Human resources assistant jobs

The Role

The Trust has grown significantly over the past five years, from a team of 30 staff in 2020 to almost 60 in 2026. Our organisational strategy, which takes us to 2030/2031, predicts further growth across all our activities, that will allow us to increase and improve the support we provide for young people, and further raise the profile of social mobility in the UK. As part of this, we are currently in the early development stages for the Trust’s first ever People Strategy.

We are seeking an organised and detail-oriented HR Assistant: Recruitment to support the administration of our recruitment, onboarding and compliance processes.

The Team

The HR Assistant: Recruitment will join a small and dynamic team that covers Finance, Human Resources, IT and Business Operations. The Finance & Operations team play a critical role by running the day-to-day operations and providing the infrastructure that enables the continued delivery of the Trust’s mission and objectives. The role will report to the Senior Operations Manager and will work closely with colleagues both in Finance & Operations and across the wider Trust.

Main duties

Pre- and Post-Employment

• Coordinating the end-to-end recruitment process, e.g., ensuring completeness of recruitment documentation, coordinating interviews, liaising with candidates etc.

• Providing routine recruitment advice and support for hiring managers, with support from your line manager

• Supporting key employee lifecycle processes, including onboarding, induction, probation reviews and leavers' processes

• Maintaining an awareness of current employment trends, processes and best practice to support effective and inclusive recruitment and onboarding

HR Administration and Compliance

• Managing HR documentation, e.g., staff files, new starter contracts etc.

• Maintaining and updating HR systems, e.g., Teamtailor ATS, Personio etc.

• Supporting the Finance team with payroll administration

• Supporting the coordination and monitoring of mandatory HR compliance training across the Trust

• Supporting with day-to-day queries relating to HR policies and processes, with support from your line manager. Completing related research, as required.

Other

• Acting as the Trust's first point of contact, by providing a responsive and efficient service for general external and internal telephone and email enquiries

• Supporting general HR projects, as required

• Other duties as necessary from time to time

Person Specification

We welcome applications from individuals who can demonstrate:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and first-class interpersonal skills

• Strong organisational and problem-solving skills, with the ability to multi-task

• Ability to learn new systems and processes quickly

We are also looking for an individual who is or has:

• Sympathetic to the aims of the Trust and its mission to address educational disadvantage

• High attention to detail

• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and independently with a high degree of initiative

• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information appropriately

• Ability to work flexibly, manage competing priorities and meet deadlines

• Eligible to work in the UK (see here for information about right to work, please note we are not a licensed visa sponsor)

In addition, experience in the following areas will help you to stand out. However, this is not required, and training will be provided if needed for the right candidate:

• Experience of providing administrative support, particularly in an HR capacity

• Experience of managing a range of different projects

• Experience of working in the education or not-for-profit sector

Terms of Appointment

• Contract: Full-time (part-time 4 days considered), 12-month fixed-term contract initially

• Salary: £30,800-£31,500

• Working location: Our home working policy gives staff the option to work from home for up to 60% of the time, with approval from their line manager.

• Office location: The Sutton Trust, 9th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP.

• Hours: The standard working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and may also be required to attend events / meetings outside of their normal working hours during weekday evenings and occasionally at weekends

• DBS check may be required

Interviews

Applications should reach us by 10am, Thursday 18th June, with interviews held in our London offices on Wednesday, 24th June.

Safeguarding statement

The Sutton Trust believes that a child, young person or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind. We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. Therefore all posts undergo a safer recruitment process, including but not limited to, disclosure of criminal records where necessary and eligibility to work in the UK. We have procedures in place to promote safeguarding and a safe culture at the Trust.

Contextual recruitment

The Trust is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and that all applicants receive equal consideration for employment. We strongly encourage individuals from all backgrounds, including those underrepresented at present at the Trust, to apply for this role. As such we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. We are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming place to work and know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for the young people we support.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates throughout our recruitment process and during employment.

We also operate contextual recruitment at the Sutton Trust. Our application process gives you the option to include information about your background, such as whether you were eligible for free school meals, whether your parents went to university, or whether you attended a state school. For more examples and information on contextual recruitment, please see our website.