As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is already a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history. But it’s where we go next that makes things really interesting. In our strategic vision: Archives for Everyone, we set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won’t become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring. That’s where you come in. Because we can’t do this without you. Job Overview Salary: £32,721 - £35,000 per annum Contract type: Permanent Band: E / HEO Closing date: Sunday 3rd November at midnight Domesday Book. Shakespeare’s will. Tweets from Downing Street. War time records. These are just some of the 11 million items held by The National Archives. With a collection like this – one of the largest in the world – you’d think we could rest on our laurels a bit. Well, think again. As a HR Advisor, you will be a key part of the HR Business Partnering team supporting colleagues by providing best practice HR advice and guidance to ultimately help us to deliver our commitment in becoming the 21st century national archive: inclusive, entrepreneurial, and disruptive. About the Role: As HR Advisor, you will provide essential support to HR Business Partners, line managers and the wider HR function. You will be the first line of support to staff requiring advice on employee relations matters and you will play a key role alongside HR Business Partners in upskilling line managers capability. You will have an eye for detail and will proactively analyse data and identify trends and areas for continuous improvement. You will take the lead on ensuring that our HR policies and guidance are up to date and work with HR Business Partners and other key stakeholders to regularly refresh and improve our policy, guidance and tools. You will also provide support for our essential HR Operations activities to ensure we consistently get the basics right. About you: You will be CIPD level 3 qualified or with relevant experience working in a HR team providing advice and guidance on managing disciplinary, attendance, performance, and other employee relations cases. You will be able to work in a busy environment with a varied workload and must be able to use your own initiative as well as working collaboratively as part of the wider People, Inclusion and Change directorate. With good organisational and time management skills, you will be able to prioritise your work and see it to its full conclusion. With a strong focus on customer service, you will use your strong interpersonal skills to build relationships across the organisation. You will continually seek to improve processes to enhance efficiency and ways of working. The ideas and suggestions you make will help to support the wider People, Inclusion and Change directorate, as well as The National Archives. Alongside your salary of £32,721, The National Archives contributes £9,479 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Join us here in beautiful Kew, just 10 minutes’ walk from the Overground and Underground stations, and you can expect an excellent range of benefits. They include a generous pension and flexible working, as well as discounts with local businesses. We also have an on-site gym, restaurant, and shop. This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department. A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time. How to apply: To submit your application please click the 'Apply' button on this page. You will be asked to provide details of your work experience and write a personal statement. In your personal statement please explain, using examples, how you meet the essential criteria in the person specification below. You may draw on knowledge, skills, abilities, experience gained from paid work, domestic responsibilities, education, leisure interests and voluntary activities. Please note selection for interview will largely be based on the information you provide in this section. Job Description Job Purpose The purpose of this role is to provide proactive, practical, and consistent support and advice on HR policy, procedure, best practice, and legislation and all other matters relating to employment at The National Archives. The postholder will be responsible for managing employee relations cases, working closely to support the HR Business Partners for their client groups and will support monthly payroll reconciliation activity. They will support individuals with the aim of helping to ensure that the experience of working at The National Archives is a good one. The post holder is responsible for being a positive role model to others within the team and across the organisation both with respect to the HR profession and The National Archives behaviours and values. In addition, the post holder will coordinate updates to our HR policies (policy update work is split across the team, so the HR Advisor takes a coordinating role.). Role and Responsibilities Supporting the HR Business Partnering Team and wider HR Function: Support HR Business Partners to deliver customer led initiatives to support the needs of the National Archives such as activities to improve line management capability. Analyse data to proactively identify trends and issues and work with HR colleagues and client groups to address these. As part of the wider People Inclusion and Change Directorate support various activities and projects throughout the year including the performance review process, audits and delivery of the staff survey action plans. Employee relations: Provide supportive, pragmatic, and consistent advice and guidance in line with our policies and procedures and best practice, regarding people related issues especially covering attendance, performance issues, disciplinaries and grievances. Manage own caseload so that issues are dealt with in a timely and professional manner, including accurate and auditable documentation. Build a strong relationship with the HR Business Partners to ensure that they remain aware of issues and trends within their business areas, and work with them to ensure any solution delivers the best result. Deliver HR policy updates, taking responsibility for updating policies allocated to them to ensure that these reflect legislation, best practice and The National Archives’ value and culture. Operations: In partnership with individuals and line managers, ensure that wellbeing support is appropriate and timely, including recommending, arranging, and following up on occupational health referrals. Carry out monthly payroll reconciliation and validation of pay changes, working with HR Coordinators and the outsourced payroll provider to ensure that payroll is processed efficiently, problems are resolved in a timely manner and colleagues are paid accurately and on time. Responsible for managing complex pension queries and cases. Act as an escalation point for the HR Coordinators, coaching and supporting their development from a professional standpoint. Policy: Manage the HR policy review schedule to ensure that all policies and procedures are up to date and in line with best practice and Civil Service policies and coordinate regular policy review meetings with trade unions. Work with HR Business Partners and other key stakeholders to regularly refresh and implement new policies. Responsible for keeping up to date with changes in employment law and practice across the Civil Service and working with HR colleagues to reflect these in policies and guidance. With support from Internal Communications and Engagement colleagues, manage HR and Business Partnering team content on the intranet to ensure this remains up to date, accessible and user-friendly. Working Conditions Normal office environment Display Screen Equipment user Person Specification Essential criteria: CIPD Level 3 or demonstrable equivalent experience. Experience of managing disciplinary, grievance, attendance and performance employee relations cases. Confident and articulate communicator, able to build rapport and trust with people at all levels. Experience using initiative in problem solving and decision making on issues with some degree of complexity, able to exercise good judgement on when to escalate. Proven ability to manage own time and prioritise work. Experience of HR systems and reporting, including MS Office products. Experience of updating HR policies Desirable criteria: Experience of Workday The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy. Benefits Generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on-site cafe and opportunities for training and development. Annual leave entitlement of 22 days per calendar year (rising to 25 after the first year, and incrementally to 30 days after six years) and 10½ days public and privilege holidays per annum. Any move to The National Archives from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ ( opens in new window) Reasonable adjustments If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact The National Archives via careersnationalarchives.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs Complete the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks (opens in new window) Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. (opens in new window) The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. (opens in new window) Contact point for applicants: Name: The National Archives Recruitment Team Email: careersnationalarchives.gov.uk Further information If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact The National Archives via email: careersnationalarchives.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-complaints/ (opens in new window)