About the role
Royale Carers is a domiciliary care provider delivering regulated care across the Southend area under the Southend City Council Care at Home Framework. We're looking for a part-time HR Manager to take ownership of day-to-day people matters and HR compliance, working closely with our Registered Manager and rota/operations team.
This is a hands-on role for someone who understands the realities of HR in a regulated care setting — not generic corporate HR. You'll be the first point of contact for staff issues, handling the majority of day-to-day HR matters directly and triaging higher-risk cases to our external HR provider (Citation) where legal exposure requires it. You'll keep our HR documentation inspection-ready and help us stay ahead of policy and regulatory changes.
What you'll do
- Act as the first point of contact for staff HR matters, handling routine cases directly: absence management, minor disciplinary and grievance processes, staff queries, and welfare support
- Triage higher-risk or legally complex cases (tribunal-risk dismissals, complex grievances, redundancy, TUPE) to our external HR provider (Citation), and manage that relationship to ensure escalated cases are actioned promptly rather than left outstanding
- Where an urgent staff matter cannot wait on Citation's response, you'll have the authority to take interim action to keep the issue moving, in line with company policy and with appropriate sign-off from the Registered Manager
- Keep employment policies and procedures current with domiciliary care sector requirements and general employment law changes
- Maintain and audit HR files and documentation to ensure they meet CQC's Single Assessment Framework (SAF) standards and wider good governance requirements — DBS renewals, training records, supervision logs, contracts, right-to-work evidence
- Support (not own) our Sponsor Management System record-keeping and right-to-work documentation for SOC 6135 (care worker) sponsored staff, working alongside our Authorising Officer — this role does not carry sponsor compliance sign-off authority
- Work alongside the internal rota coordinator to relieve current capacity pressure, with a clear split of responsibilities agreed on appointment (rota coordinator retains rota/scheduling ownership; this role owns HR case management and documentation). This is a functional management role over the HR/Citation relationship — it does not currently carry line management of other staff
- Support recruitment administration: contracts, onboarding paperwork, DBS checks
- Flag safeguarding-adjacent HR issues to the Registered Manager/DSL promptly and appropriately
What we're looking for
- Proven HR generalist experience, ideally within adult social care or a regulated sector
- Working knowledge of employment law and its application to shift-based, care-worker environments
- Familiarity with CQC's Single Assessment Framework and what "good governance" looks like from an HR documentation standpoint
- Some exposure to Home Office sponsor compliance for SOC 6135 (Care Worker) — right-to-work checks, CoS basics — is a strong advantage, but full sponsor licence ownership is not expected
- Highly organised, comfortable owning documentation systems and audits
- Confident handling sensitive staff matters independently
- CIPD Level 3+ desirable but not essential — real sector experience matters more
Pay: Up to £20,400.00 per year
Benefits:
- Discounted or free food
- Work from home
Work Location: In person
