The Specialist HR Lead is a pivotal role within Anderida Group, responsible for leading and delivering a comprehensive, high-quality HR service across our residential care homes and specialist school sites.
Operating within a highly regulated, emotionally demanding environment, the HR Lead must balance strict compliance with safer recruitment, employment law, and safeguarding obligations, while championing a culture of staff wellbeing, professional development, and organisational resilience.
You will be the trusted HR partner to our senior leadership team and the primary point of contact for all people-related matters across the organisation.
Key Responsibilities
1. Safer Recruitment & Compliance
- Lead and oversee a rigorous Safer Recruitment process across all sites, ensuring full compliance with Ofsted, CQC, and statutory safeguarding requirements, and going beyond minimum standards to recruit for character, values, and resilience.
- Maintain an impeccable Single Central Record (SCR), conducting regular audits to ensure all pre-employment checks including enhanced DBS disclosures, overseas police checks, and reference verification are completed, recorded, and up to date.
- Design and continuously improve structured onboarding programmes that embed Anderida Group’s values, therapeutic approach, and safeguarding expectations from Day 1 of employment.
- Partner with hiring managers to develop role-specific interview frameworks, ensuring consistent, evidence-based assessment of candidates across all levels of the organisation.
- Monitor and report on recruitment pipeline data, time-to-hire metrics, and source effectiveness to drive continuous improvement in talent acquisition.
2. Employee Relations & People Support
- Exceptional knowledge of Employment Law is required to manage the high employee relations load whilst minimising risk to the organisation.
- Provide expert, timely advice and guidance to managers on the full range of employee relations matters, including disciplinary processes, grievances, performance management, absence management, and capability procedures.
- Lead and conduct thorough, impartial investigations into complex ER cases, working collaboratively with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) where allegations involve regulated activity with children.
- Champion a supportive environment to managing staff conduct, fostering accountability where professionally appropriate.
- Support managers in holding structured, meaningful one-to-ones, appraisals, and return-to-work conversations, providing coaching and guidance on effective people management practice.
- Manage the end-to-end process for all formal ER hearings and appeals, ensuring procedural fairness, accurate record-keeping, and compliance with employment legislation at every stage.
3. HR Policy, Legal Compliance & Governance
- Develop, review, and maintain a comprehensive suite of HR policies and procedures, ensuring they are legally compliant, clearly written, and reflective of Anderida Group’s values and obligations as a regulated care provider.
- Maintain up-to-date knowledge of UK employment law, GDPR, and sector-specific regulatory requirements (Ofsted, CQC, KCSIE), proactively advising the Senior Leadership Team of legislative changes and their implications.
- Ensure all HR documentation, personnel files, and contractual records are maintained in full compliance with GDPR and organisational data retention policies.
- Liaise effectively with external legal advisors, HR consultants, and regulatory bodies, managing these relationships to ensure cost-effective, high-quality support when required.
- Prepare clear, accurate HR reports for the Board, Senior Leadership Team, and regulatory inspections, ensuring workforce data is reliable, up to date, and presented in an accessible format.
4. Learning & Development
- Design and maintain a comprehensive training matrix covering all mandatory qualifications and specialist modules, including safeguarding, first aid, medication management, PACE, de-escalation techniques, and attachment theory.
- Track and report on training compliance across all sites and teams, ensuring completion rates meet regulatory thresholds and escalating risks to senior leaders in a timely manner.
- Work with department heads and clinical leads to identify individual and team development needs, commissioning or coordinating relevant learning interventions and measuring their impact on care quality and staff performance.
- Support the development of internal talent pipelines, working with managers to identify high-potential staff and create structured progression pathways, including apprenticeship and CPD opportunities.
5. Staff Wellbeing & Workforce Strategy
- Develop and implement a proactive Staff Wellbeing & Resilience Strategy that addresses the specific challenges of working in residential care, including secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout prevention.
- Oversee the integration of clinical supervision into the broader performance and wellbeing framework, ensuring all care and education staff have access to appropriate reflective practice opportunities.
- Analyse absence, turnover, and exit interview data to identify trends and present evidence-based recommendations to the Board, driving a targeted reduction in staff attrition and improving organisational health and retention year on year.
- Lead on employee engagement initiatives, including regular staff surveys, focus groups, and recognition programmes, ensuring feedback is acted upon and communicated clearly back to the workforce.
6. Payroll, Benefits & HR Administration
- Liaise with the Finance team and external payroll provider to ensure accurate, timely payroll processing each month, including management of contractual variations, new starters, leavers, and pay uplifts.
- Administer and continuously review the employee benefits package, ensuring it remains competitive, relevant to the workforce, and communicated effectively across the organisation.
- Manage all leave entitlements including annual leave, statutory sick pay, maternity, paternity, adoption, and shared parental leave, ensuring consistent and legally compliant application across all teams.
- Oversee the HR information system (HRIS), maintaining data integrity and producing management information reports to support workforce planning, budgeting, and regulatory submissions.
The list of responsibilities is not an exhaustive list of tasks and you will be required to undertake any other work requested of you, as required by the employer.
SMART Objectives
- Safer Recruitment Compliance: The Single Central Record is audit-ready at all times, with 100% of pre-employment checks completed before any new starter commences employment, verified at each Ofsted/CQC inspection and reviewed termly.
- Employee Relations: All formal ER cases are acknowledged within 2 working days of referral, conducted within statutory timescales, and fully documented, with no upheld employment tribunal claims arising from procedural errors.
- Training Compliance: A minimum of 95% of mandatory training is completed across all sites each quarter, tracked via the HR system and reported to the Senior Leadership Team at each monthly review.
- Staff Retention: A measurable reduction in staff turnover of at least 10% year-on-year, monitored through exit interview analysis and workforce reporting presented to the Board on a quarterly basis.
- Policy Currency: All HR policies are reviewed and updated annually, with any legislative or regulatory changes incorporated within 30 days of coming into effect, signed off by the Strategic Director.
- Payroll Accuracy: Payroll is processed with fewer than 2 errors per month, reviewed monthly in collaboration with Finance, with all discrepancies resolved and communicated to affected staff within 3 working days.
- Staff Wellbeing: An annual staff wellbeing survey is conducted, with results presented to the Board and a targeted action plan published and implemented within 6 weeks of results being received.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- CIPD Level 5 (Associate) or above, or equivalent significant generalist HR experience at management level.
Desirable
- CIPD Level 7 / Chartered Membership. Degree in Human Resources, Psychology, Social Work, or a related field.
Experience
Essential
- Minimum 5 years in a generalist HR Manager or Senior HR Advisor role. Demonstrable experience managing end-to-end Safer Recruitment and complex ER cases. Experience operating within a regulated care or education setting.
Desirable
- Experience within a children’s residential care or specialist SEN/SEMH education setting. Familiarity with a specific therapeutic model such as Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy or PACE.
Knowledge
Essential
- Expert knowledge of UK employment law, safeguarding legislation, and Safer Recruitment requirements. Sound understanding of GDPR, KCSIE, and regulated activity with children and vulnerable adults. Proficient in HR information systems and Microsoft Office.
Desirable
- Understanding of trauma-informed practice and its application in an HR context. Familiarity with Social Pedagogy or similar therapeutic frameworks used in residential care.
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills. Strong written and verbal communication, including report writing and policy drafting. Highly organised, with the ability to manage competing priorities without compromising quality. Absolute commitment to confidentiality and professional integrity.
Desirable
- Mediation or coaching qualification. Experience using HRIS platforms. Full UK driving licence.
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Calm and resilient under pressure. High levels of personal and professional integrity. Genuine commitment to the welfare of children and young people. Approachable and empathetic, with appropriate professional boundaries. Proactive, solutions-focused approach to problem solving.
We actively promote Neuroinclusivity, please ask for any support that may be needed to apply for this position.
Safeguarding Statement:
Our company is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff to share this commitment. This role involves working with highly sensitive personal data. The role holder is required to undertake an Enhanced DBS check in line with safer recruitment practices and our commitment to ensuring the safety of children and young people.
Pay: £50,000.00-£65,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
