorities, providing guidance and supporting the development of colleagues where necessary.
• Judgement and autonomy: proven professional judgement, and the ability to make operational decisions independently and take ownership of issues through to resolution, recognising when escalation is appropriate.
• Organisation and prioritisation; excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage a varied workload while coordinating competing priorities and deadlines across a team.
• Communication and relationships: first-rate interpersonal and communication skills, with the confidence to provide clear and pragmatic advice, and the credibility to influence and appropriately challenge managers and colleagues at all levels.
• Digital capability: strong IT and digital skills.
• Process improvement and projects: experience of improving processes and contributing to projects, with a practical approach to simplification, standardisation and effective use of technology.

Desirable

• Previous experience of working in an Oxford College, higher education or public sector.
• Experience of implementing or embedding new HR systems.

Benefits

The appointment will be made on grade 6 of the Unified College Pay Scale, currently £33,951 – £43,482 per annum, plus £1,730 per annum Oxford Location Allowance.