ECR000615
Grade 10, £40,777 to £42,839 per annum (2026-27 pay award pending)
37 hours a week
Permanent
Castle House , Newcastle-under-Lyme
This is an exciting time to join Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. As local government reorganisation (LGR) progresses across Staffordshire, we are preparing for significant organisational change and transformation.
We're looking for an experienced and motivated Senior People Advisor to play a key role in supporting our workforce, managers and leaders through this period of change whilst helping to shape the future of our organisation.
This is an excellent opportunity for an HR professional who enjoys working in a busy and varied environment, thrives on building positive relationships and wants to make a genuine difference to employees' experiences at work.
Reporting to the People Business Manager, you will provide professional, business-focused people advice and support across the full employee lifecycle.
You will manage a small team of People Advisors and a People Assistant, ensuring the delivery of a responsive, customer focused and high quality HR service across the council
You will act as a trusted advisor to managers on a wide range of employment matters, including employee relations, attendance management, performance, workforce planning, organisational development and policy implementation
The role will be particularly important as we navigate local government reorganisation. You will support organisational change activity, consultation processes, restructures and TUPE related projects, helping managers and employees through periods of transition with confidence, professionalism and solid employment law advice.
Alongside operational HR delivery, you will contribute to our People strategy, supporting initiatives focused on employee engagement, cultural development, compassionate leadership, wellbeing, inclusion and workforce planning.
We're seeking a proactive and experienced HR professional who:
- holds a CIPD Level 5 qualification as a minimum
- has substantial experience providing professional HR advice across a broad range of employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, capability, attendance management and organisational change
- has experience supporting organisational restructures, workforce transformation programmes and TUPE transfers
- is confident building effective working relationships with Trade Unions and employee representatives
- has the credibility and influence to support and challenge managers at all levels of the organisation
- can lead, coach and develop others, supporting a culture of continuous improvement and high performance
- uses data and insight to drive decision-making, identify opportunities for improvement and deliver practical solutions
- is pragmatic, flexible and adaptable, able to respond positively to changing priorities and emerging challenges
- demonstrates resilience, sound judgement and a calm approach when dealing with complex or sensitive issues
- shares our commitment to creating an inclusive, supportive and high-performing workplace culture
This role offers a unique opportunity to gain valuable experience at the heart of one of the most significant changes facing local government. In return, you'll have the opportunity to:
- play a key role in supporting local government reorganisation and organisational transformation
- work on high-profile projects involving organisational change, TUPE and workforce planning
- develop your leadership and professional expertise within a supportive and forward-thinking People Team
- build strong partnerships with managers, trade unions and colleagues across the organisation
If you are a people focused HR professional who combines sound employment knowledge with a practical, solutions-focused approach and you're excited by the opportunity to help lead people through a period of change and opportunity, we'd love to hear from you. Join us and help shape the future of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a borough with big ambitions. We’ve already started our transformation, however, we still need to find better ways of doing things because we are determined to do the very best we can for our communities.
If our vision is to be the best, then we need the best people working for us. Our people are at the heart of what we do and have the freedom to innovate, grow and develop. We recruit people who share our vision and values; people who have the drive to deliver our ambitious council plan.
Our historic borough is a place of marked contrasts. We are the home of a world class University at Keele, a leading light known internationally for its research and sustainability record, which stands side by side with former mining communities including some which register amongst the most deprived areas in the country. Our borough is also a mixture of urban centres, affected by some of the same social issues facing our neighbouring city, Stoke-on-Trent, but also outstanding rural landscapes in our less populated villages. Our plans and priorities aim to address the needs of all our communities.
We reward our people with a competitive range of benefits including;
- access to the local government pension scheme
- minimum 24 days annual leave plus 5 extra days after 5 years' service
- flexible working options and family friendly policies
- local and national high street discounts
- wellbeing support including £12.50 per month Jubilee2 membership
- green travel scheme including cycle to work and electric car salary sacrifice
- free employee 24 hour employee assistance and counselling services, flu vaccination service and health checks
- development and training opportunities
Hiring Manager Helen Smith - [email protected]. Office number 01782 742268.
5pm on Sunday, 16 Aug 2026
Should we receive a large number of applications, then this post could close sooner than the date stated.
Shortlisted applicants will be contacted within two weeks of the closing date.
Wednesday 26 Aug 2026
While we value diverse backgrounds and experiences, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship. Applicants must be able to prove they have the Right to Work in the U.K.
We are committed to making our recruitment process as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions. If you would like us to do anything differently during the interview or assessment process please contact our People team ([email protected])
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council is committed to the employment and career development of disabled people, armed forces and care leavers. As such we offer an interview guarantee scheme where you meet the minimum criteria for the role. By minimum criteria we mean you must provide us with evidence in your application and supporting information which demonstrates that you generally meet the level of skills and experience defined in the person specification and as indicated by the Disability Confident symbol.
Our application form has recently been updated to make it easier to apply, please be aware that you are not able to save your application part way through so please ensure you have all information to hand:
- make a note of the details of the post you are applying for
- read through the job description and person specification
- review our values and behaviours
- ensure that you have relevant job application information to hand i.e. employment details, qualifications and training, professional memberships (if applicable) and the details of two referees
- if you have a CV you can cut and paste information easily into the form
- the supporting information section of the application is your opportunity to share with us your key achievements and highlight any relevant experience. We’d like you to tell us; who you are, your values and strengths, why you feel you are suitable for the role and finally, your career goals
- we’d suggest typing your supporting information firstly to a Word document and then copy and paste to the supporting information section of the online application. This way you won’t lose valuable information if the page times out
- at the end of the form you can choose to save a copy of your application, we advise doing this
- if you are interested in more than one role, you will need to submit a separate form for each job
Contact our People team if you have any questions regarding the online application form or require further support ([email protected])
