HR Advisor - South

About the Role

Darwin Escapes is looking for an experienced and commercially focused HR Advisor to support our locations across the South of England.

This is a remote, field-based role which will involve regular travel to our holiday resorts, locations and Head Office as required. Working as part of the wider HR team, you will provide practical, professional and proactive HR support to managers across the business, helping them effectively manage their teams while ensuring a consistent approach to people matters.

You will build strong relationships with operational managers and act as a trusted HR contact, providing advice and guidance across a broad range of employee relations and generalist HR matters within your region.

The successful candidate will ideally have previous experience working within a multi-site or operational environment. Experience within the hospitality, leisure, tourism or a similarly fast-paced industry would be advantageous.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide professional HR advice and guidance to managers across locations within the South of England.
• Manage and support a varied employee relations caseload, including absence, disciplinary, grievance, capability, performance and conduct matters.
• Coach and support managers in handling people-related matters confidently, consistently and in line with company policies and employment legislation.
• Attend and support formal employee meetings, hearings and investigations where required.
• Provide advice and support in relation to long-term absence, occupational health referrals and return-to-work processes.
• Support organisational change processes, including restructures, consultations, changes to terms and redundancy processes where required.
• Support managers with performance management and employee development.
• Build effective working relationships with operational teams and develop a strong understanding of the individual locations you support.
• Identify recurring people issues and work with managers to develop appropriate solutions.
• Ensure HR processes, documentation and records are accurate, compliant and completed within appropriate timescales.
• Support the consistent application of Darwin Escapes policies and procedures across the business.
• Work closely with colleagues across HR, Recruitment and Payroll to provide a joined-up service to the operation.
• Support HR projects and wider people initiatives as required.
• Monitor employment legislation and HR best practice, ensuring advice provided to the business remains current and appropriate.
• Regularly travel to Darwin Escapes locations across the South of England and attend Head Office when required.

About You

We are looking for someone who is confident working independently while remaining a collaborative member of the wider HR team.

You will be comfortable working with managers at different levels of the organisation and able to balance strong employee relations knowledge with a practical and commercially aware approach.

Essential

• CIPD Level 5 qualified or equivalent.
• Previous experience working in an HR Advisor or comparable generalist HR role.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment legislation and HR best practice.
• Demonstrable experience managing employee relations cases from initial advice through to resolution.
• Experience supporting disciplinary, grievance, absence, capability and performance processes.
• Confident advising and coaching operational managers.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Highly organised, with the ability to prioritise a varied caseload across multiple locations.
• Confident using an end-to-end HRIS, such as Dayforce, ResourceLink, HiBob, BreatheHR or a similar system.
• Comfortable working autonomously in a remote and field-based role.
• Full UK driving licence and access to your own vehicle for business travel.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly across the South of England and to Head Office as required.

Desirable

• Previous experience within the hospitality, leisure, tourism or holiday park industry.
• SME/Experience using Dayforce (HRIS)
• Experience supporting a multi-site or geographically dispersed workforce.
• Experience supporting organisational change, consultation or redundancy processes.
• Experience working within a fast-paced, operational environment.

What We Can Offer You

As part of the Darwin Escapes team, you will receive a range of employee benefits, including:

• Enhanced annual leave entitlement
• Two holidays per year at Darwin Escapes locations
• Medicash healthcare benefits
• Business mileage reimbursed for work-related travel
• Remote/home-based working
• A varied role supporting locations across the South of England
• Opportunities for professional development and progression within the wider business

Working at Darwin Escapes

This role is ideal for an experienced HR professional who enjoys being close to the operation and building strong relationships with managers.

Although primarily home based, this is not a fully desk-based HR position. Regular/weekly site presence will be an important part of the role, allowing you to understand the operational environment, support managers face-to-face and provide an effective HR service across the southern region.

The role therefore requires the successful candidate to have access to their own vehicle for business travel. Business mileage will be reimbursed in line with the company mileage policy.

Location: Remote / Home Based – South of England, with regular travel to Darwin Escapes locations (when required) and Head Office (once per month)

Reporting to: Head of HR

Department: Human Resources

Contract: Permanent, Full Time – 35 hours per week