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We are looking for an HR Administrator to work as part of the wider Talent Acquisition & Central Human Resources teams, ensuring a best practice during the onboarding process.

Your role will focus on onboarding new joiners into our Head Office departments ensuring hiring managers are kept up to date on new starters and any tasks are completed where required. You will ensure an exceptional candidate experience is provided for all new starters joining Head Office.

Reporting to the Central HR Manager, you will carry out pre-employment screening for all new starters in our head office, in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education and best practice safer recruitment and support general HR administration. Your focus will be to deliver a best in class candidate experience during onboarding, including the induction of new starters, providing support to hiring managers where needed and providing timely updates to ensure the process runs as efficiently and quickly as possible.

If you have a good eye for detail and excellent time management and organisational skills, we would like to hear from you. You will also need to be able to demonstrate strong administrative skills, a good understanding of the need for confidentiality, and first-class communication skills, as well as the the aptitude to develop and maintain professional relationships at all levels with internal and external stakeholders.

Location

The successful candidate will be based at our central office located next to East Croydon station with easy access to London Bridge and Victoria as well as fast access to the M25.

The founder and sponsor of the Harris Federation, Lord Harris of Peckham, opened our first school in 1990. We have, over the past thirty years, implemented ideas and initiatives that have transformed the opportunities of pupils from working class and disadvantaged backgrounds. Harris academies are widely recognised as a force for social mobility. We are immensely proud of the role that our alumni are now beginning to play in the world and of what we believe our current generation of pupils will go on to achieve.

We now have over 50 schools educating more than 40,000 young people across London and Essex, and employ over 5,000 staff across our academies and head office. With the majority of our academies located in areas of high socioeconomic disadvantage, a high-quality education is key to the futures of the pupils we serve.

As a provider of employment and education, we value the diversity of our staff and students, and all our staff are equally valued and respected. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment for our students and staff.

Our work will impact many generations to come, and our staff come from all backgrounds and walks of life, coming together to inspire young minds. We promote an inclusive culture that embraces the valuable and enriching contribution that all of our community make. We continue to be proactive in uplifting and supporting all voices at Harris.

To discover more about our culture, ethos and what it is like to work here, visit the Why Work For Us page to learn more.

Onboarding Administration

• Administration of the onboarding process for Head Office appointments; reference requests, new starter forms, right to work check, qualification checks and an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
• Initiate online medical checks and identify and disabilities which need escalating to the Head Office HR Office.
• Drafting employment contracts to ensure these are correct and consistent
• Completing new starter set up requirements; inputting employee details on the payroll portal, arranging IT and phone equipment, issuing building security passes etc.
• Showing positive qualities, mentality and behaviours to work as part of a team to support a responsive, compliant and highly regarded onboarding service
• Maintaining standards and data integrity across tools and systems and ensure candidate data is accurately recorded into HR systems.
• Proactively identifying opportunities for improvements early on and take ownership to work with your hiring managers and the HR team to deliver results.

HR Administration

• Compiling personnel files for Head Office employees
• Updating the Head Office Single Central Record (SCR) for all new starters
• Inputting of new starters onto the external payroll portal
• Submitting DBS invoice payments to the Finance team ensuring that prior approval is obtained
• Assisting with the maintenance of the probation monitoring process for Head Office
• Co-ordinating new starter termly induction sessions
• Providing administrative support to the Head of HR, HR Business Partners and HR Advisors.
• Providing cover and support to the HR Administrator as and when required.

Academy HR Support

• To be the first point of contact for onboarding queries, liaising with academies, internal and external providers and escalating as appropriate
• Support with projects, initiatives and helping to develop resources for training new HR staff in academies
• Support where required in evaluating job descriptions using the Greater London Provincial Council Job Evaluation Scheme – training to be provided.
• Providing administrative support to the wider HR function
• To complete Ad hoc tasks, as and when required

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Educated to ‘A’ Level or above
• Experience in a busy administrative role

Desirable

• Working towards a CIPD qualification, or similar
• Experience of working in a HR or recruitment department
• Experience of using an ATS/HRIS or data management systems

Knowledge

• A keen interest in HR and Employment Law

Skills

• Ability to understand and support hiring manager needs and challenge managers where needed
• Ability to be trusted with highly confidential information.
• Ability to think creatively and outside the box
• Results driven and proactive and not compromising on quality
• Analytical - ability to use data to drive decision making and track progress
• Passionate about HR and ensuring outstanding candidate experiences
• Resourceful, meticulous, and organised with the ability to multitask
• Able to problem solve and create innovative solutions
• Excellent communication skills, exceptional writing skills and attention to detail
• A desire to learn and constantly review what “best practice” looks like
• Fantastic organisational skills
• Results oriented with a resourceful and flexible approach.
• High degree of independence and self-motivation
• Organised and self-motivated, proactively identifying urgent requirements, prioritising and ensuring that deadlines are met
• Able to work in a calm, orderly and professional manner
• Proficient in the use of computers and databases

Harris has a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.

You will also have access to a variety of benefits, support programmes and initiatives including:

• Excellent opportunities for continuous professional development and career progression
• Annual performance and loyalty bonus
• Pension scheme (Teachers' Pension Scheme or Local Government Pension Scheme) with generous employer contribution
• 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays (for non-term time only staff), rising to 26 days after 2 years’ service, as well as Christmas Eve off for staff who work across the full year
• Electric car salary sacrifice scheme (up to 40% discount)
• Harris Wellbeing Cash Plan including cover for routine and specialist healthcare, and access to a virtual GP service
• Employee Assistance Programme for free and confidential advice
• Cycle to work salary sacrifice scheme
• Wide range of shopping, leisure, and travel discounts
• 20% off at Tapi Carpets, exclusive to Harris employees
• Interest-free ICT and season ticket loans

For staff based at our Head Office in East Croydon, we also offer lifestyle friendly working arrangements including flexible start and end times, and hybrid working with two days from home and three days on site.

If you would like to discuss the opportunity further, or if you have any questions, please contact us via email to arrange a conversation.

Before applying please ensure you download the job pack from our careers website, this will help with completing your application. Please note that we only accept applications submitted online before the closing date.

When applying, you will have the option to import your CV or use a LinkedIn profile which will auto populate the online application.

A reminder to check your junk mail for our email communications and add us to your safe senders list to ensure all future email communication is received.

Our vision, from the start, has been to provide the structure and services needed for our schools to amount to more than the sum of their parts, and to free-up our teachers and leaders to focus on one thing and one thing only: the outstanding education of all their pupils. Our young people and communities are at the heart of everything we do. Our core mission has always been to close the educational gap between young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. Our ambition is one where every child in London, no matter their background, has equal access to high quality education, giving them the same opportunities and potential to succeed.

We know there are many challenges facing our young people and the communities we serve, and that’s why we need determined people like you to help us tackle those inequalities. Whilst each of our academies has their own unique cultures and values; as a whole Federation, we have four core values which are central to successfully achieving our vision: Excellence, Collaboration, Support, and Innovation. We are proud of our values because they guide us in how we work allowing us to achieve the best possible outcomes for our young people, communities, and colleagues.

Safeguarding Notice

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, references, an online search, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed.

Equal Opportunities

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates. We value the diversity of our staff and students, and everyone at the Harris Federation is equally valued and respected. We aim to be an inclusive employer that reflects the communities we serve. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment.