HR Advisor in Stoke-on-Trent

Royal Voluntary Service has an opportunity available for a HR Advisor to join our HR & L&D team, working from home. You will join us on a part-time, fixed-term basis for 6 months and in return, you will receive a salary of £16,404 per annum (FTE £31,897 per annum).

About The HR Advisor Role

We are looking for a proactive and people-focused HR Advisor to join our team. The ideal candidate will be responsible for providing high-quality, generalist HR advice and guidance to managers and colleagues across the charity. You will act as a first-line response for a range of HR queries, ensuring timely and effective support across the organisation. This includes providing proactive support to HR Business Partners covering all aspects of employee relations casework, such as absence management, flexible working, probation reviews, family-friendly policies, onboarding compliance, dispute resolution, and employee welfare.

Hours: 18 per week across 3 days (6 hours a day between Monday and Friday)

Location: Homebased in the UK with occasional national travel

What you'll bring

• Knowledge
  • Working knowledge of UK employment law supported by CIPD Level 3 or equivalent experience.
  • Professional knowledge of employee relations case management, including absence, performance, conduct, grievance, and probation.
  • Understanding of inclusive and fair people practices, including equality, diversity, and wellbeing considerations.
  • Awareness of how digital tools, HR systems, or automation can support HR service delivery and manager self-service.
• Skills
  • Strong HR advisory skills, with the ability to interpret policy and provide clear, practical advice to managers.
  • Excellent written communication skills, able to produce clear guidance, FAQs, and people friendly content.
  • Confident relationship building and influencing skills, particularly when working with line managers.
  • Good digital confidence, including working comfortably with HR systems, shared inboxes, and knowledge resources.
  • Ability to analyse queries and spot patterns, turning recurring issues into clearer guidance or improved processes.
• Experience
  • Proven experience working in an HR Advisor, HR Officer, or equivalent generalist HR role.
  • Hands-on experience supporting or managing employee relations cases.
  • Experience delivering HR advice in a fast-paced or operational environment.
  • Experience in using an HRIS.

Job Responsibilities

What you'll be doing

• End-to-end management of low to medium level employee relations casework to include absence management, welfare and OH referrals, performance management, probation reviews, conflict resolution, TUPE, and redundancy.
• Work collaboratively with HRBPs to support business projects such as TUPE, policy review, and pay awards, including supporting formal meetings, preparing scripts and documents, note taking, and producing reports and metrics.
• Provide a professional and efficient first-line response to employee relations-related queries, including coaching and supporting managers to build confidence and capability, promoting fair, inclusive, and compassionate people practices.
• Support the delivery of HR policies and procedures, ensuring they are applied consistently and in line with employment law and RVS values.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of people processes, ensuring they are clear, user-friendly, and supportive for employees and managers.
• Work collaboratively with People Enablement colleagues to create guidance, FAQs, toolkits, and learning resources that enable employee and manager self-service.
• Work closely with L&D colleagues to identify learning needs and support training delivery.
• Support the design, testing, and improvement of HRIS, specifically HiBob, to support automated FAQs, workflows, and reporting.
• Work with colleagues in IT, Digital, and external suppliers to support responsible AI use in HR, including testing outputs and identifying risks or bias.
• Monitor how AI tools are being used and recommend improvements based on user behaviour and feedback.
• Build strong working relationships with HR Business Partners, People Enablement colleagues, managers, and stakeholders across the charity.
• Contribute to HR projects and pilots that support organisational change, digital adoption, and workforce capability.

How You'll Be Doing It

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - Values difference and sets a positive example of inclusive behaviour in all interactions and promotes practices that celebrate equality and diversity in the workplace and the communities we serve. Is an active participant and encourages others to engage effectively with charity wide inclusion activities.
• Decision Making - Generates and promotes solutions. Sees clearly which is the best way forward and makes decisions and commitments within appropriate time frames. Influences others to reach conclusions and gain agreements.
• Flexibility - Is open-minded to, and enthusiastic about, new experiences and challenges. Adapts to the requirements of others and usually tries to accommodate their agenda.
• Planning and Organising - Thinks things through well in advance and maps out future activities and resources, taking the key stages, requirements and timescales into account. Likes to monitor to ensure that things are implemented and delivered effectively.
• Written and Oral Communication - Talks readily and confidently to groups and individuals. Often playing a leading and influential role in debate and discussion. Writes in a clear and concise manner using appropriate style and language for the reader.
• Quality Orientation - Pays attention, is precise, checks, and completes things. Focuses on getting things right and seeks to ensure that decisions and solutions minimise risk. Adheres to policy and standards.
• Supporting And Managing Others - Enjoys supporting other people by getting involved and trying to help them when they have problems. Is comfortable to contribute to joint activities and enjoys teamwork. Is approachable, collaborative, and dependable.

Job Benefits

This is all the other great stuff you'll be getting:

• Salary of £16,404 per annum (FTE £31,897 per annum)
• 26 days’ holiday (pro rata) plus paid statutory Bank Holidays (pro rata)
• Up to 2 days paid volunteer leave a year, through our employer supported volunteer scheme
• Ten weeks’ company sick pay following successful completion of probation
• A great pension scheme
• 2 x Salary Death in Service Benefit, subject to qualification
• Enhanced Family Leave schemes
• An employee benefits package that gives access to an exclusive rewards website to get discounts and cashback online
• A 24-hour doctor line, financial support with dental/optical and other therapies
• A free and confidential employee assistance programme with up to six face-to-face counselling sessions included
• Extensive online and on the job training to ensure you will succeed in your role
• Opportunities to discuss flexible working
• Opportunities to develop new skills and progress your career
• The chance to make a positive, lasting impact that changes lives, communities and society

If you feel you have the skills and experience to become our HR Advisor please click ‘apply’ today, we’d love to hear from you! Closing date for this role is 15 May 2026. However, we reserve the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received. Please do not delay your application we often get a lot!

At Royal Voluntary Service our goal is to welcome everyone and build inclusive and diverse teams. We celebrate difference and encourage everyone to join us and be themselves at work. To find out more about our commitment to EDI, visit our website. Join Royal Voluntary Service and together we can change lives, change communities and change society.