The Vacancy Working pattern: Hybrid working Travel: Nationwide travel required Note: Due to travel and training requirements, applications will only be considered from candidates based in the West or East Midlands Start Your HR Career Where It Truly Matters At Cafcass, we are united by one purpose - to be the voice of children and young people in the family court. We are looking for a motivated and ambitious Trainee HR Officer to join our HR Business Partnering team. This is an excellent opportunity to build a meaningful career in HR while supporting an organisation that makes a genuine difference to children and families. About the Role As a Trainee HR Officer, you will join a national HR Operations / People Services function, supporting managers across a complex organisation. This structured development role will provide hands-on experience across the full employee lifecycle and prepare you to progress into a HR Officer role. You will work under the supervision of an HR Manager and HR Business Partner / Officer, gaining exposure to both operational HR activity and project-based work. What You'll Be Doing Support the delivery of a high-quality HR service across employee relations and HR operations. Assist with employee relations casework, including sickness absence, conduct, capability and grievances. Attend meetings, support investigations, take notes and assist with drafting HR correspondence. Maintain HR systems and analyse data to produce reports and insights. Support workforce planning through the analysis and presentation of HR management information. Contribute to restructuring and organisational change activity. Undertake project-based work including research, data analysis and stakeholder engagement. Support organisational initiatives including wellbeing, engagement and learning and development. About You Degree level qualification and/or working towards a CIPD qualification (minimum Level 3 with ambition to progress further). Experience in an administrative or HR environment, ideally supporting a range of HR activities. Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to analyse and interpret data to identify trends and make recommendations. Good IT skills, including Microsoft Office and databases. Resilience, strong interpersonal skills and a proactive, professional approach. A clear commitment to developing a long-term career in HR. Location & Travel Requirements (Important) This role is Midlands-based, with hybrid working. Nationwide travel will be required to support operational and development needs. Applications will only be considered from candidates located within the West or East Midlands due to travel and training requirements. Why Join Cafcass? Be part of an organisation that makes a real difference to children and families, offering flexible hybrid working supported by strong wellbeing initiatives, an inclusive and diverse working environment committed to equality and representation, and the opportunity to work on high-impact organisational change and workforce challenges. Apply Now If you are ready to start your career in HR and want to make a meaningful impact, we would love to hear from you. Next steps / timelines If and when you are ready to apply, our application process is straightforward and quick to complete. You don't need to complete your application in a single visit, you can start it and come back and amend your responses / update your CV, just make sure you come back before the closing date to submit. Below we have given you an indication of a timetable we are hoping to work towards, although dates are subject to change. Closing date: 7th June Telephone interview: Ongoing Work-related assessment via Teams. : TBC Final Interview and work-based assessment in person: TBC We understand you may benefit from finding out more to help you decide to apply. There is a lot of information available at Cafcass Careers but if there is something else you need to find out more about, you can either contact Priya Kadara from our Resourcing team if your query is to do with the recruitment process or is HR-related, or Kathryn Alston if your questions relate more to the role, providing your contact information and best times / methods to get hold of you. Whilst we will always try and respond a.s.a.p. we wouldn't want you to miss the closing date before we are able to. If this is the case, we recommend you apply and as part of your application you can ask questions and this may allow us to contact you and provide you with the required information that will help you decide if you still wish to be considered. Finally, in anticipation of your application being successful, you might want to read about the offer and pre-employment checks process. As part of your application you can highlight any concerns or questions about the pre-employment checks and we encourage all applicants to do so, safe in the knowledge such information will not be shared with individuals involved in the selection process. We look forward to hearing from you. Be Their Voice We are Cafcass - the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service - and we represent children in family court cases in England. Independently advising the family courts about what is safe for children and in their best interests, we speak up for over 130,0000 children every year when the family court makes critical decisions about their futures, ensuring their needs, wishes and feelings are heard. Watch our video to find out we don't just listen to children's voices but we can be their voice. If our purpose resonates with you, and you share our ambitions for children - exceptional experiences, for every child, everywhere and every time - then if you join us, you will work alongside like-minded people in a diverse, inclusive and supportive organisation. You will be trusted to work flexibly and independently using outstanding technology (e.g. touchscreen laptops, iPhone, all with first class support, including IT Trainers) with access to substantial resources (e.g. Cafcass Library has over 27,000 resources on social work, child protection and related topics). You will also have opportunities to develop, whatever team you join, wherever you are in the country and at whatever stage you are at in your career. Whether you join us in one of our social work roles that work directly with children and families or our corporate and business services teams who provide technology, support and expertise, you will have the chance to make a difference for children and families. You can also find out more at www.cafcass.gov.uk/careers. Wellbeing The wellbeing of our colleagues is something we are truly passionate about, as demonstrated by everyone having four dedicated, additional days per year when they are encouraged to spend time focusing on their health and wellbeing. Colleagues can also have a health and wellbeing cash plan, for which Cafcass pays the basic premium (you can upgrade to include family members), which allows them to claim back some costs of routine health expenses, including dental check-ups, eye tests, physiotherapy sessions and more. Overall, we foster a holistic approach to supporting our colleagues, benefitting physical, mental and financial health. This is led by a dedicated in-house team, the benefits of which include meaning support is targeted and specific to what colleagues need. Our team can also offer support and guidance when it comes to specific health conditions, such as neuro-diverse conditions, cancer and the menopause. Our wellbeing offer is further strengthened by an external Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) which provides a free confidential support service 24 hours a day. This means access to clinical and professional expertise which gives you a chance to talk about all kinds of work and personal issues. If this wasn't enough, we are especially proud that over 125 colleagues have completed training and receive ongoing support to act as Health and Wellbeing Champions. Furthermore, we have nearly 100 people that have trained to be Mental Health Allies. Diversity We represent children and families from diverse backgrounds and having a diverse workforce helps us to fulfil this responsibility authentically. It also helps us to grow, evolve and innovate, so we particularly welcome applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds as we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the children and families we work with. We are proud to be a disability confident leader, we invite you to join our team, we are committed to actively attract and recruit individuals with disabilities including "non-visible" disabilities and mental health conditions. Our inclusive and accessible recruitment process means we aim to accommodate reasonable adjustments as needed. This commitment highlights our dedication to employing, training, retaining, and developing the careers of our colleagues with disabilities. Our Diversity Networks provide a safe space for colleagues with shared aspects of identity and lived experience - supported by allies across the organisation. The networks help ensure we provide an inclusive working environment and a service which promotes the diversity and uniqueness of children and families from all backgrounds. For more information watch our video here. Our current networks include: Ability Matters Colleagues with disabilities and long-term health conditions. Carers Network Colleagues with additional caring responsibilities for someone close to them who has a disability or long-term health condition. Faith Network Colleagues who are part of, or have an interest in, religious or spiritual faith communities. Kaleidoscope Network Colleagues from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. Mental Health Network Colleagues who experience, or have an interest in, Mental Health issues. Pride Network Colleagues who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans - LGBT. Neurodiversity Network Colleagues who are neurodivergent, or support someone who is. Together 'Together with Children and Families' (which we just call 'Together') is the name of our relationship-based practice framework. It applies to the work of every individual in Cafcass, from Social Workers to Leaders and includes our Corporate and Business Support teams. It is at the heart of what we do and is made up of our values, how these values work in practice, the tools to use to incorporate these values in our work and the impact this will have on the children and families we serve. This framework encourages us to be pro-active and to look for the strengths in ourselves and others. It also enables us to build positive relationships with our colleagues, our partners and most importantly, with the children and families with whom we work. We look forward to telling helping you learn more about Together should you join us. Benefits We know if you join us you want to be rewarded in a variety of ways, including time away from work to spend time with those important to you, manage your financial present and future, whilst also be trusted to manage your work/life balance. Therefore, in addition to our unique, holistic approach to supporting your health and wellbeing we also provide: Generous holidays 28 days holiday (including three for Christmas) rising to 33 days with five years continuous service, which could include your current employment. You can also sell any you do not need. Excellent pension 13.7% employer contribution to Local Government Pension scheme, potentially building on your current pension. Flexible working Most colleagues work in a hybrid way, having the benefits of working both from the office and home, we also accommodate flexible working requests (e.g. 9-day fortnights). Exclusive discounts Generous discounts with wide range of companies covering leisure, technology, travel, personal finance, fashion and supermarkets. Professional fees Social work colleagues have their annual Social Work England membership fees reimbursed. Car leasing schemes We offer a personal car leasing scheme which provides vehicles at competitive rates through a third party. This list is just a selection of main benefits and we have a range of policies and processes that allow us to support our colleagues - and their families - and we look forward to providing you with further information about these in due course.