Milton Abbey School - HR Officer

Summary

We are looking for someone who has technical knowledge and experience of the full range of HR requirements consistent with a small independent school employing just over 100 staff.

Detail

We have an exciting opportunity available to join Milton as the School’s HR Officer. This is a full-time role based at our beautiful site in the village of Milton Abbas working all year round. We are looking for someone who has technical knowledge and experience of the full range of HR requirements consistent with a small independent school employing just over 100 staff. You will be part of a friendly and supportive team and training will be available to enhance skills.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Human resources

• Management of all staff recruitment (from authorisation to recruit through to appointment including required safeguarding and other pre-employment checks)
• Drafting to agreed templates and distribution of offer letters, contracts of employment and variations, pet license agreements, service license agreements and similar employment related documentation
• Working closely with line managers, supervise all aspects of the lifecycle of the employees within agreed policies including (without limitation): Induction and probation, appraisals, flexible working requests, sickness absence, maternity and paternity, retirement and leaver protocols
• Owning employee data and files (electronic and hard copy) to include annual audit and archive of ex-employee files together with the School's Single Central Record of safeguarding information as required under statutory guidance KCSIE (Keeping Children Safe in Education)
• Proactively monitor staff sickness and oversee agreed protocols as regards return to work interviews and assist the Director of Finance and Operations with managing any incidents of long-term sickness if and when they arise including liaison with Occupational Health experts
• Preparation of and issuing references when requested in compliance with school policy
• Ownership, organisation, maintenance and distribution/publication of the employment manual and HR policies (subject to senior leadership approval) and other HR documents.
• Management of the online DBS disclosures site.
• Issuing annual leave cards for relevant staff members and recording annual leave carry forward entitlement.
• Preparation and submission of DFE workforce census and provision of information as required during inspections and audits (e.g. Independent School's Inspectorate).
• Management of HR@miltonabbey email inbox.
• Taking advice on routine HR legal matters from the school's appointed legal advisors, acting consistent with such advice and recognising when to refer contentious matters to the Director of Finance & Operations
• Maintenance and periodic publishing of the school Organogram

Staff Training

• To facilitate training – booking courses once authorised under relevant procedures and protocols, contacting providers and liaising with staff
• To monitor, record, chase, and prompt regarding mandatory training requirements (both inhouse/online and external & particularly Health and Safety related) for the whole school

Payroll

• Maintenance of the staff pay database
• Central liaison with the school's external payroll provider to ensure all staff are paid correctly and on time to include starter information, leaver information, statutory leave (maternity, paternity etc), sickness, variations, timesheets for additional pay (subject to authorisation procedures and protocols), liaison with accounts as regards staff expenses & net pay deductions (e.g. staff common room subscriptions)
• Administrative oversight of school pension schemes working closely with school payroll provider who will manage joiners, leavers and monthly contributions to include opt outs and periodic auto-reenrolment
• Supporting the Director of Finance and Operations in the annual pay review and awards, preparing and distributing pay review letters

Administration Assistance

• Administrative support to the Director of Finance and Operations and the Deputy Head of Operations as regards to H&S policies and documentation to facilitate compliance oversight of departments across the school
• General administrative support for the Director of Finance and Operations as required

Budgets

• Manage HR department budgets for recruitment advertising costs and similar within agreed limits, always assuring best value.

Miscellaneous Assistance

• Support line managers with HR knowledge and experience across full range of HR issues
• Support to the Director of Finance and Operations relating to whole staff wellbeing
• Support the Director of Finance and Operations and Senior Leadership generally in meeting all statutory and other HR compliance requirements (including particularly inspection readiness).
• Any other reasonable duties as requested by the Director of Finance & Operations.

Experience of school HR processes and an understanding of the Single Central Record would be desirable, but full training will be given to a successful candidate whose experience has been gained in sectors other than education. Remuneration will be dependent on experience and skills, but likely to be in the range £30-35k. Our staff also benefit from free parking, free refreshments, and a free lunch.

Documents

• Applicant Pack for HR Officer (Nov 2025) PDF Document