Job Title: HR Adviser
Actual Annual Salary: £34,740 - £38,419 (CLF Grade E)
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: Full-time, 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday / All year-round
Additional role info: As part of a collaborative hybrid team, we are ideally looking for someone based in or near the Somerset/Taunton area to ensure a strong local presence and meaningful impact in supporting a number of our academies and their leadership teams. The successful candidate will be confident working across multiple sites, building strong relationships, and contributing to a responsive and supportive HR service.
Provisional Start Date: September 2025
Your opportunity to provide trusted HR advice and drive positive change across our Trust
We’re looking for a proactive and knowledgeable HR Adviser to join our Central HR Team at the Cabot Learning Federation. This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to a forward-thinking trust that values collaboration, continuous improvement, and the wellbeing of its people.
As a key member of our Employee Relations team, you’ll provide expert advice and support across a wide range of HR activities. You’ll work closely with Principals, senior leaders, and central colleagues to deliver high-quality, pragmatic HR solutions that support our academies and central services. From employee relations casework to change management and compliance, your work will directly impact the success and wellbeing of our staff and students.
About you:
You will have:
- A strong working knowledge of HR policies, employment law, and best practice in employee relations.
- Experience delivering HR advice across a range of complex casework, including attendance, performance, and conduct.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build trust and credibility with stakeholders at all levels.
- The ability to work autonomously, manage competing priorities, and remain calm under pressure.
- A collaborative and empathetic approach, with a commitment to equity, inclusion, and safeguarding.
- CIPD membership (or working towards) and a commitment to ongoing professional development
Applicants are advised to refer to the full requirements of the role in the attached job description and person specification, prior to submitting an application.
Why Join the CLF Central HR Team?
In this role, you'll be a vital part of our Central HR Team – the beating heart of all HR related activities across our trust.
We offer:
- A chance to expand your HR expertise in a dynamic and supportive environment.
- Opportunities to lead on employee relations casework and contribute to strategic HR initiatives.
- Flexible, hybrid working across home and academy sites.
- A collaborative team culture that values innovation, integrity, and continuous improvement.
- Career development opportunities across the wider trust.
Why work at CLF?
We are a diverse and inclusive community of 35 academies across five cluster regions in the South West that is committed to excellence and making a positive impact. Our people bring unique perspectives, but we’re all driven by a shared moral purpose and a passion for making a positive impact, whether in a teaching, leadership or support role. We’re proud to foster a culture where everyone can thrive, feel valued, and make a meaningful difference to the lives of others.
We are an equal opportunity employer and proud to serve a diverse student population and our communities. We strongly believe that representation matters and so encourage applications from underrepresented and global majority groups including ethnicity, gender, transgender, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
We aim to remove any barriers to employment, ensuring everyone can compete on equal terms. Job share, part-time and flexible working opportunities will be considered.
What we can offer you:
- Access to a generous pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
- Generous annual leave.
- A comprehensive induction and ongoing commitment to wellbeing and career progression, through a range of training, apprenticeships and in-role/wider-trust development opportunities.
- Well-being support through an Employee Assistance Programme.
- Health benefits, including wellness sessions, gym discounts, and flu jabs.
- A range of generous family leave options, including above industry average occupational maternity pay.
- Additional benefits like cycle to work scheme, on-site parking plus many more!
Recruitment timeline:
- Closing Date: 13 July 2025 @11:59pm
- Shortlisting: 15 July 2025
- Interviews: 24 July 2025 (will include a formal interview alongside a practical assessment, such as a role play or task-based exercise, designed to reflect key aspects of the HR Adviser role)
As part of our commitment to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), we do not accept CVs – a full education and employment history must be provided through our application form.
Skilled Worker visas cannot be sponsored through this role, as it does not meet the requirements set out by government.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, should we receive a high level of interest in the role. Therefore, candidates are advised to apply at their earliest convenience to avoid missing out.
The Cabot Learning Federation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All roles across the trust have a varying level of responsibility for ensuring safeguarding practice, with some roles holding significant responsibility and involving working with children on a daily basis in regulated activity. Regardless of the level of responsibility and involvement in each role, we expect all staff, visiting professionals and volunteers to share this commitment.
All successful candidates will undergo a comprehensive pre-employment checking process, including an enhanced DBS check (including a further check against the appropriate barred list), references from current and previous employers, health, right to work in the UK, child disqualification, prohibition from teaching/management and online checks. You must also tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
