Macildowie are delighted to be supporting an education organisation in Bedfordshire with the appointment of a People Partner on a permanent basis.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a collaborative HR Operations team and act as a trusted people partner to a defined customer group. Working closely with managers and colleagues across the wider People Team, you will provide practical advice, coaching and support across a broad range of employee relations and operational HR matters.

The organisation is committed to creating a positive colleague experience and developing a strong workplace culture. This role will play an important part in supporting managers, strengthening employee relations practice and contributing to the wider People Strategy.

The role

As People Partner, you will develop strong relationships with managers within your customer group, acting as a trusted advisor across the full range of employee matters.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Providing advice and guidance to managers on probation, disciplinary, grievance, performance and sickness absence matters.
• Coaching and influencing managers to build their confidence and capability in managing employee relations effectively.
• Providing clear, supportive and solution-focused advice, balancing the needs of colleagues with organisational requirements and risk.
• Managing employee relations activity fairly, consistently and within appropriate timescales, encouraging informal resolution wherever appropriate.
• Using HR and workforce data to identify trends, risks and opportunities for intervention, including sickness absence, turnover and agency spend.
• Working collaboratively with the wider People Team to develop and deliver guidance, resources and knowledge-sharing sessions to improve management capability.
• Maintaining accurate HR records and ensuring compliance with GDPR, safeguarding, EDI and health and safety requirements.
• Supporting key HR processes including appraisals, pay reviews, statutory reporting, Subject Access Requests and workforce structure management.
• Contributing to wider HR projects and People Strategy initiatives designed to improve organisational culture and the colleague experience.
• Building effective relationships across the organisation and providing a responsive, professional and commercially aware HR service.

About you

We are looking for an experienced HR professional with a strong background in employee relations and operational HR, ideally gained within a complex organisation where you have worked closely with managers and senior stakeholders.

You will be confident advising managers through a range of people issues and will have sound knowledge of disciplinary, grievance, performance management and sickness absence processes. You will be comfortable having challenging conversations, coaching managers and finding practical solutions to complex people matters.

You'll also be confident working with HR data and using insight to identify trends and opportunities to improve management capability, employee experience and organisational performance.

Above all, you'll be a strong communicator and relationship builder who can establish credibility quickly, work collaboratively with colleagues and take a pragmatic and solution-focused approach to HR.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced HR Advisor, HR Business Partner or People Partner looking for a broad role where they can make a genuine contribution to the colleague experience and wider people agenda.