Senior HR Advisor

Are you an experienced HR professional looking for your next role? 

Have you got some experience of working in the education sector? 

If so, this could be your ideal role! We are currently recruiting for a Senior HR Advisor to support our schools within the Aurora Academy Trust, delivering HR support services to the schools both remotely and on site. 

About Aurora Academies Trust 

Aurora Academies Trust was set up in 2012 to provide opportunities and success for all our pupils.  

The trust operates 7 academies, across East and West Sussex, Surrey and Brighton and Hove, serving over 3,000 children aged between 2 to 16, and we employ over 400 staff. 

Our aim is to provide an excellent standard of education for the children and families that our academies serve in their local communities. We focus on each child every day, in order to support and challenge their learning and enjoyment of education, irrespective of their prior academic attainment or background. Our schools promote equality and diversity and place great emphasis on teaching respect and tolerance of others’ cultures and beliefs. We believe that all staff, whether pupil facing or not and whether fully school based or not, are key to delivering this mission. 

Collaboration lies at the heart of the work of Aurora. Each Aurora school has its own unique identity and place in its local community, and the successful candidate in this role will work within each of these unique identities delivering bespoke advice and support to each. However, we have developed common approaches in key areas that contribute to our collective improvement and enables the Trust to benefit from the combined expertise of all our staff.  

The Role 

The role is to support the School Leadership Teams (SLT) with all aspects of the people management agenda and enable them to deliver a well-run school that can focus on improving educational attainment for pupils. 

The role covers all aspects of HR support from day-to-day enquiries to working with schools on a range of cases which could include attendance management, capability, grievances, investigations and disciplinaries. The role will also support schools with workforce planning, and training to upskill line managers and SLTs. An element of payroll will also be required, as well as potentially line managing a school-based HR colleague. The role will also be proactive in supporting schools to improve processes and knowledge to enabling excellent people management. 

This role is likely to cover our schools in the Horley/West Sussex/Brighton and Hove areas and we are therefore looking for someone that is within easy reach of these locations and has access to their own transport. It may be possible to adjust this allocation to our East Sussex schools for the right candidate, and therefore all applications are welcomed. All travel is expensed and when you are not onsite, you will be home based. 

Hours: 30 hours per week – alternative hours will be considered for an excellent candidate 

Weeks worked per year: 39 (TTO including INSET days) 

Paid weeks per year: 44.85 

Salary: West Sussex NJC Grade 10 FTE £38,626.00 - £41,511.00, actual salary (pro rata): £26,938.00 - £28,950.00. 

What we are looking for: 

• CIPD qualification or equivalent HR experience 
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development in HR 
• A background of providing HR support in a school/education environment 
• Experience of using HR and payroll systems 
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team 
• The ability to work in an organised and methodical manner, whilst remaining calm and patient under pressure 
• An ability to demonstrate knowledge of HR legislation 

What we can offer: 

• An experienced and supportive central Trust team 
• Coaching culture established for staff 
• Staff / Long Service Awards 
• Aurora Academies Advantage Scheme, which includes discounts to high street shops, well-being support and online GP service 
• Hybrid work location 
• Local Government Pension Scheme 

If you think you have what we are looking for, we look forward to receiving your application for consideration. 

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.