Associate HR Business Partner

About us:

The HR Business Partnering team is the face of HR at King’s, working in close partnership with Faculties and Directorates to support the delivery of the University’s people strategy. We provide pragmatic, high‑quality HR advice within a diverse and complex organisation, supporting managers and staff across a wide range of people matters and organisational priorities.

About the role:

As an Associate HR Business Partner, you will play a key role in delivering a high‑quality, responsive HR service to a defined faculty client group. Working closely with the Senior HR Business Partner and HR Advisor, you will support managers and leaders on a wide range of people matters, with a particular focus on employee relations casework and the application of HR policy and best practice.

You will lead on formal and informal employee relations cases, providing clear, risk‑based advice and guiding managers through processes such as disciplinary, grievance, performance and absence management. You will be expected to manage a varied and fast‑paced caseload, ensuring that issues are progressed in a timely and consistent way, while maintaining strong attention to detail and professional standards.

Alongside casework, you will contribute to the delivery of local People Plans and wider HR initiatives, including organisational change activity, workforce planning and management capability development. You will also work collaboratively across the Business Partnering team, sharing knowledge and supporting colleagues to ensure a consistent and joined‑up service across Faculties.

This role requires a proactive and visible approach, building strong working relationships with stakeholders through both in‑person and remote engagement. It is well suited to an HR professional who thrives in a dynamic environment, is comfortable dealing with complex people issues, and enjoys balancing independent responsibility with collaborative working.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About you:

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• Demonstrable experience of managing a high volume of employee relations casework, advising managers on a full range of ER issues, and taking both formal and informal cases through to effective and timely resolution.
• Up‑to‑date knowledge of employment law and HR best practice, with sound judgement and the ability to apply this in a practical, risk‑based way.
• Experience of taking a commercial and risk‑based approach to HR advice, balancing organisational, legal and employee considerations.
• Experience of supporting and advising managers on a broad range of generalist HR matters within a large and/or complex organisation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence, challenge and coach stakeholders effectively.
• Confident engaging with stakeholders at all levels, both in person and remotely, adapting approach and communication style to suit different audiences and situations.
• Highly organised, with the ability to prioritise workload effectively, maintaining focus, professionalism and sound judgement when dealing with competing priorities, ambiguity and complex or sensitive people matters.
• Able to balance working collaboratively as part of the wider Business Partnering team with working independently to deliver for a dedicated client group.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in a complex and unionised environment.
• Experience of working in Higher Education sector.
• CIPD Level 5 (or equivalent experience), or working towards it.

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