Go back Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
HR Advisor
The closing date is 25 May 2026
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a HR Advisor to join the Human Resources team at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The post can be based at Whiston Hospital or Southport Hospital, with regular travel across Trust sites required.
Working alongside HR Business Partners, you will provide professional HR advice and support to managers across a wide range of workforce and employee relations matters, including sickness absence, performance management, disciplinary and grievance processes, and organisational change. You will also support HR projects and contribute to improving the employee experience across the Trust.
This role is ideal for a motivated HR professional with strong employment law knowledge, excellent communication skills, and a commitment to NHS values and partnership working.
Main duties of the job
* Provide professional HR advice and guidance to managers and staff on Trust policies, procedures and employment legislation
* Support managers with employee relations casework, including disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence and performance management
* Coach and support managers to improve workforce capability, attendance and overall employee experience
* Support organisational change processes, including consultation, redeployment and management of change activity
* Lead on and contribute to HR projects aligned to Trust priorities and service improvement plans
* Analyse HR data and workforce metrics, identifying trends and supporting managers to develop action plans
* Work in partnership with HR colleagues, staff side representatives and key stakeholders to deliver a seamless HR service
* Contribute to the development, review and implementation of HR policies and procedures
* Deliver training and guidance to managers on HR policies, procedures and best practice
* Maintain accurate HR records and ensure compliance with data protection, equality and employment legislation
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our Services
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancs. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements
* Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
* Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
* National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Job responsibilities
Main responsibilities
* Provide timely, accurate and professional HR advice and guidance to managers and staff on the full range of HR policies, procedures and terms and conditions of service, ensuring compliance with employment legislation and best practice.
* Support managers with a wide range of employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence management, performance management, capability and respect at work cases, attending formal meetings and hearings as required.
* Coach and support managers to improve workforce capability, attendance and engagement, promoting early intervention and consistent people management practices.
* Support organisational change activities, including consultation processes, management of change, redeployment and restructuring, ensuring adherence to Trust policy and legal requirements.
* Contribute to and lead on defined HR projects and pieces of work aligned to Trust priorities, supporting service improvement and enhancing the employee experience.
* Analyse HR metrics, workforce data and management information, identifying trends and supporting managers to develop and implement action plans where improvement is required.
* Work in partnership with staff side representatives, HR colleagues and key stakeholders to support positive employee relations and the delivery of a seamless, integrated HR service.
* Contribute to the development, review and implementation of HR policies, procedures and guidance, supporting managers to apply these effectively in practice.
* Deliver training sessions, briefings and guidance for managers on HR policies, procedures and best practice people management.
* Maintain accurate and up-to-date HR records, trackers and case logs, ensuring compliance with data protection, equality, diversity and information governance requirements.
* Actively promote the Trusts values, equality and diversity principles, and support health, wellbeing and attendance initiatives across the organisation.
Qualifications
* Educated to degree level and/or equivalent qualification and/or equivalent level of experience
* CIPD Level 5 qualified or willingness to work towards
* Evidence of continuing professional development or equivalent experience
Knowledge and Experience
* Operational HR experience gained within a unionised environment
* Employee Relations Experience
* Experience of working in an HR role in the NHS or public sector organisation
* Experience of HR across more than one area of expertise e.g. employee relations, recruitment, organisational
Skills
* Well organised and ability to work under pressure
* Sound knowledge of employment law and HR best practice
* Employment relations - staff side partnership working
* Ability to analyse and interpret HR statistics
* Competent user of Information Technology
* Knowledge of NHS terms and conditions of employment
* Good understanding of the challenges affecting the NHS
* Good interpersonal skills and ability to develop good working relationships with people at various levels
* Ability to plan effectively and work to tight deadlines
* Excellent attention to detail
* Achievement focused
* Knowledge of TUPE legislation
* Knowledge of capacity/resource planning; re-organisation/redundancy handling
Other
* Flexible approach to work
* Ability to travel to attend meetings off site by own car/access to assisted driver
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
#J-18808-Ljbffr