Job Description

Please note: Your application will not be considered without submitting a cover letter and including your notice period.

Are you a good fit?

You want to work with a highly respected and aspirational brand, at the heart of a network of many of the UK’s leading figures and employers. 

You know that technology has a significant role to play, but that human interaction and relationships are of even greater importance.

You want to feel like a valued member of a growing team, in an organisation which recognises that that its people are not just a number, but its greatest asset and part of an extended family, working together to support each other to meet organisational and not just individual goals.

Ideal candidates will be looking for a demanding post in a fast moving entrepreneurial charity. This is an exciting time to join our team as we take Speakers for Schools to the next level. Multi tasking ability a must.

You should be sociable and confident and happy building and maintaining relationships with multiple internal and external stakeholders

What is Speakers for Schools?

Founded by ITV Political Editor Robert Peston (Trustee), and chaired by Andrew Law (Caxton Associates), Speakers for Schools was created to help level the playing field for UK state schools and their students by giving them the same access to the UK’s leading figures from politics, business, science, sport, the arts and more, as that enjoyed by private schools.

Bill Gates, Baroness (Martha) Lane Fox, Professor Brian Cox, David Dein, David Cameron, Natalie Bennett, Ed Balls, Naomi Campbell and over two thousand other influential, eminent and inspirational people, have been kind enough to volunteer their time to speak with Speakers for Schools. Almost a million Young People have attended a Speakers for Schools talk.

In 2016, we launched our Experience Programme. Experience works with our outstanding network of speakers and partner employers, to offer young people, amazing work experience opportunities, which would often be out of reach to them.

Our Experience Programme has more than trebled in impact since September as employers such as the Bank of England, M&C Saatchi, Disney, Spotify, Santander, Morgan Sindal, BA, BP, Cisco and others offer placements to thousands of Young People. In March we launched a ground-breaking virtual work experience programme in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hours: This role will be full-time (37 hours) & Permanent, although part-time considered (min 22 hours, pro-rata salary)  The postholder is expected to work flexibly in order to meet the requirements of the post - this may require working unsociable hours.

Location: We are currently working from home.  This role will involve considerable travel to our Central London and Central Manchester Offices, as well as field based roles within the UK.  Flexible home working considered.

Application deadline: Please see below regarding notifications and start date.

Main purpose of the role:

The role of the Senior HR Officer is a varied role and includes the management of employee relations for our Charity. You are responsible for the full HR process and for producing monthly and quarterly reports on aspects of our people data.  In addition, the post holder will support major projects across the organisation.

You will do this by:

• Autonomously managing simple and complex employee relations, whilst empowering managers to be the decision maker in cases to make the choice themselves. 
• Actively managing the sickness administration process for company sick pay 
• Taking the lead in analysing data across a range of employee issues
• Supporting the organisation with major projects such as Appraisals, Wellbeing, Employee opinion survey, Reward review.
• Keeping abreast of new legislation and changes to existing employment legislation

Specific Responsibilities:

1. Generalist Advice

• Maintain personal awareness of recognised best practice, employment case law, and statutory requirements in the education and charity sector. 
• Work independently and autonomously to manage all aspects of HR including recruitment, performance, grievance, capability or conduct issues, including dismissal. 
• Assist with and carry out investigations and appeals as needed.
• Build and sustain positive working relationships in order to influence decision making.
• Adopt a coaching approach to enable managers to own their decisions 
• Ensuring HR due diligence and documentation requirements are conducted effectively and are compliant with company policies and legislation

2. Development & Implementation of HR Policies

• Assist in the development or review of HR policy, procedure or guidance as required.
• Coach and support managers to understand and implement policy, guidance, and practice 
• Ensure all HR policies are fully implemented within the Charity.

3. Absence and Reporting 

• Manage the administration of the Company Sick Pay. On a monthly basis review sickness absence, analyse the data, calculate sickness absence entitlement, and liaise with Managers and Payroll accordingly. Review and produce a quarterly report of absence trends for the Management Team.
• On a monthly basis analyse people related metrics, data and trends to make recommendations to the management team. Develop action plans and liaise with managers to address identified people issues across the Charity.  

4.Health Management and Employee Wellbeing

• Assist with the responsibility and communication of various employee benefit schemes,

• Eg. Perkbox, Cycle to Work, Health Management and Eye Care Vouchers. 

• Advising on safe remote working

5. Administration and General Management

• Maintain close links with the other teams with the HR function ensuring that they are aware of any relevant issues or concerns, and working with them to improve their performance. 
• Maintain and update employee records ensuring they are up to date and held securely in accordance with GDPR.
• The post holder will carry out any additional duties commensurate with the grade and type of job. 

Person Specification

Education and Training

Essential: 

• Level 5 CIPD or equivalent proven experience 
• CIPD Graduate or equivalent proven experience 
• Proven up to date knowledge of employment law and best practice 

Desirable: 

• Level 7 or equivalent proven experience 

Achievements & Experience

Essential: 

• Proven HR experience in a rapidly scale-up organisation.
• Excellent generalist/operational HR experience at HR adviser, HR People Partner level or equivalent. 
• Proven practical experience in managing complex ER cases including absence, disciplinary, grievances and appeals.
• Experience in managing large volumes & multiple tasks 
• Proven experience of proactively partnering with managers to influence, coach and improve operational service delivery and build management capability 
• Experience in mediating to resolve issues.
• Experience of writing key HR policies and procedures. 
• Demonstrable experience with HR metrics. Able to produce, analyse and report management information 

Desirable

• Experience of managing projects to completion 
• Experience of designing and delivering training in HR issues 
• Desirable experience of working in a charity supporting young people

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• A commitment to Speakers for Schools and the people we support
• Able to communicate and present sensitive or complex information in a clear and easily understood format
• An intermediate level of understanding of MS Word, Excel and HR Information systems 
• Resilient and able to work autonomously. Able to manage a high workload of competing priorities
• Approachable, proactive “can do” customer focused attitude.  Able to exercise effective judgement and sensitivity to situations or needs
• Ability to demonstrate presence and credibility within the organisation and manage key stakeholders. 
• Be a team player, pro-active & have excellent communication skills
• A commercial and pragmatic approach to providing HR solutions.

Desirable

• Demonstrable commitment to listening to and valuing diverse views, particularly those of people who are often marginalised.
• Knowledge of CharlieHR, iTrent, SalesForce or other HR systems
• Experience in implementing HR systems

Personal qualities

Essential

• Able to communicate and respect diverse teams
• A natural leadership style, able to gain respect and work as a team player with a range of people
• Genuine, down to earth nature
• Strong organisational skills and a collaborative approach
• High degree of ethics and professional standards

We are looking for people who:

• Are sociable and confident and happy building and maintaining relationships with multiple stakeholders
• Excel at organising their workload and enjoy driving work forward independently

You will be working directly with:

Reports to Chief Finance Officer

How to Apply:

Please apply as soon as possible submitting your CV and a one page covering letter which outlines your specific interest and ability to successfully fill this role, as well as your salary expectations and current notice period.

Please note, if you do not provide a covering letter your application will not be considered.

Appointees are subject to a successful DBS check, as contact with young people is likely.

The Journey to joining Speakers for Schools:

Interviews will be scheduled as applications are received, before the closing date, and will take place over Microsoft Teams. We may appoint before this date depending on applications.

We will be closing this on or before Friday 28th August.

Our new team member will start ASAP.

Reference ID: Senior HR Officer

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £35,000.00 to £40,000.00 /year