Do you want to work in a rewarding sector that enables your work in HR to impact positively on young people? 

Do you want to play a key role in supporting our family of schools in a supportive and inclusive working environment? 

If, so, come and join our HR (People) team as HR (People) Advisor

Who we are:

Washwood Heath Multi Academy Trust (“WHMAT”) is a caring and inclusive group of 7 academies (1 All Through, 2 secondary and 4 primaries), serving a diverse, multicultural community in East Birmingham.  We have approximately 740 employees and 4,500 young people across a 3.5 mile-radius. 

Your role:

This will be a school-based role with occasional home working depending on business needs. You’ll be allocated specific schools so that you can build rapport with staff and stakeholders in those settings. 

You’ll be a key member of our HR (People) team, responsible for supporting the People Manager with a range of work streams for various academies/directorates including: - recruitment and pre-employment checks/terms and conditions (including HRIS), professional growth, single central record/compliance, probation and lower-level employee relations case work.

This post-holder plays a central role in our mission statement of “Find them, grow them, keep them” as unless we find and recruit quality staff for our young people, we would not be able to function as a Trust! 

Our ideal candidate

• Previous HR experience is preferred, but not essential, as we’ll train you in the full range of tasks.  This post could suit an experienced HR Assistant or HR Advisor, or someone with excellent administrative skills who is taking their first step into HR.
• You’ll have excellent administrative skills, ensuring attention to detail and accuracy in your written and oral communication.
• You’ll be IT literate, with a good working knowledge of Word, Excel and management information systems/applicant tracking systems
• You’ll have a willingness to learn with a ‘can do’ attitude and be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment
• You’ll be able to prioritise and manage your workload autonomously.
• Have an interest in Wellbeing, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (WEDI)
• Be willing to travel to all sites within the Trust.

You’ll gain great experience by:

• Being involved in the end-to-end stages of the recruitment process, from advert through to DBS checks. You’ll be part of the key administrative processes that keep our young people safe, such as DBS checks and providing updates for Single Central Record (SCR). 
• Liaising with our external payroll provider to make sure pay is correct for our new and existing staff, and you’ll welcome all new staff prior to them joining us to check their right to work documents.

• Managing queries from staff in our central inbox on a wide range of queries about pay and conditions.

In return, we will offer you:

- A collaborative and inclusive culture, where team members will upskill you and give you regular opportunities to learn from each other in a safe and collaborative environment.

- An opportunity to undertake structured CPD via access to the National College online CPD platform and/or apprenticeships such as [the CIPD or Coaching via our Apprenticeship Levy-amend examples based on roles].

- Access to Career Pathways and Pledge to help you plan for and make your goals a reality via our Professional Growth and Performance process.

- A wellbeing culture, with paid and unpaid time off to support life events via our Life Leave Policy, access to a Wellbeing Champion and the opportunity to participate in our annual staff wellbeing survey with Edurio, so we know and can respond to views.

- Access to 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which includes confidential counselling, access to wellbeing advice and a lifestyle app called “My Possible Self”.

- Access to a suite of supportive policies, such as Life Leave, Wellbeing, Career Break and Family Friendly.

- Access to a generous pension scheme known as the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

- Access to a comprehensive employee rewards package including Long Service Awards, Employee Referral Scheme, Cycle to Work Scheme and contribution to glasses and eye-sight tests for eligible display screen users.

- Opportunity to be part of key Trust-wide collaborative groups such as the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI working group) and Wellbeing working groups, including menopause support and neurodiversity support.

- Generous annual leave entitlement based on length of service, starting at 30 days pro-rata, rising to 33 at 5 years’ plus service and 35 following 10 years’ plus service. 

- Two week shut down at Christmas which isn't deducted out of your annual leave! 

- Onsite parking at all schools.

Informal chats are warmly welcomed 

NB - CVs will not be accepted - Previous Applicants Need Not Apply

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

As part of our recruitment process, we carry out rigorous online searches in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).

We value our people and are dedicated to making sure that everybody feels empowered to bring their authentic self to work. We have an outstanding opportunity to work at Washwood Heath Multi Academy Trust as a People Advisor.

We promise to treat all candidates fairly, consistently and with respect throughout the application, assessment, and selection process.

We are also “happy to talk flexible working” subject to the operational requirements of the role.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. Which means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

This post is covered by Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) and therefore the ability to speak fluent spoken English is an essential requirement for this role.

Washwood Heath Multi Academy Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment.  An enhanced DBS check is required for all successful applicants.

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