HR Business Partner

Essex; Hutton, Southend-on-Sea; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A multi-academy trust in Essex is seeking a motivated HR Business Partner to provide HR support for its secondary and primary schools. The role involves managing employee relations, performance management, and overseeing a diverse caseload. While HR experience in education is not essential, a strong interest in this field is required. The position allows some flexibility in remote work, supporting schools with HR initiatives and practices designed to enhance educational delivery.

Benefits

Pension scheme with Life Assurance

Generous Referral Bonus

Employee Assistance Programme

Health Cash plan for healthcare costs

Ongoing training and professional development

Qualifications

• Strong interest in practicing HR in the educational sector.
• Ability to manage a varied caseload effectively.
• Flexibility in working remotely while supporting schools.

Responsibilities

• Support people managers with employee relations issues.
• Manage performance management and absence management cases.
• Ensure efficient, high-quality HR support across schools.

Skills

HR experience in education

Understanding employee relations

Performance management

Good communication skills

Job description

is using its own application form, please click the button below to download and view it as Essex School Jobs cannot automatically fill out an application form that has been created by a school. You will need to download the application form before you are able to complete it.

Position Start Date: 01/03/2026 Contract Type: Full-time Contract Term: Permanent

Application Close: 09/01/2026 Midday Date of Interviews: w/c 19 January 2026

Discovery Educational Trust - HR Business Partner

We are looking for a motivated self-starter who wants to make this new role their own. The HRBP role will support our two secondary schools in Brentwood and Southend, also sharing best practice and initiatives with our three primary schools (all Brentwood based). You will be part of a supportive central team and will work closely with our school leadership teams.

HR experience in education is not essential, however, you will have a strong interest in learning the particular nuances of practicing HR in this unique sector. This post will cover the full employee life cycle, with an emphasis on supporting people managers with employee relations, performance management and absence management cases, requiring you to manage a varied caseload and competing priorities.

You will be based at our central offices at St Martin's School in Brentwood, with split site responsibilities to support Chase High School in Southend. We can offer some flexibility in working remotely around your commitments for both schools, however this is a full time, year-round role and not a term time post. You will primarily be supporting our two secondary schools, but as the role develops, you will support and share best practice initiatives with our three primary schools.

We are in the process of centralising aspects of our HR services within the Trust, so you will be joining at an exciting time of change as we develop this offering. This new HRBP role will play a key part in ensuring we provide efficient, high-quality HR support that helps our schools, through their people, deliver the best education possible for their pupils.

If you are a flexible self starter, keen to be part of our continuing journey, we would love to hear from you.

Information about the School

Discovery Educational Trust, formed in 2014, is a successful and established multi-academy trust based in South Essex, comprising just under 4000 pupils and 500 staff, across 5 schools.

Our schools are:

• Chase High School (Westcliff-on-Sea)
• St. Martin's School (Brentwood)
• Hogarth Primary School (Brentwood)
• Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School (Brentwood)
• Larchwood Primary School (Brentwood)

We aim for each of our schools to become the school of choice within the community, offering a broad and exciting range of extracurricular activities to enhance the opportunities within their formal curriculum.

Our vision is that strong and effective leadership places our children and young people at the heart of everything we do.We value relationships, which are open and honest, underpinned by kindness, trustworthiness and compassion.

We offer ongoing training and professional development for all staff in a supportive and collaborative environment.

We offer the following benefits for employees:

• Pension scheme - also automatically includes Life Assurance
• Generous Referral Bonus for employees who refer quality candidates to join Discovery Educational Trust
• Two-week October half term (term time staff)
• Employee savings and discounts
• Employee Assistance Programme – free confidential wellbeing support for employees and dependants
• Mental Health First Aiders – we have qualified MHFA England trainers within the Trust and continue to add to our pool of trained MHFAs
• Ongoing training and professional development in a supportive and collaborative environment
• Gifted Service Leave for long service
• Health Cash plan to support with every day healthcare costs – e.g. dental, optical, physiotherapy. Includes Virtual GP service

As an equal opportunities employer, Discovery Educational Trust is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age; disability; gender re-assignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race (which includes ethnic origin, nationality and ethnic or national origins); religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation. We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join Discovery Educational Trust.

The Discovery Educational Trust is committed to safeguarding our pupils against radicalisation and extremism and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

In compliance with safer recruitment procedures and guidelines, all applications must be made on an application form, CVs will not be accepted. This appointment will be subject to pre-employment checks including an enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service and satisfactory references.

All appointments are subject to safer recruitment requirements to ensure the safeguarding of children and young people. All positions will involve appropriate checks and clearances.

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Paul Griffiths
St Martin's House, St Martin's School
Hanging Hill Lane
Hutton, Brentwood
Essex, CM13 2HG Telephone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]