Job Description:

Agency Brief – Interim HR Advisory Manager (Employee Relations) – 6 months

Overview
We are seeking an experienced interim HR Advisory Manager to lead our HR Advisory service on a 6‑month basis. The service is primarily focused on employee relations, and the role will provide leadership and oversight of complex casework alongside supporting the ongoing development of the function, including our traded schools HR service.

The Role
This is a hands-on operational leadership role with a strong focus on employee relations case management. The postholder will lead and support a team of 4 HR Advisors within the core HR Advisory service, as well as oversee the Schools HR Manager, who delivers HR support to schools via an SLA and manages a further team of 3 HR Advisors.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the HR Advisory service, with a primary focus on employee relations activity across the council
• Oversee and actively manage a complex caseload of ER matters (disciplinary, grievance, absence, performance, etc.)
• Provide expert advice to senior leaders on high-risk and sensitive cases
• Directly manage, coach and quality assure a team of 4 HR Advisors
• Provide oversight and strategic direction to the Schools HR Manager and their team delivering SLA-based HR support to schools
• Ensure consistent standards, alignment of approach and quality across both the core HR Advisory and schools HR functions
• Maintain robust case management, governance and risk mitigation across all ER activity
• Ensure compliance with organisational policy and employment legislation
• Lead and contribute to the development, review and refinement of HR and employee relations policies, ensuring they are practical, legally compliant and aligned to organisational priorities
• Support the embedding of policy into practice, using insight from casework to inform continuous improvement

Candidate Profile

• Strong track record of leading HR Advisory and/or Employee Relations functions in a complex organisation (public sector/LA experience desirable)
• Significant experience managing high-risk and complex ER casework end-to-end
• Proven ability to lead multi-layered teams, including managing managers
• Experience of policy development and translating policy into operational practice
• Experience of working with or overseeing traded HR services / SLA-based delivery (desirable)
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-volume ER environment
• Pragmatic, solutions-focused, with strong stakeholder management skills
• Able to quickly establish credibility and deliver impact with minimal supervision

Duration & Start

• Interim assignment for approximately 6 months
• Inside IR35
• Start ASAP
• Hybrid working - average 2-3 days pw on site
• 4 days per week