Cannon James
Senior People Officer
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HR Role: Senior People Officer
Here's an HR role that won't have you doing the same three things on repeat.
We're recruiting for a Senior People Officer on behalf of a well-established medical royal college in central London, the kind of organisation where "HR" still means the whole picture, not one slice of it. If you've been the person managers actually come to when things get complicated, this one's worth five minutes of your time.
What's Different About This Role
Most senior HR roles at this level narrow you down to a specialism. This one doesn't. You'll own employee relations casework end to end from disciplinary, grievance, capability, sickness absence, change, while also running recruitment, keeping an eye on payroll and benefits, and shaping the policies and projects that sit underneath all of it.
You report to the People and Culture Manager, but you'll work closely with the Director of People and Culture and senior leaders across the organisation, and you're trusted to use your own judgement to get there.
It's a small, close-knit People and Culture team. No micromanagement, no waiting for sign-off on every call and no "HR for HR" either. This is a team that's honest about the emotional weight of the work and looks after each other because of it.
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What You'll Actually Be Doing
- Acting as the go-to on employment law, HR policy and people practice — advising managers and senior leaders with real authority, not just a policy link
- Leading complex ER casework independently: investigations, reports, risk calls, and coaching managers through it so they build their own confidence over time
- Running recruitment end to end, plus oversight of payroll and benefits administration
- Contributing to workforce planning, organisational development and change programmes
- Digging into workforce data and turning it into insight leadership can actually use
- Helping drive engagement, wellbeing and EDI initiatives — the employee experience is treated as core work, not an add-on
What They're Looking For
Someone with genuine, current employee relations depth, you should know the Employment Rights Bill cold, not just be aware it exists. Ideally you've worked somewhere small or mid-sized, where there wasn't a separate ER function to hand things off to. If your HR experience so far has been one corner of a large corporate machine with dedicated recruiters and a specialist ER team, this probably isn't the right fit. If you've been the one holding the whole picture, it will feel very familiar.
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- CIPD Level 5 qualified (or close to it) is expected. Charity, membership body or healthcare/education sector experience is a bonus, not a requirement.
Worth Knowing
- Hybrid working — roughly one day a week in the office
- Great employer pension contribution, with an additional match available
- Private healthcare
- A function that's investing seriously in HR tech and process, not just adding headcount to paper over the cracks
- Real autonomy to run your own projects, not just execute someone else's
The organisation is genuinely growing, and the team has a track record of investing in the people who join them.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
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