Employee Relations Advisor. Alderley Edge, Cheshire

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £36-41,000 per annum

Hours Per Week: Full-time, 40 hours per week

Working Hours: Monday – Friday, office based, with 1 working day a week at home if desired.

Vita Group is a developer and operator of high-quality, intelligent residential communities that are redefining renting, co-living, and urban life.

Through its innovative family of brands, Vita Group designs, develops, and operates tailored living environments that enable people to thrive at different stages of their lives.

Vita Student delivers inspirational spaces and experiences to enhance university life. House of Social reimagines shared student living, blending accommodation with vibrant food, drink, and music destinations. Uhaus brings modern, city-centre build-to-rent living for professionals, while Union redefines co-living with flexibility and community at its core

With over 900 employees and counting across all our brands, we have a new opportunity for an Employee Relations Advisor to join the People Team who are committed to supporting this continued growth and success by providing the best HR service, while continuously striving to ensure a positive employee experience.

Our Employee Relations Advisor

In this role you’ll work closely with the Head of HR and other members of the team to ensure a high-quality service is delivered to the business. You’ll deliver a high quality, risk-aware and solutions focused ER service across our company, taking the lead on ER cases and provide comprehensive advice and support to employees and managers in line with employment law and best practice. You’ll take a proactive approach and always look for opportunities for the HR function to add value to the business, empower our people managers, and cultivate a brilliant employee experience.

• Act as a point of contact for all ER matters, providing expert advice and guidance to ensure issues are resolved quickly, effectively and in line with company policies..

• Manage high-volume ER casework including disciplinary, grievance, performance and absence management.

• Coach and mentor managers to build capability and confidence.

• Collaborate with managers to embed best practice.

• Contribute to policy development and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Support, challenge, coach and upskill managers in all Employee Relations matters, from early intervention to formal cases, including performance management, probation reviews, absence management, maternity/paternity, wellbeing, investigations, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancies and advice on all other policies.

• Manage complex employee relations casework.

• Handle ACAS conciliation, mediation, and prepare case bundles for Employment Tribunals.

• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders within the organisation.

• Hold monthly HR meetings with Regional Managers.

• Providing timely HR reports and responding to ad hoc data requests, spotting trends that identify opportunities for change.

• Maintain a good awareness of Employment Law and keep up to date with changes, by watching webinars, attending employment law updates, seminars and subscribing to HR publications.

Reporting

This role will report to the Head of HR. Performance indicators include:

• Successful resolution of ER caseload

• Relationships with key internal stakeholders

• Successful delivery of projects within agreed timescales

Who We’re Looking For

 Professional Experience

• Extensive experience as a ER Advisor or Specialist in a high-volume environment.

• Excellent knowledge of UK employment law and ER best practice.

• CIPD Level 5 or equivalent experience

• Proven experience with ACAS conciliation, mediation and Employment Tribunal preparation.

• Strong communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills

• High integrity, professionalism and ability to handle sensitive information.

• Willingness to travel to our sites across the UK occasionally as needed to support complex cases and deliver training

Personal Characteristics

• Have a high standard of English (written and oral).

• Be flexible and adaptable when plans or policies change, often at short notice.

• A strong sense of ownership, emotional intelligence, and a determination to turn challenges into results.

• Have strong risk-aware and intuitive

• Be resilient and persistent — not discouraged by difficult conversations.

• Emotional intelligence — able to read tone, context, and non-verbal cues to guide conversations and decisions.

• Possess excellent planning and organisational skills.

• Enthusiasm, a flexible approach to working, and a willingness to go the extra mile when required.

• An excellent listener and all-round brilliant communicator.

• Passionate about connecting with and understanding employees and colleagues.

• Resilient, organised, with a can-do attitude.

Why work for us…….

We’re an ambitious business with big plans, powered by teams who care about doing great work and doing it well together. We aim to create an environment where people feel supported, challenged, and trusted with fair, competitive rewards and a culture that helps people perform at their best.

Our head office is designed with people in mind: a modern workspace set in green surroundings, with an onsite restaurant and padel court. Working at Vita means being part of a team that looks out for one another, with thoughtful perks, good food, regular social moments, and wellbeing support that make Vita a place people choose to stay and grow.

Holidays – 22 days paid holiday, rising each year up to 25 days (pro rata).

Flexible Working Hours – Flexible start/finish times between the hours of 08:30 - 18:00

Bank Holidays – 8 paid holidays (England & Wales Bank Holidays) (pro rata).

Free on-site Parking - Free parking on-site. If you don't drive, we are within a 5 minute walk to both train and bus stops.

Free on-Site Restaurant – Discretionary free breakfast & lunch served 5 days a week at our premium on-site restaurant.

Free on-site Padel Court - Cancel that gym membership, and enjoy the fun of padel; providing a full-body workout that boosts cardiovascular health, improves coordination, agility, and strength, while burning calories and bonding with colleagues!

Free Stockport County Football Club Tickets – Free football tickets for employees, to be accompanied by friends or family.

Perkbox – All employees are given access to a Perkbox account, enabling them to choose lifestyle perks that matter by giving points to spend on a wide range of products, services & experiences, such as; cinema tickets, supermarket savings, discounted days out, a daily coffee or a summer holiday – there’s something to suit everyone!

Royal London Pension – We care about our people and their future. Vita Group contribute a financial value of 3% of salary to your pension pot in addition to 5% employee contribution to help prepare for the future.

Parties & Events – We expect high standards from our people and like to reward demanding work by hosting parties and events each year, encouraging colleagues to let their hair down, have a great time and celebrate success together.

Career Development – Whether your Vita Group career is a medium or long-term venture; we onboard all employees by means of a thorough induction, delivering professional progression.

24/7 Employee Assistance – The wellbeing of our colleagues is of vital importance to Vita Group. All employees have access to a confidential service; offering support and guidance for personal or work-related issues that may be impacting wellbeing.

Important

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer Right to Work Sponsorship. Therefore, if you do require a company to sponsor your Right to Work in the UK, we will not be able to progress your application further.

All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks which will include Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks.