Senior HR Advisor

Job summary

We are looking for a motivated and credible Senior HR Advisor to join our friendly and supportive HR team on a permanent, full-time basis.

You will provide clear, practical and outcome-focused HR advice to managers and colleagues across a busy acute hospital environment, supporting the effective management of people issues in line with Trust policy, employment legislation and good HR practice.

Based at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, the role will also include a significant proportion of home working. The successful candidate will also need to be able to travel independently to our 3 main sites (Worcester, Redditch and Kidderminster) as required and sometimes at short notice.

Main duties of the job

Key responsibilities include:

• Advising managers and staff on a range of employee relations matters, including sickness absence, conduct, capability, grievance, bullying and harassment, and performance concerns.
• Supporting managers to resolve cases effectively and within policy timeframes, including investigations, hearings and formal processes.
• Working with HR colleagues on workforce planning, employee engagement, organisational change, policy development and HR performance indicators.
• Coaching line managers to build confidence and capability in managing day-to-day people issues.

We are seeking someone who can demonstrate:

• Experience of providing HR advice in a complex organisation, including employee relations casework.
• Sound knowledge of employment legislation, HR policies, Agenda for Change and good employment practice.
• Strong communication, influencing and coaching skills, with the ability to advise confidently and sensitively on complex matters.
• The ability to manage competing priorities, exercise professional judgement and support fair, inclusive and compassionate people practices.

About us

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester

Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Being open and honest

Ensuring people feel cared for

Showing respect to everyone

We are committed to developing a culture of continuous improvement by embedding the principles of our Improvement System.

We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

DBS Checks and Costs

Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check (at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.

Details

• Date posted: 14 July 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 6
• Salary: £38,682 to £46,580 a year
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working
• Reference number: C9365-26-0544
• Job locations: Charles Hastings Way, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR5 1DD, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

The purpose of the role is to provide HR advice and guidance for the Divisions and Corporate Services in line with the Trusts signature behaviours.

The post holder will be operating operationally with a level of complexity and a requirement to contribute to strategic thinking within the HR team.

The role will be required to analyse information in order to inform the advice or action taken. The role is required to influence immediate colleagues and customers.

To provide and operational day-to-day Human Resources Service to the Trust, managers and staff in an effective and professional manner. Working with a significant degree of independence, the post holder will use their professional judgement to ensure that the principles of good employment practice are adhered to at all times.

To provide outcome focused, risk assessed advise and support managers in a wide range of employment relations issues including managing conduct, performance, and sickness, the recruitment and selection of staff, equality and diversity, maternity regulations, harassment and bullying, grievance and dispute issues effectively. To act as mediator in cases of dispute. Ensuring all cases are resolved within policy timeframes.

To provide clear, consistent and practical advice that is in line with up-to-date and relevant employment law and trust policies and procedures. This covers all staff groups including the medical workforce. It will involve support to management on case investigations, advising panels at hearings, assisting the HR Manager with Employment Tribunal cases and work on policy development and implementation.

To aid the development of increased competence of line managers on day to day HR issues as they arise, to enable them to act confidently and consistently in line with policies and best practice without initial HR guidance. To assist line managers in achieving corporate goals by the most practical and efficient means.

To support the HRBP and HR Managers in implementing people and culture solutions within the Division including workforce planning, employee engagement, workforce performance, and employee relations.

The post provides a development opportunity for aspiring HR Managers. It is anticipated that applicants will be working towards Level 7 Advanced CIPD. Support and guidance is readily available.

Key Duties

Principal Duties/Responsibilities

To provide operational service in all advisory aspects of human resource management to Trust-wide Directorates and Departments to help them achieve their operational and strategic objectives.

To act as a role model within the HR team and for the team both within the Trust and externally, demonstrating the Trust values at all times. To develop and maintain effective working relationships at all levels of the organisation including at a senior level.

To be flexible with regard to providing support across the Trust on a day-to-day basis, including cross cover in the absence of available HR colleagues including HR Managers, while using all available opportunities to equip line managers to deal effectively with day to day HR issues as they arise.

To take specific responsibility for particular areas of work including project management as required by the Human Resources Department, and to assist the HR Manager and HRBP in projects/programmes where directed.

To provide an advisory service on a daily basis to managers and staff on highly sensitive issues relating to Terms and Conditions of Employment, Human Resources policies, HR Framework, employment legislation, professional issues and good practice.

To provide an advisory service to managers and staff as required on Agenda for Change re-banding issues and act as an Agenda for Change Job Evaluation practitioner.

To communicate complex and/or sensitive issues, analysing, interpreting and applying current policy, best practice, employment legislation, producing and amending policies and briefings in line with evolving employment legislation and national NHS guidance, to staff and managers whilst showing empathy and understanding with regard to their circumstances.

To take the role of lead specialist on the provision of a highly comprehensive, proactive and professional HR advisory and coaching service to managers on the management of sickness absence cases (including redeployment issues, potential grievances, capability and disciplinary cases). This includes undertaking a defined case load, attendance at investigation interviews and hearings as part of the management side, providing HR support to panels at hearings, and ensuring the quality of written reports and documentation to achieve Trust targets.

To support managers to complete equality impact assessments providing specialist equality & diversity advice.

Support in the production of the WRES and WDES reports.

To work with HR colleagues, staff side representatives and managers across the Trust to oversee the timely co-ordination of hearings and investigation meetings.

To act as mediator in connection with potential bullying & harassment or grievance claims.

To provide advice in connection with both Agenda for Change and the Medical & Dental Terms conditions.

To support the HR Managers on the provision of advice, support and negotiation mechanisms with managers and staff in organisational change, ensuring organisational objectives are achieved within the agreed timescales, and where delegated, to lead on appropriate work streams.

To participate in recruitment and selection processes on an occasional basis.

To work closely with the wider HR team (including Training and Development and Occupational Health), line managers and other departments within the Trust as a whole, providing innovation, challenge and advice to facilitate delivery of an effective HR service .To assist the HR Managers and HR Business Partners to ensure key workforce issues are fully considered and that effective long term plans are drawn up to develop the workforce to best and most efficiently achieve the Trusts objectives.

To assist the HR Business Partners and HR Managers to implement, monitor and revise workforce plans as required.

To work in partnership with the Training and Development Department, to deliver the necessary training to enable managers to utilise HR policies and procedures and any other training events conducted by the Human Resources Department.

To attend relevant Human Resources related meetings, such as the Equality and Diversity working group

To maintain up to date knowledge of NHS initiatives and employment legislation, by attending training programmes and/or seminars, as necessary.

Analyse and support the delivery of HR key performance indicators, including audit of these as and when required and updating HR databases.

To liaise as appropriate with internal and external contacts such as Trade Unions and professional bodies.

Ensure that the in-house case management system is developed, maintained and updated in an accurate, timely and efficient manner, logging all appropriate activity in line with data protection, employment legislation and Trust requirements.

Review and update HR Policies which impact employees throughout the Trust, researching good current HR practice and up to date employment law to inform policy development.

Provide day to day support and development to the Assistant HR Officer. The purpose of this post should remain constant, but the duties and responsibilities may vary over time within the overall role and level of the post. The post holder may from time to time be asked to undertake other reasonable duties. Any such changes will be made in discussion with the post holder in the light of service needs.

The purpose of this post should remain constant, but the duties and responsibilities may vary over time within the overall role and level of the post. The post holder may from time to time be asked to undertake other reasonable duties. Any such changes will be made in discussion with the post holder in the light of service needs.