HR Advisor - Maternity Court
| Posting date: | 30 April 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £34,804 per year, pro rata |
| Additional salary information: | (£28,219 pro rata) |
| Hours: | Part time |
| Closing date: | 14 May 2026 |
| Location: | Dover, Kent |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Dover District Council |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: |
Summary
We’re Hiring: HR Advisor (Maternity Cover)
Part time – up to 30 hours per week
(Yes, the job does involve policies… but also judgement, people and real conversations.)
Are you an experienced HR professional who can pick up a caseload, make sense of tricky employment issues, and give clear, pragmatic advice without needing a script?
Do managers come to you with “We’ve got a situation…” and trust you to help them handle it properly?
If you’re comfortable working independently on employee relations casework, but still value having experienced colleagues to sense‑check with, this could be a great fit.
About the Role
We’re looking for an HR Advisor to join our team on a maternity cover basis, working up to 30 hours per week.
This role is very much about hitting the ground running. You’ll be supporting managers with a varied employee relations caseload, providing practical, risk‑aware advice and helping the Council prepare for the changes ahead as we move towards Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).
You won’t be working in isolation – you’ll be part of a supportive HR team with senior professionals around you – but it’s essential that you’re confident working independently, applying employment law where appropriate, and managing casework day to day.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Managing a range of employee relations casework, including discipline, grievance, absence, wellbeing and performance
- Providing clear, pragmatic HR advice that balances policy, best practice and employment law
- Coaching and supporting managers to handle people issues fairly and confidently
- Using HR systems to obtain data driven insights, record, track and progress work (and picking the systems up quickly)
- Supporting the wider team as we plan for and respond to the demands of LGR
- Upskilling managers on essential skills to enable them to excel in their roles
About You
You’ll be someone who:
- Has solid experience in a generalist HR role, particularly employee relations casework
- Has a good working knowledge of UK employment law and knows how to apply it in practice
- Is confident working independently and prioritising their own workload
- Can translate complex HR advice into something managers actually understand
- Is comfortable working in a unionised environment
- Picks up systems and processes quickly
- Ideally qualified up to at least CIPD Level 5 or with demonstrable equivalent experience
- You don’t need to be an expert in everything – but you do need to be capable, practical and ready to get stuck in.
What You’ll Get
- A varied, hands‑on HR Advisor role where your experience really matters
- The chance to work on meaningful casework and organisational change
- Support from experienced HR colleagues who value discussion and sound judgement
- Exposure to LGR preparation work, with scope to build valuable local government experience
- While this post is offered as maternity cover, there may be longer‑term opportunities as the LGR workload increases.
Our Benefits
- We also offer a range of employee benefits, including:
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- Generous annual leave
- Benenden Healthcare and Employee Assistance Programme
- On‑site parking
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Leisure centre discounts
Interested?
For full details, please see the Job Description and Person Specification.
If you’d like an informal conversation about the role, please contact Claire Wagstaff‑Townend, HR and Corporate Health & Safety Manager, via hr@dover.gov.uk.
Closing Date: 5pm Thursday 14 May 2026.
Interviews to be held on: Week commencing 25 May 2026.
Start Date: As soon as possible
The quality of your application will be considered as part of the recruitment process.
We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
Accessibility and Inclusion
Dover District Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all.
If you require this advert or any part of the application process in an alternative format, or if you would like to apply using a different method, please contact HR@dover.gov.uk.
We’re here to support you every step of the way.
What Happens Next?
If you are shortlisted, we will contact you with full details of the next stages in the assessment and interview process. We are committed to a fair, inclusive and transparent recruitment journey.
Part time – up to 30 hours per week
(Yes, the job does involve policies… but also judgement, people and real conversations.)
Are you an experienced HR professional who can pick up a caseload, make sense of tricky employment issues, and give clear, pragmatic advice without needing a script?
Do managers come to you with “We’ve got a situation…” and trust you to help them handle it properly?
If you’re comfortable working independently on employee relations casework, but still value having experienced colleagues to sense‑check with, this could be a great fit.
About the Role
We’re looking for an HR Advisor to join our team on a maternity cover basis, working up to 30 hours per week.
This role is very much about hitting the ground running. You’ll be supporting managers with a varied employee relations caseload, providing practical, risk‑aware advice and helping the Council prepare for the changes ahead as we move towards Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).
You won’t be working in isolation – you’ll be part of a supportive HR team with senior professionals around you – but it’s essential that you’re confident working independently, applying employment law where appropriate, and managing casework day to day.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Managing a range of employee relations casework, including discipline, grievance, absence, wellbeing and performance
- Providing clear, pragmatic HR advice that balances policy, best practice and employment law
- Coaching and supporting managers to handle people issues fairly and confidently
- Using HR systems to obtain data driven insights, record, track and progress work (and picking the systems up quickly)
- Supporting the wider team as we plan for and respond to the demands of LGR
- Upskilling managers on essential skills to enable them to excel in their roles
About You
You’ll be someone who:
- Has solid experience in a generalist HR role, particularly employee relations casework
- Has a good working knowledge of UK employment law and knows how to apply it in practice
- Is confident working independently and prioritising their own workload
- Can translate complex HR advice into something managers actually understand
- Is comfortable working in a unionised environment
- Picks up systems and processes quickly
- Ideally qualified up to at least CIPD Level 5 or with demonstrable equivalent experience
- You don’t need to be an expert in everything – but you do need to be capable, practical and ready to get stuck in.
What You’ll Get
- A varied, hands‑on HR Advisor role where your experience really matters
- The chance to work on meaningful casework and organisational change
- Support from experienced HR colleagues who value discussion and sound judgement
- Exposure to LGR preparation work, with scope to build valuable local government experience
- While this post is offered as maternity cover, there may be longer‑term opportunities as the LGR workload increases.
Our Benefits
- We also offer a range of employee benefits, including:
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- Generous annual leave
- Benenden Healthcare and Employee Assistance Programme
- On‑site parking
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Leisure centre discounts
Interested?
For full details, please see the Job Description and Person Specification.
If you’d like an informal conversation about the role, please contact Claire Wagstaff‑Townend, HR and Corporate Health & Safety Manager, via hr@dover.gov.uk.
Closing Date: 5pm Thursday 14 May 2026.
Interviews to be held on: Week commencing 25 May 2026.
Start Date: As soon as possible
The quality of your application will be considered as part of the recruitment process.
We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
Accessibility and Inclusion
Dover District Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all.
If you require this advert or any part of the application process in an alternative format, or if you would like to apply using a different method, please contact HR@dover.gov.uk.
We’re here to support you every step of the way.
What Happens Next?
If you are shortlisted, we will contact you with full details of the next stages in the assessment and interview process. We are committed to a fair, inclusive and transparent recruitment journey.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.