The Vacancy
We’re looking for an experienced, proactive HR Advisor to join Wates Residential on a 13-month Fixed Term Contract. You’ll be a trusted partner to managers and employees, championing fair, consistent, and legally compliant people practices while helping us embed excellent HR standards across our operations.
This is a role where your expertise truly shapes outcomes. Leading employee relation cases will be central to your success so if you thrive in fast‑paced, people‑focused environments, we’d love to hear from you.
What You’ll Be Doing
1. Acting as a go‑to HR partner, providing clear, practical advice across the full employee lifecycle from performance and absence to redundancy, redeployment, and best‑practice people management..
2. Managing Employee Relation cases, ensuring fair, timely, confident handling of disciplinary, grievance, capability and appeal matters.
3. Supporting the design, communication and rollout of updated HR policies and procedures, including briefings and training.
4. Coaching line managers, HR Operations and People Directors on applying HR policy, process and employment legislation in real‑world situations.
5. Building strong working relationships with external legal partners and Occupational Health to ensure their expertise is effectively utilised.
6. Maintaining confidentiality and professionalism at all times, while driving your own ongoing development.
7. Ensure the HR casework database is up to date and accurate at all times, collating a monthly activity report for the HR Business Partner.
8. Support the business HR Business Partner on other HR activities such as our employee survey and annual salary review.
9. Be a key contributor to the HR Advisor network across the Group, sharing learnings and best practice.
What You’ll Bring
Knowledge: Up‑to‑date employment law, solid understanding of HR processes, and confidence working with people metrics.
Skills & Experience:
10. Proven experience managing a high volume of complex employee relations cases.
11. Strong written and verbal communication, including drafting invite / outcome letters and preparing hearing packs.
12. Experience supporting complex hearings and advising managers through sensitive matters.
13. A track record of driving improvements and supporting change.
14. High levels of integrity, discretion and a customer‑focused mindset.
Qualifications: CIPD qualified (or equivalent).
Given the nature of this position, you will need to undergo a Basic Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) at offer stage. Applicants with criminal convictions will be assessed individually, and we assure you that we do not discriminate based on an applicant’s criminal record or the details of any disclosed offenses. Additionally, certain roles may be subject to additional pre-employment checks.
WHAT WE OFFER
15. Competitive salary & profit share scheme
16. Flexible working opportunities
17. Extensive corporate benefits including, Private Medical, Pension scheme with 8% employers’ contribution, Health and Wellness programmes, 26 days holidays plus bank holidays and much more…
18. Excellent range of learning and development activity to support your career progression.
19. Industry leading family leave benefits to include 26 weeks fully paid maternity and 12 weeks fully paid paternity.
Work for Wates
Wates is one of the UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance companies. Founded over 125 years ago, we have a proud legacy in the built environment.
We are driven by our purpose, ‘reimagining places for people to thrive’ and our three promises:
Thriving places – working with customers, partners and communities to create places that are more sustainable, inclusive, and full of opportunity.
Thriving planet – protecting nature and taking action on climate change by collaborating and innovating with our partners.
Thriving people – creating opportunities and relationships so that everyone who works for and with us feels included, invested in, and treated with care.
We are proud to be recognised as Gold Investors in People and as a Disability Confident employer. We also ensure that our recruitment processes do not treat anyone less favourably due to an offending background.
Awards
BEST PROJECT
Inside Housing Development Awards
WINNER
2022 Construction News Awards Winner
GOLD AWARD
Investors in People 2022
GOLD AWARD
Considerate Constructors Schemes (CCS) National Site Awards
TOP 50 EMPLOYERS
2022 Top 50 Employers for Women
WINNER
2022 Working Families Best Practice Awards