People Advisor

Unite Students have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced People Advisor to join our high-performing People Team covering our South region. Our People Advisors play a key role in supporting the delivery of people services across a Divisional business area. This role is hands-on and people-focused, providing first-line advice and guidance to managers and employees on a wide range of people matters. You’ll work closely with local leaders to support the implementation of people initiatives, ensure a great employee experience, and help maintain a positive and productive workplace culture. You’ll also collaborate with the wider People team to ensure consistency and alignment with our overall people strategy.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Be a visible and approachable point of contact for employees and managers across your South Division (London, Medway, Oxford, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bristol, Cardiff and Bath).
• Provide timely and accurate advice on people policies, procedures, and general HR or ER queries.
• Support managers with routine employee relations matters, escalating complex cases to the People Partner or ER team.
• Attend local team meetings and forums to stay connected with the business and share relevant people updates.
• Support the delivery of day-to-day people operations and showcase best practice with local teams, including onboarding, probation, absence management, and off-boarding.
• Help coordinate and implement local people initiatives and activities by being visible and embedded as part of local management where appropriate.
• Maintain accurate employee records and ensure data integrity across our HR systems.
• Assist with the administration of employee lifecycle processes and documentation.
• Support the roll-out of people programs and campaigns across your region.
• Help gather feedback and insights from employees to inform continuous improvement.
• Contribute to local engagement and wellbeing activities.
• Run regular reports and conduct analysis to support people decision-making and identify trends that your People Operations Manager can address with their Divisional Leadership team.
• Use data to inform conversations with managers and support decision-making.
• Champion a positive employee experience at every stage of the employee lifecycle.
• Identify opportunities to improve local processes and share ideas with the wider team.
• Support the delivery of a consistent and inclusive workplace culture.

What We’re Looking for in You

• A good understanding of HR processes and employment law basics.
• Experience supporting managers and employees in a generalist HR capacity.
• Comfortable providing basic coaching and advisory support, and able to identify when issues require escalation.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust and credibility quickly.
• Comfortable working on-site with our frontline teams and engaging with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities.
• A proactive approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement.
• Clear and confident communicator, both written and verbal.
• Able to explain policies and processes in a straightforward and supportive way.
• Collaborative and flexible, with a willingness to get stuck in and support others.
• Comfortable working as part of a dispersed team and using digital tools to stay connected.
• Previous experience in a People/HR role, ideally in a fast-paced or multi-site environment.
• Familiarity with HR systems and reporting tools is a plus.

What You’ll Get in Return

• A discretionary annual bonus so you can share in the company’s success.
• 25 days’ paid holiday and an annual holiday buying scheme, with 5 additional days awarded for long service.
• A generous pension scheme - employer contributions between 5% and 11% depending on how much you save.
• Various benefits to support your health and wellbeing including a Healthcare Cash Plan, an Employee Assistance Programme, a Wellbeing platform and a Gym benefit that you can share with your family and friends.
• Enhanced Family Leave including 18 weeks full pay for birthing parents and 4 weeks for non-birthing parents.
• Lots of other great benefits including an annual ShareSave scheme, Employee Life Assurance, a discounts portal and more!

About Unite Students

Founded in 1991, Unite Students is the UK’s leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation. You can find us in 23 leading university towns and cities, with 70,000 students calling US home! We are driven by our values, culture, and a commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with positive energy and new ideas. Instinctive inclusion. We know that to create and maintain a happy healthy organisation, we have to work hard to ensure inclusion isn’t just what we do but who we are. People make Unite Students. Employees, students and neighbours all contribute to building environments where we can all thrive. Room for Everyone. We’re proud to be an employer that embraces individuality, and we’re passionate about building inclusive teams. We focus on creating a collaborative culture where you can be you, where your voice is heard, and where you can truly belong. We take great pride in being rated Gold Investors in People and are constantly striving to provide the highest standard of learning and development opportunities and professional pathways for our people. Building a home for success, for both our employees and students, requires exceptional people with a passion for creating room for everyone, doing what’s right, keeping US safe, and raising the bar. Join us as we build better experiences for students that live with us.