Senior People (HR) Advisor

For over a century, The Pirbright Institute has stood at the forefront of global scientific innovation, contributing to landmark breakthroughs in the study and control of viral diseases affecting livestock and those that can spread from animals to humans (zoonoses). As a world-leading centre of excellence, our state-of-the-art facilities enable over 150 scientists from more than 30 nationalities to work collaboratively to predict, detect, understand and respond to high-consequence viral threats.

At Pirbright, you’ll join a vibrant and dynamic community where scientific rigour meets genuine diversity. Whether you’re advancing research, supporting operations, or leading innovation, your contribution will help shape a healthier, safer world for our livestock, you and upcoming generations.

Organisation position and purpose

As a Senior People Advisor, you will provide professional HR advice and support across the employee lifecycle, ensuring a fair, consistent, and efficient service. This is a hands-on role with a focus on employee relations, HR policy application, and day-to-day advisory support for managers and employees.

Working closely with People Partners and colleagues across Shared Services, Talent Acquisition, and L&D, you will contribute to creating a positive employee experience, while ensuring compliance with employment legislation, organisational policies, and HR best practice. This role is ideal for someone looking to deepen their employee relations expertise while building capability towards a business partnering role.

Key Responsibilities

People Advisory & Employee Relations

• Act as the first point of contact for line managers and employees, providing timely, accurate advice on policies, procedures, and employment legislation.
• Support and advise on employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, performance, and absence management cases, escalating more complex issues to the People Partner where required.
• Guide managers in effectively handling day-to-day people management responsibilities, encouraging fair and consistent application of policies.
• Coordinate occupational health referrals, flexible working requests, and reasonable adjustments processes.
• To provide support and where required, organise and attend consultations on change management issues including non-renewal of fixed term contracts, redeployment, restructuring and redundancy procedures, liaising with the People Partners as appropriate.

People Process & Administration

• Support the delivery of core HR processes including probation reviews, annual appraisals, and absence management.
• Execute the performance management cycle including the development plans process completion and updates.
• Support annual pay progression and related process.
• Work with the Shared Services team to ensure accurate and timely HR data, contracts, and documentation.
• Assist with HR reporting, maintaining accurate case management records and contributing to analysis of trends.

Collaboration & Service Delivery

• Work collaboratively with the People Partners to ensure consistency of advice and support across the Institute.
• Partner with Talent, Shared Services, alongside other departments to ensure efficient and accurate onboarding processes, contract changes, and leaver processes.
• Ensure HR practices meet current legal and regulatory requirements.
• Support L&D colleagues in embedding learning initiatives, execution of the development plans and CPD.
• Develop campaigns to ensure all polices and processes are communicated and deployed across to all employees.
• Champion wellbeing, inclusion, and engagement activities across the Institute.
• To establish effective working relationships with manager and Union representatives.

Continuous Development

• Provide feedback on HR policies and processes to support continuous improvement.
• In collaboration with the People Partners, contribute to the development and delivery of manager toolkits, induction, guidance notes, and resources to build people management capability.
• Actively participate in HR team projects and initiatives as required.

Specific requirements

Essential

• CIPD Level 5 (or working towards) or equivalent HR experience.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Demonstrable experience advising managers on employee relations issues.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trust and credibility quickly.
• Organised, detail-oriented, and able to manage a varied caseload.
• Collaborative team player with a service-focused mindset.
• Competent user of HR systems (HRIS) and Microsoft Office applications.

Desirable

• Experience working in unionised or highly regulated environments.
• Familiarity with scientific research, academic, or non-profit sectors.
• Experience supporting organisational change processes.
• Knowledge of visa and immigration processes for international staff and students.

What we offer

• A supportive and collaborative working environment with a strong sense of community.
• Beautiful campus in a semi-rural location with free on-site parking and good transport links.
• Generous Group Personal Pension Scheme and life assurance (subject to age and earnings).
• 25 days annual leave plus public and privilege days, increasing up to 31 days with long service.
• Enhanced Maternity package.
• Option to buy and sell annual leave.
• Option to carry over up to two weeks' annual leave.
• Pirbright Lifestyle Hub (employee discount site).
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Childcare allowance.
• Access to chargeable electric car charging facilities.
• Access to on-site subsidised facilities including staff restaurant, gym, and social club with subsidised membership.