HR Officer

HR Officer

Location: Remote (Occasional travel to one of the offices in Southampton, Welwyn Garden City, Glasgow, Plymouth, Manchester and Birmingham)

Salary: Up to £150 per day depending on skills and experience

Hours: Part time (22.5 hours per week)

EDT is an educational charity established over 40 years ago and we are going through an exciting period of transformation. We are looking for a motivated and creative person to join our dynamic team and work with our partners and volunteers to create and deliver our projects and experiences to young people interested in STEM and future (META) skills.

Our vision is to create a society which empowers young people, regardless of their backgrounds, to be excited by STEM opportunities and to be inspired about their potential developing the next generation of the UK workforce.

Our mission is to inspire young people, ensuring they have the opportunity and confidence to reach their full potential, enabling them to contribute to their communities and improve their social mobility. We do this by connecting them with industry and inspiring STEM role models, exploring pathways from education to employment, developing a broad range of skills to improve their work readiness and celebrate their achievements through Industrial Cadets Awards at each milestone.

EDT is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce, Trustees, and the programmes that we run. The aim is for our workforce, governing structures and the programmes that we run, to be truly representative of all sections of society, and for each EDT Employee, Volunteer and Participant to feel respected and able to give their best.

The Role

The HR Administrator will provide essential administrative and coordination support across the charity, ensuring that HR processes run smoothly and efficiently. As a small operational team with limited capacity, we are seeking additional support to ease the administrative workload currently carried by managers and the Finance & HR Manager. The postholder will help ensure staff are onboarded and supported consistently, that key HR tasks are completed on time, and that accurate records and documentation are maintained. This role focuses on strong organisation, attention to detail, and customer service rather than HR expertise, with access to external HR advice available when needed.

Key Responsibilities

Recruitment & Interview Administration

• Post job adverts and support recruitment administration, including scheduling interviews and coordinating candidate communications.
• Assist hiring managers with preparing interview materials and ensuring recruitment documents are filed appropriately.
• Carry out pre-employment compliance checks such as right-to-work verification.

Onboarding & Offboarding

• Prepare and issue contracts of employment and set up new starters in the HR portal.
• Calculate and communicate holiday entitlement for new starters.
• Support new employees during onboarding by responding to routine queries and ensuring required information is collected.
• Manage DBS/PVG applications and renewals, ensuring certificates are returned and recorded. Track references
• Support the offboarding process: acknowledge resignations, confirm holiday balances, and ensure all documentation is completed.

HR Administration & Employee Lifecycle Support

• Process changes to staff records including hours changes, contract updates, promotions, or flexible working arrangements.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date employee information in the HR portal, including absence recording.
• Respond to day-to-day HR queries from staff and managers, signposting to the Finance & HR Manager or external HR support when needed.
• Update HR templates, documents, and policies on the HR portal.
• Monitor and track probation reviews and send reminders to managers.

Compliance, Training & HR Systems

• Track and record completion of mandatory training (e.g. safeguarding, GDPR, health & safety).
• Ensure digital and paper records comply with GDPR and safeguarding requirements.
• Assist with the implementation and ongoing administration of a new HR system or portal. Support the annual review of HR policies by updating documentation and coordinating communication

Skills and Qualifications

• Experience in an administrative or coordination role, preferably within a busy office or operational environment.
• Exposure to HR processes (such as onboarding, record-keeping, or recruitment admin) OR a willingness to learn and develop HR process knowledge.
• Good understanding of the basic steps involved in HR administration (e.g., issuing contracts, updating records, tracking absence).
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritise effectively, and maintain attention to detail.
• Confident in using digital systems and maintaining accurate records; experience with HR systems is helpful but not essential.
• Clear and professional communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to handle confidential information appropriately.
• Proactive, reliable, and able to work independently within a supportive team structure. Competent user of Microsoft Office/365 (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams).

Desirable

• Experience providing administrative support in a charity, education, or small-team environment.
• Familiarity with safeguarding, mandatory training requirements, or DBS/PVG processes. Experience supporting organisational processes or system implementation.

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for EDT, please do not hesitate to apply.