People Manager

Are you an experienced HR professional looking for an opportunity to make a real impact? We're seeking a proactive, commercially minded and customer-focused People Manager to help shape and deliver an outstanding employee experience while supporting organisational growth and success. There are two vacancies for this role, one permanent and one as a Fixed Term Contract until July 2028. The roles are hybrid with a York office base, with average attendance as 4 days per month. You'll work closely with managers across the business to deliver people initiatives, provide expert guidance, and ensure our people practices are effective, compliant and people-centred. These roles are full-time (35 hours per week). Gross annual salary of £44,642. We are operating rolling recruitment for this vacancy and therefore will consider applications on a first-come, first-serve basis. Online interviews via MS Teams, with a pre-prepared presentation, will take place in mid to late October. What you'll need:

• Experience in a generalist HR role, ideally operating at HR Business Partner level
• Experience managing a broad range of employee relations cases and advising managers
• Working towards CIPD Level 5 qualification, or equivalent professional experience, with a commitement to continuing professional development
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice
• Experience supporting organisational change, workforce planning, recruitment and onboarding activities
• Experience managing day-to-day UK payroll operations and working with HR systems and workforce analytics
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with confidence using data to inform recommendations
• The ability to build effective relationships, work collaboratievly and manage multiple priorities
• A customer-focused, proactive approach with a passion for continuous improvement and innovation
• The ability to work independently in a hybrid environment, with attendance at our York office typically around 4 days per month What you'll be doing:
• Partnering with managers and leaders to provide expert people advice and support that helps deliver organisational objectives
• Supporting workforce planning, organisational change progressmes, restructures and people projects
• Providing expert guidance on a wide range of employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, absence, capability, flexible working and performance cases
• Coaching and support managers to ensure people matters are managed fairly, consistently and in line with employment legislation
• Leading recruitment and onboarding activities, ensuring candidates and new starters receive an excellent experience
• Support performance management, employee engagement, wellbeing, recognition and culture initiatives
• Overseeing key people operations processes, including payroll, pensions, benefits, starters, leavers and contractual changes
• Acting as the system owner for our HRIS, maintaining accurate people data and producing meaningful workforce insights and reports
• Developing and reviewing people policies, ensuring compliance with employment legislation and best practice
• Using workforce data and insights to drive continuous improvement and support informed decision-making What you'll get in return:
• Annual gross salary of £44,642
• A generous pension plan with Universities Superannuation Scheme
• Enhanced family leave benefits
• 31 days' annual leave, plus bank holidays
• Flexible working hours
• Hybrid work
• The opportunity to play a key role in shaping employee experience and organisational success
• A varied and impactful role spanning employee relations, organisational development, talent, HR operations and strategic people projects
• The chance to work closely with senior leaders and influence people-related decisions across the organisation
• Ongoing professional development and opportunities to broaden your HR knowledge and expertise
• A collaborative culture where innovation, continuous improvement and positive change are encouraged