People Adviser (Employee Relations)

Location: Manchester, M15, United Kingdom. Hybrid working with two days per week in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays; travel to other hirify.global sites may occasionally require overnight stays.

Salary: £34,000–£38,300 per year.

Company

hirify.global is the largest provider of academic qualifications in the UK, marking more than 10 million exam papers each year.

What you will do

• Manage formal employee relations cases from start to finish, including grievances, sickness absence, capability, disciplinary, conduct, probation, and performance matters.
• Lead workplace investigations by gathering evidence, interviewing employees and witnesses, and preparing balanced investigation reports.
• Advise and coach managers through difficult conversations, formal meetings, hearings, decisions, and outcomes.
• Provide practical guidance on employee lifecycle matters, policies, contract changes, secondments, organisational development, and change processes.
• Support people projects including restructures, policy implementation, people plans, job evaluation, benchmarking, and data-driven reporting.
• Work with People teams, recognised trade unions, the Employee Forum, managers, and other stakeholders on complex cases and people initiatives.

Requirements

• Significant experience in a People Adviser, HR Adviser, or employee relations-focused role managing formal cases independently.
• Experience leading investigations, interviewing employees and witnesses, evaluating evidence, and producing formal reports and outcome letters.
• Practical experience with grievance, sickness absence, capability, disciplinary, probation, attendance, and performance processes.
• Sound knowledge of UK employment law and the ability to apply legislation, policy, and best practice.
• CIPD Level 5 qualification or equivalent experience; proficiency with HR systems and Microsoft Office applications.
• Strong communication, organisation, prioritisation, stakeholder management, and risk-based decision-making skills.

Nice to have

• Experience of Employment Tribunals is beneficial but not essential.

Culture & Benefits

• Supportive, collaborative, and inclusive People Team environment.
• Flexible working hours of 35 hours per week, either 8:00–16:00 or 9:00–17:00.
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing to 30 days with service, plus Christmas closure days.
• Pension scheme with combined contributions of up to 18.5% from the first day.
• On-site gym and games room, professional development, employee assistance, wellbeing programmes, and up to five paid volunteering days per year.
• Employee networks supporting LGBTQ+, neurodiversity, women, wellbeing, ethnic diversity, and interfaith communities.

Hiring process

• Submit a CV and cover letter and answer screening questions by 19 October.
• Teams interviews are scheduled to begin during the week commencing 26 October, followed by face-to-face interviews the following week.