Interim People Operations Manager

This role will support Kinship to operate as an effective and growing charity by ensuring effective day-to-day operations and seamless delivery of the people operations at the charity.

This role is a pivotal role and will hold responsibility for ensuring that all people activity is delivered in a timely and effective manner.

You will ensure that all policies, procedures, and processes relating to the people function are up to date and legally compliant. This will include all employee lifecycle activity such as onboarding/offboarding, employee relations (including performance management), engagement and wellbeing, EDI, and learning and development.

People activity

You will be:

• working with the Chief Operating Officer (COO), the management team and Kinship’s external HR consultants (The HR Dept) to design, develop and embed a high-quality people function to support the employee life cycle
• ensuring all people matters are handled consistently in line with legal requirements and Kinship’s policies and procedures, taking responsibility for the update and launch of the handbook and people policies
• ensuring statutory requests (maternity, paternity, parental leave, carers leave and flexible working) are processed in line with legal requirements
• supporting, coaching and providing clear guidance to line managers on people matters
• contributing to change management activities, disciplinary, capability and grievance procedures (including responsibility for occupational health referrals) with support and guidance from the COO
• working with line managers to embed EDI principles across the charity

Systems and reporting

You will be:

• managing our HR Database (MyHR Toolkit) in conjunction with HR Dept, applicant tracking system, IHASCO, HR-Platform (DBS) and other platforms
• managing other systems and third-party providers such as the employee assistance programme to process employee data in line with data protection best practice and GDPR, iHasco for workstation assessments and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) compliance training, DBS background checking platform and Penelope platform as it relates to system access and initial IT equipment for new joiners
• producing regular high-quality reports for the management team, Board and COO – for example, absence and staff turnover reports from MyHR Toolkit

Recruitment and onboarding

You will be:

• ensuring clear job descriptions, person specifications, recruitment packs and job adverts are legally compliant
• supporting and coaching line managers on the recruitment and interview process including use of the applicant tracking system (ATS) platform
• responsible for candidate background checks, including DBS, references and qualification checks
• responsible for the coordination and database management of volunteer kinship carers for interview panels on request. Ensuring vouchers are issued when required

Induction

You will be:

• contributing to the development of the charity’s induction framework
• ensuring new joiners have an excellent onboarding and induction experience
• coordinating corporate services team induction for new joiners
• coordinating quarterly corporate induction, making changes as required

Employee relations and offboarding

You will be:

• ensuring offboarding processes are robust and implemented consistently to safeguard the charity’s assets and to comply with data protection rules
• issuing appropriate leaver communication on receipt of confirmation of leaver
• conducting exit interviews with leavers, creating meaningful analytics and insights to inform retention strategies
• providing support and guidance to line managers on employee relations matters utilising HR Dept as required

Other

You will be:

• responsible for all template letters ensuring they are compliant and reflect Kinship’s tone of voice
• contributing to monthly staff newsletter
• coding people invoices before sending to COO for authorisation
• supporting the successful organisation and delivery of the staff away day and other staff meetings

A full list of the job requirements is available in the job pack towards the bottom of this page.

The successful candidate will have:

• HR certification or significant demonstrable experience of supporting the development of a high-quality people function within a growing organisation
• an ability to work in a changing and flexible organisation
• demonstrable problem-solving and conflict resolution abilities
• knowledge of best practices, employment laws, and regulations
• effective written communication skills with proven ability to write accurately, clearly, and persuasively for different audiences
• demonstrable communication skills
• strong interpersonal skills – a genuine team player able to relate to a wide range of people
• a high level of accuracy and exceptional attention to detail – including strong numerical skills
• an ability to work on their own initiative and manage their own workload
• demonstrable experience of EDI principles
• the ability to maintain confidentiality and work with discretion as required

Desirable, but not essential, criteria include:

• personal experience of kinship care
• experience of working in a charity environment
• experience of working in a dynamic and fast-changing workplace
• exceptional business-partnering skills