About this role
Job summary
Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week
We are looking for an enthusiastic and proactive HR Advisor to join our People & OD team at Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced HR professional to provide high-quality, specialist HR advice and support to managers across the Trust, helping to promote fair, consistent and legally compliant employment practice.
Working autonomously and as part of a supportive HR team, you will play a key role in delivering the Trust's People Strategy and supporting our managers to create a positive, inclusive and high-performing working environment.
Main duties of the job
As an HR Advisor, you will:
Provide practical, professional HR advice to managers on employee relations matters including disciplinary, grievance, capability, attendance management and resourcing issues Support managers with investigations, hearings and meetings, including complex and sensitive cases Act as a trusted advisor, guiding managers on Trust HR policies, employment law and best practice Proactively support absence management, analysing data and advising on plans to improve attendance Contribute to the development, review and implementation of HR policies and procedures Support organisational change and redeployment processes, ensuring an inclusive and consultative approach Deliver HR skills training and workshops for managers, alongside HR Business Partners Work in partnership with trade unions and staff representatives where appropriate Contribute to HR projects aligned to the Trust's People Strategy Deputise for senior HR colleagues when required
About us
The Trusts services are provided from three locations:
The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire.
The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery
Job description Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the essential criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer YES to the question: Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?
Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.
The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.
If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies which is payable to the DBS Service.Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costswill be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
CIPD qualified, Degree or equivalent experience
Knowledge Essential
Demonstrate a range of HR Advisory experience in a medium sized organisation. Demonstrate experience in investigating and advising in cases at disciplinary and other hearings/panels Experience of delivering training to managers at all levels Detailed working knowledge of employment law and practice
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details Employer name Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address Countess of Chester Hospital
Liverpool Road
Chester
CH2 1UL
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.coch.nhs.uk/working-with-us.aspx (Opens in a new tab)