HR Manager

HR Manager (12 Month Fixed Term Contract) | Cumbria (Carlisle, Kendal or West Cumbria based) | £51,500–£52,500 (3.2% pay award pending) | Full Time or Part Time 4 Days a Week Considered | Hybrid

Do you want a senior HR role where you're trusted to run the operational side of the function properly? Are you ready to deputise for a Head of HR and lead a team through a period of real growth?

This is a 12 month fixed term appointment with a growing education organisation in Carlisle, direct with the employer, and there's a strong possibility of a permanent opportunity for the right person. The organisation is expanding, with new schools joining, a growing workforce and significant people projects underway. The HR function is being reviewed alongside that growth, and this role has been created as a genuine deputy to the Head of HR — influencing how the function develops while staying hands-on with the complex operational work. You'll lead a team of four and report directly to the Head of HR, formally deputising in their absence.

You can be based pretty much anywhere in Cumbria for this one. The schools sit right across the region, so your week is built around where you're needed rather than around an office. The only fixed commitment is Tuesdays in Carlisle for the team meeting day — the rest of the week is split between home and the schools in your patch which will be allocated according to where the team resides.

The Role

You'll take the operational HR agenda off the Head of HR's desk and run it as your own — everything from transactional through to complex casework.

Leading the team

• Manage and develop a team of four (two HR Advisors, two HR Assistants)
• Take ownership of day-to-day HR delivery across a multi-site organisation
• Deputise formally for the Head of HR when required

Employee relations and engagement

• Oversee all ER activity across the organisation
• Personally handle the more complex and senior cases
• Coach and support managers through casework, building confidence and consistency
• Act as a trusted adviser to senior leaders, with the confidence to challenge where it's needed
• Build proper working relationships with Headteachers and leadership teams across your area
• Support engagement and retention activity that fits the culture of each school

Bringing new schools on board

This is one of the biggest parts of the role. As new schools join, you'll own the people side of each transfer from start to finish.

• Lead the TUPE process for each incoming school, including due diligence, measures, employee liability information and transfer timelines
• Manage formal consultation with recognised trade unions, working with union representatives throughout the transfer and beyond
• Handle the harmonisation questions that come with bringing staff across on local authority terms and conditions, and advise on where terms are protected and where they are not
• Run change processes post-transfer, including restructure, consultation and redundancy where required
• Get each new school properly integrated into the wider organisation

People operations

• Oversee payroll, pensions and compliance across the organisation
• Contribute to a new payroll provider implementation project in 2027
• Make sure people operations keep pace as the workforce grows

Systems, data and improvement

• Drive continuous improvement across HR systems, processes and reporting
• Build meaningful people analytics and workforce insight that senior leaders will actually use
• Shape how the function works as it's reviewed and restructured for growth

Projects and policy

• Support the launch of a new management development and training programme
• Keep policies current with employment legislation, including the Employment Rights Bill

You'll Flourish if You Have

• A senior HR background with genuine people management experience
• Strength across both operational delivery and the more strategic side of the function
• Hands-on TUPE experience — not just awareness of the process, but having actually run transfers, managed consultation and dealt with what surfaces afterwards
• Significant employee relations expertise in a unionised environment, including formal consultation and day-to-day relationships with union reps
• Experience leading change, consultation and organisational transformation
• A working knowledge of local authority terms and conditions and how they apply once staff have transferred
• The credibility to influence and challenge at senior level
• Education sector experience is highly desirable, though relevant experience from a complex public sector environment is equally welcome
• CIPD Level 5 ideally, though relevant experience carries equal weight
• A full UK driving licence and the ability to travel to schools across your allocated area
• Availability for Tuesdays in Carlisle as an anchor day

Why You'll Love Working Here

• £51,500–£52,500 with a 3.2% pay award pending (Taking pay up to £54,180)
• Local Government Pension Scheme with 16.9% employer contribution
• 24 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays
• Full time or four days a week — both genuinely considered (salary quoted is full time equivalent and pro-rata for reduced hours)
• Flexible hybrid pattern — Tuesdays in Carlisle, with the rest of your week split between home and the schools in your area. 
• Start date flexible from 1 September onwards
• A 12 month contract with a strong possibility of something permanent for the right person
• Exposure to high-profile transformation work, and a real say in how the HR function is shaped

This role is moving at quickly, so please get in touch as soon as possible.

Safer Recruitment

Foxgroves Recruitment follows safer recruitment practice on all appointments within education and regulated settings, in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education and the statutory guidance that applies to our clients. As part of any application you may be asked to provide a full employment history with an explanation of any gaps, references covering your most recent roles including your most recent employer in a role working with children, and details of any relevant convictions in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check with a children's barred list check, and to any further checks required by the employer before an appointment is confirmed.