Human Resources Adviser

Role Overview & Responsibilities

Salary: £33,348 to £35,308 with progression to £43,155 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 30 April 2023

The Role

We have an exciting opportunity to join our People Services team, providing business partnering support to the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering.

This is a broad and varied generalist role working in a busy, friendly team with office space in the heart of our city. We are looking for someone who can demonstrate a solid grounding in employment law and experience of providing advice on a broad range of People issues including performance management and ER matters. Excellent communication skills are essential as is the ability to cope with and influence change. Previous experience of working in Higher

Education is not essential.

The role is fixed term, to cover maternity leave for approximately one year and is part time for 3 days per week (Wednesday – Friday), equivalent to 22.2 hours per week (60% FTE). You will work in close partnership with another Adviser who works Monday - Thursday.

We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment and most of our colleagues work a blended pattern of both office-based and home working.

If you have any questions about the role, please contact Claire Brunton, People Services Business Partner at claire.brunton@newcastle.ac.uk

Key Accountabilities

Provide Employee Relations advice, coaching and support to managers in order to ensure a positive Employee Relations environment is developed and maintained (e.g. disciplinary/grievance handling, severance etc.) To advise and coach managers on dealing with performance management issues

Research, draft, amend or update employment policies in line with changing needs and legislative requirements. To provide management information to senior officers/Pro-Vice-Chancellors/Managers in order to contribute to business decisions

Support and work alongside colleagues in People Services to provide a coordinated and efficient service in line with operational and People Services objectives

Ensure that suitable people are recruited to fill approved vacancies, by working with managers to ensure the University attracts, recruits and retains the best talent in line with equal opportunities legislation

Maintain a comprehensive working knowledge of key immigration issues in order to provide support to colleagues dealing with complex immigration queries and to advise management on key considerations in relation to their recruitment and retention strategies

Support managers with a range of People Services processes, such as reorganisations, contract changes, redundancy consultation process, TUPE, flexible working requests, etc

Coach line managers through a job analysis process in order to ensure that jobs are formulated to meet the needs of the organisation, accurately describe the job and support managers through the job evaluation process

Advise and support managers dealing with sickness absence. Including advising on sickness monitoring and referrals to Occupational Health. Working with Occupational Health, colleagues and managers in resolving issues surrounding sickness absence and assisting managers as appropriate with managing outcomes. Facilitating meetings and ensuring reasonable adjustments are implemented to enable colleagues to return to work

To be involved in the design and delivery of training and development activities relating to employment legislation and good practice, working with colleagues in Organisational Development

Act as project team member/leader for central/faculty/People Services projects in order to contribute to the People Services strategy. To act as a coordinator and People Services contact for major University Committees, for example, Joint Union Negotiating Committee

To be involved in negotiations with trades unions on matters affecting the contracts of employment and conditions of service for colleagues in order to ensure that matters are effectively resolved and documented, and all relevant parties consulted

Line manage a small team of People Services Administrators to ensure an effective and customer-focussed administrative service is provided to the Faculty

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge,

Skills and

Experience

People Services experience across a range of People Services (HR) activities

Evidence of supporting managers with performance and capability issues

Comprehensive knowledge of employment legislation

Well-developed influencing, facilitation and negotiating skills

Evidence of dealing with complex employee relations issues

Evidence of excellent organisational skills with the ability to plan, prioritise and deliver across a range of work activities and juggle a busy workload

Ability to develop effective and sustainable partnerships with trade unions

Attributes and Behaviour

Excellent communicator, at all levels, both verbal and written

Excellent team player with experience of working in a collegiate way

Strong track record working collaboratively with colleagues, at all levels, across the organisation

Ability to influence and persuade to gain support

Promotes inclusivity, diversity and equality at all times

Creative, solution-orientated approach to issue resolution

Resilience and sensitivity when dealing with complex people matters

Qualifications

CIPD qualified (desirable)

First Degree or equivalent work experience

Newcastle is an inclusive global University community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena S wan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University is also a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 25258

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