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ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY

We’re looking for a passionate and driven HR professional to play a pivotal role in delivering our ambitious HR strategy and supporting the growth of our Federation.

In this high-impact, operational role, you’ll work closely with senior leaders to drive forward key business and HR initiatives.

From resourcing and employee relations to learning and development, you’ll provide expert guidance and hands-on support that empowers our management teams to thrive. You’ll be at the heart of our people strategy, leading on complex casework, championing best practices and ensuring our academies are supported with regular on-site visits.

If you’re a proactive, solutions-focused HR professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is passionate about education, we’d love to hear from you.

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WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

Harris has a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.

You will also have access to a variety of benefits, support programmes and initiatives including:

• Excellent opportunities for continuous professional development and career progression
• Annual performance and loyalty bonus
• Pension scheme (Teachers’ Pension Scheme or Local Government Pension Scheme) with generous employer contribution
• 26 days’ annual leave (inclusive of our Christmas Eve closure day) plus bank holidays, rising to 27 days after 2 years’ service, or equivalent for staff on term time contracts
• Harris Wellbeing Cash Plan including cover for routine and specialist healthcare
• Employee Assistance Programme for free and confidential advice
• Cycle to work salary sacrifice scheme
• Wide range of shopping, leisure, and travel discounts
• 20% off at Tapi Carpets, exclusive to Harris employees
• Interest-free ICT and season ticket loans

For most non-teaching staff based at our Head Office in East Croydon, we also offer lifestyle friendly working arrangements including flexible start and end times, and hybrid working with two days from home and three days on site.

Skills

MAIN AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Your responsibilities will include:

• Providing professional and customer-focussed HR leadership, advice and support to academies to enable leaders to improve and support staff engagement, tackle workforce priorities, maximise workforce efficiency and achieve academy people objectives
• Influencing and supporting the strategic direction of academies by providing and analysing workforce information and developing HR initiatives to respond to needs or example, developing effective retention plans, improving sickness absence and reducing agency expenditure
• Coaching, supporting and mentoring senior leaders on people management practices, issues and priorities, through development of close working relationships and understanding of business challenges and opportunities
• Providing expert advice to managers in highly complex employee relations cases on the interpretation and implementation of the Federation employment procedures within the context of the legal framework
• Retaining oversight of casework, and line managing an HR advisor in the management of specific ER cases

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We would like to hear from you if you have:

• Experience in a HR Business Partner or senior HR advisor role within a large complex organisation
• Experience of developing and delivery of strategic HR plans and initiatives
• Previous experience of managing complex Employee relations issues, change management, and restructuring
• Experience of supervising staff
• Educated to masters level in HR Management or equivalent level of experience of working in an HR role
• A CIPD qualification to Associate level or above

For a full job description and person specification, please download the Job Pack.

Benefits

APPLYING FOR THIS POSITION

If you would like to discuss the opportunity further, or if you have any questions, please contact us via email to arrange a conversation.

Before applying please ensure you download the job pack from our careers website, this will help with completing your application. Please note that we only accept applications submitted online before the closing date.

When applying, you will have the option to import your CV or use a LinkedIn profile which will auto populate the online application. 

A reminder to check your junk mail for our email communications and add us to your safe senders list to ensure all future email communication is received.

OUR VISION & VALUES

Our vision, from the start, has been to provide the structure and services needed for our schools to amount to more than the sum of their parts, and to free-up our teachers and leaders to focus on one thing and one thing only: the outstanding education of all their pupils. Our young people and communities are at the heart of everything we do. Our core mission has always been to close the educational gap between young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. Our ambition is one where every child in London, no matter their background, has equal access to high quality education, giving them the same opportunities and potential to succeed.

We know there are many challenges facing our young people and the communities we serve, and that’s why we need determined people like you to help us tackle those inequalities. Whilst each of our academies has their own unique cultures and values; as a whole Federation, we have four core values which are central to successfully achieving our vision: Excellence, Collaboration, Support, and Innovation. We are proud of our values because they guide us in how we work allowing us to achieve the best possible outcomes for our young people, communities, and colleagues.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Safeguarding Notice

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, references, an online search, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed.

Equal Opportunities

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates. We value the diversity of our staff and students, and everyone at the Harris Federation is equally valued and respected. We aim to be an inclusive employer that reflects the communities we serve. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment.