About this role
Contract: Fixed term contract for 12 months (maternity cover), 28 hours per week (4 days per week) Salary: £24,000 - £27,200 per annum (FTE £30,000 - £34,000) Location: Burford, Oxfordshire (hybrid working, minimum two days per week in the office) Closing date: Sunday 11 October 2026 Interview date: 21 & 22 October 2026 Are you an experienced HR professional who enjoys building relationships, providing practical advice and helping managers navigate people matters with confidence? We're looking for a People & Culture Advisor to join our People & Culture team on a 12-month maternity cover contract. This is a fantastic opportunity to play a key role in supporting colleagues and managers across Blue Cross, providing expert advice and guidance on a wide range of people matters while contributing to a positive employee experience.
More about the role
Working closely with our People & Culture Business Partners and wider People & Culture team, you'll provide professional advice and support to managers, employees and volunteers across the organisation. You'll help managers confidently manage employee relations matters, support the implementation of people policies and processes, and use data and insight to help drive continuous improvement. This is a varied role that combines employee relations, policy advice, people reporting, coaching and stakeholder support, offering the opportunity to make a real impact across Blue Cross. This role is based at our Burford site with hybrid working arrangements in place. What you will be doing
- Managing a varied caseload of employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, capability, absence and performance management cases.
- Coaching and supporting managers through formal and informal people processes.
- Providing expert advice on employment policies, procedures and best practice.
- Identifying risks and helping managers resolve people issues effectively and consistently.
- Supporting the implementation and continuous improvement of people policies and processes.
- Analysing people data and trends to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Working closely with the Resourcing team and People & Culture Business Partners to provide a joined-up people service.
- Promoting an inclusive, positive and values-led culture
About you
You will be an experienced HR professional with a strong understanding of the employee lifecycle and a passion for delivering excellent customer service. You'll be confident providing advice to managers, handling employee relations matters and building positive working relationships with stakeholders at all levels. You'll be organised, adaptable and able to balance multiple priorities while maintaining attention to detail and confidentiality. Most importantly, you'll enjoy helping others, finding practical solutions and contributing to a positive workplace culture. Essential qualifications, skills, and experience
- Previous experience of working in HR, gained throughout the employee lifecycle
- Experience of advising managers through formal and informal employee relations cases including sickness absence, grievance, disciplinary and capability
- Confident in dealing with numbers and experience of analysing and reporting data
- Excellent interpersonal skills and customer-facing skills
- Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
- Good attention to detail
- Strong administration skills
- A proven track record of prioritising and organising work and projects within a busy and multi-functioning role
- IT literate with Microsoft Office, web-based platforms and databases
- The ability to demonstrate, understand and apply our Blue Cross values
Desirable qualifications, skills, and experience
- CIPD Level 3 qualification or working towards CIPD accreditation
- Experience of working with volunteers in an HR environment
- Experience of managing projects and development programmes
- An understanding of the voluntary sector
How to apply To apply for this role, please submit your application through our careers site and answer the application questions, demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive a high volume of applications.
Blue Cross benefits
Our people are the most important part of delivering our purpose. If it were not for their amazing efforts and commitment, we would not be able to make the difference that we do today. In return, Blue Cross wants to ensure we provide you with the best working environment we can. We want you to be happy working for us and will do everything we can to make sure you are. Our generous benefits package includes:
- Full time equivalent of 38 days holiday rising to 43 with service (including Bank Holidays)
- Programmes for physical and mental wellbeing support
- Free access to GP via MetLife- 24/7 GP services, private prescriptions and more for you and your family
- Health cash plan
- Unlimited access to an employee assistance programme
- Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution
- Professional fees paid with Continuing Professional Development and personal development support.
- Life assurance
- 20% discount on Pet Plan pet insurance
- Enhanced family friendly policies
- Recognition scheme
- Annual volunteer days
- Charity worker discounts across a variety of retailers
To read more about the benefits Blue Cross has to offer, please visit the 'why work for us' (https://www.bluecross.org.uk/why-work-for-us) page on our website.