People Advisor

We are looking for an experienced People Advisor to provide a responsive and people-focused HR service, partnering with managers and employees across allocated business areas to provide practical advice and guidance throughout the employee lifecycle. As part of the People Business Partnering team, you’ll collaborate closely with colleagues across the People and Culture team: Resourcing & Reward, Organisational Development & Culture, and Health, Safety & Wellbeing.

Our People & Culture team works with approximately 800 employees carrying out an incredibly diverse range of work, from caring for our film collections and bringing festivals and events to life, to running our cinemas and delivering essential business functions.

Job Summary:

Our People Advisors deliver a responsive, people-focused HR service, providing professional, best practice advice and support across allocated business areas. They build trusted relationships with managers and employees, offering tailored, solutions-focused guidance that demonstrates the value and expertise of the People & Culture function. People Advisors also contribute to project work and support the delivery of the People strategy, identifying opportunities for improvement and helping to ensure services align with best practice and organisational objectives.

Key Responsbilities:

Employee Life Cycle

Provide accurate, efficient and proactive support across the full employee lifecycle, including leading on the process for joiners and leavers, promotions, contract changes, restructures, disciplinary and grievance matters, absence management, investigations, flexible working, family and compassionate leave, performance management, and probations.  

Prepare and maintain documentation following these meetings, including initiating and processing any required contract amendments.

Advise managers on workforce planning, working closely with the People Business Partner to ensure teams are effectively structured and resourced.

Support and advise managers on recruitment planning, helping to align recruitment timelines with service priorities and minimise delays in filling roles.

Lead on the employee exit process, ensuring all leavers are invited to complete exit questionnaires and arranging and conducting exit interviews, creating a confidential and safe environment that encourages honest feedback.

Analyse exit data and shared feedback to identify themes and insights, sharing these with managers and People Business Partners. Work with managers to address issues raised and support continuous improvement in people management practices.

Monitor the People Team inbox, ensuring queries are responded to and/or escalated in a timely manner.

Employee Relations

Act as the first point of contact for line managers and employees, providing clear, pragmatic advice and guidance on people policies and procedures, 

Coach and support managers to handle people matters sensitively and effectively, utilising a solutions focused approach which promotes the timely resolution of concerns. Working in close partnership with People Business Partners to ensure complex or high-risk cases are identified and next steps determined.

 Provide support and advice to managers during employee relations cases including reorganisations, grievances, disciplinary investigations, ill health and any other people related matters. Prepare relevant documentation following meetings.  

Support line managers and advise on managing short term and long-term sickness absences and managing referrals to Occupational Health where necessary.

To support the completion of sickness absence reviews in accordance with the policy, providing advice and guidance to line managers and employees, assessing any support requirements and drafting and issuing documentation summarising the meetings and agreed outcomes. 

Advise on job evaluations for new and existing roles, guiding managers and employees through the Gauge Evaluation System and Pay and Grading  scheme, ensuring evaluations are completed with consistency and fairness, and the integrity of the system is maintained.  

To act as the secretary to your client group’s joint partnership committee with our recognised trade unions, ensuring that they are organised well, with notes, papers and agendas prepared and distributed within the agreed deadlines. 

HR Systems and Data

Along with the People Coordinators, ensure that people data is accurate and up to date on iTrent and MyBFI, working with the People Projects & Systems Advisor to address gaps and data quality issues and highlighting trends or changes to the People Business Partner. 

Work with Finance, Payroll and the People Coordinators to ensure all people changes are actioned on iTrent in a timely manner and in accordance with the payroll cycles. 

Maintain and update organisational charts on a monthly basis to reflect structural changes, new joiners, role adjustments, and any other changes.

Maintain and develop our documentation systems in line with our record retention policies, ensuring that key people documentation is maintained appropriately and ‘audit ready’.

Assist with the preparation of HR reports and analytics to support decision-making.

Onboarding

Support on the induction of all new employees ensuring individuals receive a warm welcome and engaging People Team induction to introduce them to the BFI. Ensure line managers are aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to onboarding new joiners.

Contribute to the delivery of the quarterly Corporate Induction by presenting on a rota basis.

Support management of the probation process by providing advice and guidance to managers, overseeing the timely completion of documentation by line managers and issuing of confirmation of probation outcomes to individuals and associated pay uplifts where necessary.

Promote and signpost employees and line managers to L&D opportunities and resources to support continuous professional development.

Other Tasks

To support on People projects and wider BFI-initiatives, carrying out research and design work as agreed

To provide cover for the People Advisor and other colleagues as required.

To actively participate in People Team meetings, planning, development and team building events.

Undertake any other duties that may be reasonably required.

Success Measures

• Build strong, trusted relationships with managers and employees and a good understanding of allocated business areas, providing timely, accurate and solutions-focused advice and support.
• Deliver employee lifecycle and employee relations activity efficiently, consistently and to a high standard.
• Build manager confidence and capability through clear advice, coaching and practical support, enabling people matters to be managed effectively and at the right level.
• Maintain accurate, timely and audit-ready people data, records and documentation.
• Contribute proactively to People projects, service improvements and the delivery of the People strategy.
• Build strong relationships with colleagues in the People and Culture team, working cross-collaboratively across the different functions within the team.

Knowledge & Experience

• Proven experience working in an HR / People Advisor or similar generalist role, with a good awareness of general HR issues plus you will be qualified CIPD Level 5 or working towards your CIPD Level 5, or with equivalent experience.
• Good knowledge of UK employment legislation and its practical application to employee relations and people management matters.
• Demonstrable experience of advising and supporting managers across a range of employee relations matters.
• Experience of working with managers and stakeholders to deliver people interventions and support organisational or workforce change.
• Experience of using Microsoft Office 365 and an HR information system (such as iTrent) to manage employee data, process payroll and run basic reports.

Salary: £35,640 - £41,763 per annum

We normally appoint at the minimum of the pay scale but may match your current salary to the nearest point on our scale (subject to verification and if the role is comparable). After completing the 6‑month probation period, you will move to the role’s spot rate of £38,709 (if not appointed at that rate or higher).

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 with service) + bank holidays + the option to buy up to 5 extra days of annual leave
• Additional paid time off between Christmas and New Year
• BFI pension scheme with 5% employer contribution
• BFI Childcare Scheme, where we contribute to childcare costs
• Enhanced pay for Maternity & Paternity leave
• Complimentary tickets to BFI Southbank & IMAX screenings and events
• Free BFI Player subscription + discount on BFI merchandise, and film tickets
• A hybrid working model

Plus more!