HR Advisor
Location: Support Office, Basingstoke (Hybrid requirement to travel to nurseries once per week)
Salary: Up to £35,000 per annum
Hours: 40 hours per week
Contract: Initially a fixed-term contract, with the potential to become a permanent position.
Join Grandir UK at an Exciting Time of Growth
As Grandir UK continues to grow, we're investing in our People Team to ensure we provide the very best support to our nurseries, colleagues, children and families. As part of this growth, we have recently established a dedicated Employee Relations team which has created an exciting opportunity for an experienced HR Advisor to focus on delivering high-quality, proactive, operational HR support to our nurseries.
This is a true generalist HR Advisor role, offering the chance to partner closely with Nursery Managers and business leaders across the employee lifecycle. With specialist Employee Relations support available from the ER team for complex casework, you'll have greater scope to focus on coaching managers, driving engagement and retention initiatives, supporting attendance and probation management, analysing people data, building leadership capability and delivering meaningful people focused improvements.
This role offers a unique opportunity to make a real difference. By supporting and developing our managers, you'll directly contribute to creating positive working environments that help our teams thrive, ultimately ensuring we continue to deliver outstanding experiences and outcomes for the children in our care.
What you will be doing
As a trusted HR Advisor you will:
- Support the Regional HR Business Partner in delivering the HR strategy and key people initiatives across the region specifically around retention and engagement.
- Provide professional, practical and timely HR advice and support to Nursery Managers across a group of nurseries and our Support Office functions, ensuring People matters are managed fairly, consistently and in accordance with Grandir UK policies, procedures and employment law.
- Be the trusted first point of contact for people related queries, providing practical HR advice, coaching, training and hands-on support to develop managers'
- Build strong relationships with nursery teams through regular site visits, HR cafés, cluster meetings, and coaching sessions (expensed travel to London approx. once per week)
- Lead and support the end-to-end probation process, coaching managers to deliver effective probation reviews, address performance concerns and make informed employment decisions.
- Take ownership of attendance management within your regions, using data-driven insights to proactively identify absence trends, coach and support managers to improve attendance and employee wellbeing, while providing guidance on formal absence management processes to ensure cases are managed consistently and in line with company policy and employment legislation.
- Respond to HR queries and provide accurate, pragmatic advice across the full employee lifecycle.
- Support HR projects, audits, policy reviews, acquisitions, and TUPE activities.
- Assist with employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, capability, and conduct cases when required.
- Coach and support managers to produce clear, professional and high-quality people management documentation, including meeting notes, investigation records, outcome letters and performance-related correspondence.
What we are looking for
We are seeking an HR professional who combines strong HR knowledge with a practical, people-focused approach.
Essential Skills & Experience
- Previous experience in a generalist HR Advisory role
- Strong understanding of UK employment law and HR best practice
- Demonstratable experience in supporting attendance management, probation reviews, performance management and employee retention activities
- Strong analytical skills with experience interpreting HR data and producing meaningful insights
- Excellent communication, organisation, and stakeholder management skills
- Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail
- CIPD Level 5 qualified (or working towards qualification)
Core Benefits
- 33 days' annual leave, including bank holidays, with 3 days used during the Christmas shutdown period.
- Christmas and New Year shutdown.
- Flexible working options available.
- Big childcare discount.
- £500 Refer a Friend bonus.
- Company pension scheme with employer contributions.
- Life assurance.
- Certified Great Place to Work, voted for by our current colleagues.
Enhanced Family and Wellbeing Benefits
- Maternity and adoption leave paid at 100% for the first 12 weeks.
- Paternity leave paid at 100% for the first 4 weeks.
- Parental bereavement leave of up to 4 weeks, fully paid.
- Compassionate leave of up to 2 weeks, fully paid.
- Miscarriage leave of up to 2 weeks, fully paid.
- Wellbeing Day – an extra day off just for you.
- The Grand Event – up to an additional week of annual leave to attend a significant life event after 2 years' service.
Even More Benefits
- Employee benefits portal with hundreds of retail discounts, including ASOS, gym memberships, cinemas, M&S, and major supermarkets.
- Dayforce Wallet – gives you the ability to access a portion of your earned pay before your normal payday.
- 24-hour remote GP appointments.
- Medical cashback for dental treatment, physiotherapy, and alternative therapies.
- Recognition, rewards, and team celebrations throughout the year, with May dedicated to celebrating our teams.
- Tailored in-house training and genuine progression opportunities.
- Sustainability focus with Carbon Literacy-trained teams and Eco-Schools accreditation.
Grandir UK is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. An enhanced DBS check is required for this role and will be carried out by our approved third-party provider.
We are an equal opportunity employer and recruit based on merit. To support our recruitment process, we may use AI-assisted tools for tasks such as application screening and reference checks. These tools help us manage applications efficiently, and all hiring decisions are made by our team.
#Human resources #HR #early years foundation stage #Nursery #HR advisor #Support office #early years
