HR Advisor

We are looking for an HR Advisor.

Your normal place of work will be the HR Office located in the Kew House School Annex. From there, you will manage the daily operational functions of Kew Green Preparatory School, Kew Green Nursery, Kew House School, Ravenscourt Park Preparatory School and Maida Vale School and will be responsible for overseeing and coordinating recruitment and performance management processes and advising staff and leaders on HR policies and requirements. You will also be monitoring and reviewing the school’s HR strategy to ensure staff are satisfied in the workplace.

Relationships

The HR Advisor will report to the Director of Operations, working closely as part of the central team, but will also develop the following working relationships:

• Head Teachers – The HR Advisor is expected to provide an excellent service to Head Teachers; therefore, excellent working relationships will need to be developed for Head Teachers to put trust in the advice and guidance that is offered.
• Office Managers/Operations Managers – A lot of operational work will cross over between HR and the administration teams within the schools; therefore, it is important that the HR Advisor provides support, advice and guidance where possible, ensuring that excellent customer service is provided.
• Wider Group Staff – The HR team will regularly receive calls and queries from Trust staff; therefore, the HR Advisor will need to ensure that excellent customer service and a helpful attitude are provided at all times.
• External Stakeholders – The HR Advisor may need to liaise with external suppliers and external individuals to support the effective running of the HR service.

Leadership, management and advice

• Provide advice to school leaders on all aspects of HR practice, developments and legislation, ensuring the schools adhere to best practice and operate within the law. Coordinate appropriate external legal or professional advice where required.
• Monitor and review the school’s HR strategy, ensuring it meets the school’s long-term needs and goals.
• Develop and implement a workforce plan for the school, including identifying skills gaps and assisting with the financial modelling of staff deployment options.
• Monitor and review the school’s HR policies and procedures.
• Manage the school’s use of external HR providers and services, ensuring the quality of the provision is high and the school receives value for money.
• Manage the school’s HR information system, including managing user access, providing training, generating reports, and considering future developments.
• Manage and update school HR documents, including HR forms and the staff handbook.
• Lead on implementing organisational change, such as restructuring, redundancy and TUPE.
• Assist with disciplinary and grievance procedures, as necessary.

Recruitment and induction

• Coordinate the advertisement of vacancies, to both internal and external candidates, including working with external partners to publicise available roles.
• Develop job descriptions, person specifications, job advertisements and candidate information packs, liaising with hiring managers where appropriate.
• Oversee the recruitment process, including communicating timeframes to all involved and sending out the necessary information at each stage.
• Prepare material for interviews, including collating interview questions and developing tasks.
• Ensure safer recruitment procedures are followed.

Safeguarding and record keeping

• Monitor entries into the single central record (SCR), ensuring compliance with safeguarding and local requirements.
• Monitor and review the school’s DBS checking process, ensuring compliance with requirements and efficiency is achieved.
• Keep records in accordance with the school’s record retention schedule and data protection law, ensuring information security and confidentiality at all times.

Performance management, staff training, pay and conditions

• Line manage HR staff, including taking responsibility for their professional development.
• Coordinate the school’s professional development programme, working closely with staff to ensure that needs are prioritised and addressed and that accurate records of training are kept.
• Work with other school leaders to develop an appropriate benefits and rewards package for each role across the school.
• Advise line managers on continuous professional development options to address relevant staff needs.
• Update staffing information as necessary to support the school’s payroll operations.

Staff engagement and wellbeing

• Develop an effective approach to absence management, putting support in place to reduce the risk of long-term absence.
• Act as the point of contact for staff questions about HR policies and procedures.
• Work with unions and professional associations, maintaining strong and effective relationships that support the school’s approach and responsibilities.
• Work with senior leaders to consult with staff on job satisfaction, helping them to implement changes or improvements where appropriate.

The HR Advisor will be required to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people and follow school policies and the staff code of conduct.

For further information and to apply, please visit our website via the apply button.

Please note that this list of duties is illustrative of the general nature and level of responsibility of the role. It is not a comprehensive list of all tasks that the HR Advisor will carry out. The post holder may be required to do other duties appropriate to the level of the role, as directed by the Director of Operations.