HR Officer (12 Month Fixed-Term Contract)

Job Description

We have a new exciting opportunity to join our HR department as we recruit a new HR Officer to join our team on a 12-month fixed-term contract. The HR Officer is the first point of contact to assist and support management with handling and resolving ER related queries and general HR support required. They will be responsible for ensuring all employee records are maintained efficiently and accurately as well as contributing to the continuous improvement of administration processes.

What does the job involve?

Employee Relations

• Ensure Customer Services and Operations line managers are supported with staff issues, providing prompt and accurate advice in accordance with employment law, statutory rules, and company policies and procedures. Provide advice and support in relation to disciplinaries, grievance, performance, capability and sickness issues.
• Work with line management to deal pro-actively with staff who fall below expectation in the performance review process.  Agree action plans in line with employee handbook policies.
• Coordination of occupational health appointments.
• Reduce the percentage of work time lost to sickness absence through:
  • Advice to managers and staff in relation to absence and health issues, ensuring legislation, policy and best practice are followed, seeking input and guidance from the HR Manager when required.
  • For complex absence cases, carry out return to work meetings within 24 hours of an employee’s return, to assess and ensure fitness to work.
  • Recording sickness absence information accurately.  

General HR Support

• Ensure we remain compliant against IR35 regulations, and all contractors are onboarded correctly.
• Ensure you comply with all legal, regulatory or data protection policies, procedures and processes.
• Ensure DSE assessments are carried out when requested and action points implemented.
• Support Customer Services and Operations employees through the family leave process (e.g. maternity, paternity etc), managing the HR process from start to end.
• Support the HR Manager with the mid-year and end of year performance review process, ensuring that reviews are carried out in line with agreed plans, and that review forms and ratings are uploaded into the HR system by agreed deadlines.  Responsibility for issuing bonus letters to employees.
• Support the HR Manager with wellbeing initiatives for the business, as per business requirements.
• Provide Mental Health First Aid support to the business.
• Support and enable the business to achieve its regulatory requirements, including consumer duty.
• Managing the human resources mailbox.
• Support the team with general administration tasks, ensuring we remain within SLA’s and that employee records are up to date and accurate.

What you'll have:

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent).
• Associate/Graduate Member of CIPD 
• HR generalist background, giving advice and support to managers, to include recruitment and HR/payroll administration experience.
• Have an awareness of current employment law and ACAS Codes of Practice.
• Advanced competence level with Microsoft Excel and Word.
• Strong I.T. skills in Word, Excel and Outlook.
• Possess effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Possess effective planning, organisation and time management skills.
• Be able to demonstrate meticulous attention to detail; high standard of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

About us:

AJ Bell is one of the fastest-growing investment platform businesses in the UK offering an award-winning range of solutions that caters for everyone, from professional financial advisers, to DIY investors with little to no experience. We have over 528,000 customers using our award-winning platform propositions to manage assets totalling more than £83.7 billion. Our customers trust us with their investments, and by continuously striving to make investing easier, we aim to help even more people take control of their financial futures.

Having listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2018, AJ Bell is now a FTSE 250 company.

Headquartered in Manchester with offices in central London and Bristol, we now have over 1,400 employees and have been named one of the UK's 'Best 100 Companies to Work For’ for six consecutive years.

At AJ Bell you can expect a friendly working environment with a strong sense of teamwork, we have a great sense of pride in what we do, and this is reflected in our guiding principles.

Our perks and benefits

• Starting salary up to £30,000
• Starting holiday entitlement of 25 days, increasing up to 31 days with length of service
• Holiday buy and sell scheme
• A choice of pension schemes with matched contributions up to 6%
• Discretionary bonus scheme
• Annual free share awards scheme
• Buy As You Earn (BAYE) Scheme
• Health Cash Plan – provided by Medicash
• Discounted private healthcare scheme and dental plan
• Free gym membership, with an on-site gym providing a wide range of free classes
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Bike loan scheme
• Sick pay+ pledge
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave
• Discounted nursery fees at Kids Planet on Exchange Quay
• Loans for travel season tickets
• Death in service scheme
• Paid time off for volunteer work
• Charitable giving opportunities through salary sacrifice
• Calendar of social events, including monthly payday drinks, annual Christmas party, summer party and much more
• Parking at Exchange Quay
• Personal development programmes built around you and your career goals, including access to personal skills workshops
• Ongoing technical training
• Professional qualification support
• Talent management programmes
• Peer recognition scheme, with rewards including restaurant and shopping vouchers or time off
• Monthly leadership breakfasts and lunches
• Casual dress code
• Access to a range of benefits from our sponsorship deals

Hybrid working

At AJ Bell, our people are the heart of our culture. We believe in building strong connections by working together. That's why we offer a hybrid working model, where you’ll spend a minimum of 50% of your working time per month in the office. For new team members, an initial period will be full-time in the office to help you immerse yourself in our business and build valuable relationships with your colleagues.

AJ Bell is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and all employees are empowered to bring their whole self to work.

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, religion, physical and mental disability, marital status and any other characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. All decisions to hire are based on qualifications, merit and business need.