HR Advisor

Position         

HR Advisor

Salary

£40,000 – £45,000 per annum pro rata

Hours

0.62 - 0.77 FTE, 24 - 30 hours per week across a minimum of four days

Reporting to

Head of HR

Team

People Team

Job Type

Part Time, Permanent Contract

Job Location

Hitchin

Benefits

25 days holidays, bonus, Halma Pension plan matching up to 10.5%, BUPA health insurance, Simply Health cash plan, General Income Protection, EAP

Scope of the role:

We’re looking for a proactive, people-focused HR Advisor to join our close-knit team. This is a key generalist role, providing trusted advice to managers and employees across the employee lifecycle. You’ll lead on recruitment campaigns, support employee relations, and contribute to HR projects and policy work — all with a focus on creating a great experience for our people.

This role replaces our current HR Advisor, who is retiring, and offers the chance to build on strong foundations and help shape the future of our HR service.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide timely, high-quality advice and coaching to managers on employee relations, performance, absence, and people management issues.
• Manage end-to-end recruitment campaigns, from advertising through to offer, ensuring a smooth and positive experience for candidates and hiring managers.
• Partner with line managers to build their confidence and capability in managing teams well.
• Contribute to the development and review of people policies, ensuring they are legally compliant, user-friendly, and reflect our values.
• Provide advice to managers on terms and conditions for our small number of international staff. Where required, seek and coordinate external in-country advice to ensure compliance with local employment requirements
• Support the Head of HR on strategic and operational projects, include areas such as employee engagement, process improvement, inclusion and diversity, or organisational change.
• Keep accurate and up-to-date records, using our HRIS (Workday) and producing monthly reports to give key data insights to our decision makers
• Act as the main HR liaison with our external Workday support partner, coordinating the implementation of new functionality and system improvements. While not a technical role, you will manage timelines, clarify requirements, and ensure Workday-related projects stay on track and aligned with HR priorities
• Foster a collaborative, solutions-focused culture in all interactions.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• Previous experience in an HR advisory role, ideally within a manufacturing environment
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and good HR practice
• Experience with managing ER cases, particularly resolving issues before formal stages, and advising managers with empathy and clarity
• Excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills
• Strong attention to detail and follow-through - a natural completer-finisher
• Good IT skills, including the ability to learn and leverage AI
• Experience with Workday or similar HR systems
• CIPD Level 5 qualification or equivalent experience

Behaviours

• Persistent and pragmatic — you don’t give up when things get tough
• Collaborative and team-oriented, with a genuine desire to support others
• Discreet and trustworthy — able to manage sensitive information with care
• Resilient, adaptable, and comfortable navigating change
• Curious and proactive, with a learning mindset and a desire to continuously improve
• Empathetic and approachable, with strong listening skills and the ability to build trust
• Well organised — able to juggle priorities, manage deadlines and follow through
• Solutions-focused, with a practical mindset and a can-do attitude
• Commercially aware, understanding how people practices support wider business goals

Applicants must be entitled to work in the UK