Job title: People Advisor
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: 37 per week, all year round
Location: Partnership Centre, based at Marlwood School with travel across trust schools required
Salary: CSET 7-6 DOE, (£36,363-£39,863)
We’re looking for an experienced and proactive People Advisor to join our dynamic HR Partnering Team who can have real impact across our schools.
About the role
Working closely with our People School Partners, Headteachers and other Senior Leaders across both Trusts, you’ll provide expert advice and hands-on support across a wide range of employee relations and people matters. You’ll help our schools navigate HR issues with confidence, ensuring a consistent, fair and people-focused approach.
This is a varied and fast-paced role where no two days are the same. You’ll use your professional HR expertise, sound judgment and problem-solving skills to shape proactive solutions that work in practice, not just on paper. You’ll also play a part in delivering Trust-wide HR projects and initiatives that strengthen our culture and support our staff to thrive.
About you
- You’ll be CIPD Level 3 qualified (or working towards) or have proven experience as an HR Advisor, particularly in employee relations. You bring:
- Up-to-date knowledge of HR policies, employment law and GDPR compliance
- Experience advising on pay, terms and conditions of employment
- A track record of resolving employee relations cases with clear, outcome-focused strategies
- Ability to support both transactional and strategic HR activities
- Strong collaboration skills, building credibility and trust across all levels
- Excellent written and verbal communication, handling sensitive matters with professionalism
- Effective organisational and time management skills, with attention to detail under pressure
- Problem-solving ability and sound, evidence-based decision-making
- Confidence working independently while contributing positively to a team
If you’re looking for a role where your HR skills can make a visible difference, where collaboration and innovation are encouraged, and where you’ll help create great places to work and learn, we’d love to hear from you!
About us
CSET is made up of four secondary schools and 3 primary schools, all working towards the shared ambition of creating a great education for every child. Whilst each of our schools retains its own unique identity and ethos, being part of a family of schools brings additional support and opportunity to share expertise, provision and costs across the trust.
From September CSET will be part of the newly formed Pathway Trust. Pathway brings together two existing trusts, CSET and The Priory Learning Trust who have been working closely together over the last few years with great success. Pathway Trust will compromise seven secondary and thirteen primary schools across Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. Already we’re working as a family of schools united by one powerful ambition: to deliver a great education for every child.
We can offer you:
- A supportive trust and school community
- Strong collaboration across the trust family of schools and access to a centralised team of specialists across all areas of school operations
- A commitment to high‑quality CPD, with dedicated time and budget for your development
- A values‑driven ethos where diversity, equity and inclusion are lived every day
- Recognition of continuous service (modification order) to protect employment rights and entitlements
- Local Authority Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions and death‑in‑service cover
- Occupational sick pay to support you during illness or unexpected emergencies
- Family‑friendly leave packages to help maintain a healthy work–life balance
In order to apply for this role please complete an application form by Monday 22nd June, 9am. Interviews are due to take place on Thursday 25th June 2026. Please let us know if you require any adjustments as part of the process.
Please know that depending on the number of applications received we may decide to close the advert early. If you do not hear from us by a week after the closing date then please assume that you have not been shortlisted for an interview.
Join us in Providing a Great Education for Every Child
CSET is committed to equal opportunities and encourages applicants from all backgrounds and communities, as we recognise the importance and benefit this has for our pupils.
CSET 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.
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. Successful candidates will be required to provide a disclosure of any unspent convictions and cautions, as well as any spent convictions or cautions that are not "protected" (i.e., filtered) under the Amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 (2013 and 2020). All appointments are subject to a comprehensive pre-employment checking process. This includes an Enhanced DBS check (including a Children’s Barred List check), satisfactory references, medical fitness, Right to Work in the UK, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching/management check. In line with KCSIE guidance, we will also conduct online searches on all shortlisted candidates.
Our full Recruitment and Selection policy is available on our website.