HR Shared Services Manager

At Esland, your work changes children’s lives. We provide the care, education and therapeutic support that helps vulnerable young people turn the curve on their futures. Nobody starts work with our young people until their checks are right. This role owns that, along with everything else that happens to a colleague from offer to leaving day. You will lead a team of six: two HR Administrators and four Onboarding and Compliance Administrators. Between you, you run the service the rest of Esland leans on. Contracts, onboarding, changes, leavers, and the safer recruitment checks that sit behind all of it. Safer recruitment compliance is yours as a named accountability. DBS, right to work and Keeping Children Safe in Education checks need to be watertight before anyone sets foot in a home or a school. Part of the job is telling a manager no when a check is not right, however short-staffed the rota is. The volume is real. So is the room to improve it. You will own the procedures, the metrics and the decisions about how this service works. Key Responsibilities Leading the team • Lead the HR Shared Services team day to day, setting clear standards and expectations • Drive first-time resolution, so managers get an answer rather than a ticket number • Coach, develop and balance workload across two HR Administrators and four Onboarding and Compliance Administrators • Build a can-do culture where supporting the people who support our young people comes first Safer recruitment and compliance • Own safer recruitment compliance as a named accountability • Make sure DBS, right to work and Keeping Children Safe in Education checks are complete and correct before any start date • Keep our records accurate and inspection-ready, including the single central record • Challenge managers, at any level, when a check or a process is not right • Spot risks to the People function and the wider business, and escalate them early Onboarding • Manage onboarding end to end, from accepted offer through to a confident first week • Work with Recruitment and L&D so every new starter gets a joined-up, positive start • Keep offer-to-start timescales tight, so good candidates do not drift away Employee lifecycle administration • Oversee lifecycle administration, including contract changes, family leave, flexible working and leavers • Hold the line on data quality and record keeping across our HR systems • Act as the senior escalation point for complex queries and complaints Data, process and improvement • Produce and interpret HR metrics, giving the HR Director clear management information on onboarding, data quality and service performance • Document and review every standard operating procedure in the function, keeping them current, compliant and easy to follow • Simplify how colleagues get support, and take out the steps that add nothing • Embed best practice across the function, rather than firefighting the same issues twice Skills, Knowledge and Expertise • CIPD Level 5, or equivalent experience and qualification • Proven success leading an HR operations, shared services or administration team • A track record of delivering accurate, efficient transactional HR at volume • Strong knowledge of HR policy, employment law and safer recruitment (Keeping Children Safe in Education) • Confidence with HR systems, Excel and reporting tools • Excellent written and verbal communication, credible and diplomatic at every level • The organisation and calm to prioritise a high-volume workload What we offer • salary up to £55,000 per annum • 28 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and your birthday off • Hybrid working, 3 days at our Head Office in Belper and 2 days remote • A team of six to lead and develop • A named accountability that genuinely matters, safer recruitment compliance • Direct access to the HR Director and our senior leadership team • Funded professional development, including CIPD • A wide range of benefits, including our employee assistance programme, 24/7 GP access, the Green Car Scheme, a Health Cash Plan, and retail and gym discounts • Real scale, 850 plus colleagues across 64 residential homes, 5 assessment homes and 5 schools