HR Support Advisor

Contract:                  Fixed Term (6-months)
Working Hours:         37 hours per week
Working Pattern:       Mon – Thurs 1130-2000 & Friday 1200-2000 (1 hour meal break)
Salary:                       £31,022 to £33,699 per annum – Grade 5 NJC
Location:                    Service HQ, Kelvedon Park

Closing Date:           Midnight on 11th June 2026

This is a hybrid role, your work will be balanced between home and Services facilities, and you will be expected to attend the Service premises for at least 3 days of a 5-day working week.  

This role is a fixed-term opportunity. There may be an opportunity to have this extended or made permanent following a competitive process

We anticipate this to be a popular vacancy. As such we reserve the right to interview ahead of the published closing date.

The Role

Are you a dynamic and passionate individual looking to make a difference in a fast-paced environment? Essex County Fire & Rescue Service is seeking an enthusiastic and driven HR Support Advisor to join our People Operations Team and play a crucial role in supporting our employees as they protect and serve our community.

This role is at the forefront of providing key administrative HR support and serves as a first point of contact for our managers and colleagues who work around the clock. You will play a vital role in ensuring a smooth experience across the employment lifecycle from onboarding to ongoing support and development.

Ideally, you will be experienced within a HR transactional role and familiar with updating and maintaining HR systems; we use ‘Civica HR’, so experience with a similar system would be a bonus. You will also bring the ability to prioritise HR tasks and queries as they come in.  

Providing our customers with a quality experience is our top priority, so a commitment to high standards of service and communication are essential to help us deliver this. The role will be varied, supporting several teams and departments, as well as working collaboratively across the People Services department.  

You will be working alongside a great team of HR Support Advisors who truly encourage and support each other in all we do and working for an employer with lots of benefits, including local government pension scheme, blue-light discounts, family friendly policies and hybrid working options.  

What You Will Be Working On

If you can demonstrate the following, we would love to meet you:

• Efficiency in managing, prioritising and organising workloads 
• An ability to well work under pressure and to deadlines
• Strong levels of attention to detail and accuracy
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
• An ability to build and maintain effective working relationships
• Previous experience delivering a high quality, customer focused approach 

Eligibility

• Previous experience in an HR or People-related role
• Level 2 qualification in Maths & English (GCSE grade C-A, or 4-9, or Functional Skills)

If you are an internal candidate, you must have discussed your application with your line manager and confirmed with them there are no outstanding issues of conduct or performance. This will be verified prior to shortlisting.

How to apply

You will be required to submit a supporting statement of no more than 750 words that demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria of the Person Specification. You may submit this either as a word document, pdf, or an mp3 (voice note) or mp4 (video), however the word count must not exceed 750 words no matter which format you choose to present your application.  

You may attach separate documents (such as qualifications, or a CV) should you wish. Your additional documents will be referred to in shortlisting to confirm eligibility (e.g., your current role and any existing qualifications).

Assessment and selection:

The assessment and selection approach will apply to all candidates (internal and external) and will be: