Careers with learndirect

Human Resources & People Manager

learndirect is all about education, people can transform their lives and reach career goals. learndirect has been empowering individuals to reach the height of their potential for many years, with a forward-thinking digital approach.

As the UK’s leading online learning provider, we have helped millions of learners gain qualifications that have led to exciting careers. Our work is to empower, inspire, and transform lives through flexible education made accessible to all adults. We offer education to individuals from all backgrounds and at any stage of their life and career.

Through partnerships with industry-leading providers in multiple sectors, learndirect has helped more than 4.5 million learners get the qualifications they need. With rapid expansion well underway, you could become a part of the online solution to educational needs.

Job Purpose:

We are seeking a confident and experienced HR & People Manager (Generalist) to join learndirect. This is a hands-on, autonomous role where you will take ownership of day-to-day HR operations while also playing a key role in supporting organisational change, employee relations, and people strategy.

You will act as a trusted HR partner across the business, supporting managers and employees at all levels. You will be responsible for delivering a high-quality, compliant, and commercially focused HR service in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

This role requires strong generalist HR experience, proven payroll exposure, and the ability to operate independently with minimal supervision. Experience with Employment Hero (or similar HR systems) is highly desirable.

This role will be based in our Bournemouth Head Office.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

HR Operations & Employee Lifecycle

• Manage the full employee lifecycle including recruitment, onboarding, contracts, and offboarding
• Maintain accurate HR records and ensure data integrity across the HR system (Employment Hero preferred)
• Support monthly payroll preparation and validation
• Act as system owner and first point of contact for HR system queries and reporting
• Support contractor onboarding and administration

Employee Relations & Advisory

• Provide clear, confident HR advice to managers and employees on a range of ER matters
• Manage cases including disciplinary, grievance, absence, and performance issues
• Support and advise on redundancy, and organisational change

People Development & Performance

• Support performance management processes, including 1:1s and performance improvement plans
• Deliver induction sessions for new starters
• Support the development of management capability through training and guidance
• Contribute to engagement, recognition, and retention initiatives

HR Projects & Business Change

• Support HR input into M&A activity, due diligence, and integration harmonisation projects
• Assist with organisational restructuring and change programmes
• Provide HR reporting, analysis, and insights to support decision-making
• Contribute to board-level reporting and workforce metrics

Employer Brand & Engagement

• Support employer branding and social media activity in partnership with Marketing
• Assist in managing platforms such as Glassdoor and Indeed to enhance candidate and employee experience
• Support initiatives to improve engagement and reduce attrition and recruitment costs

Systems, Payroll & Compliance

• Maintain HR systems and ensure accurate data reporting and compliance
• Support payroll processes, ensuring accuracy of employee data and changes
• Ensure compliance with UK employment law, GDPR, and internal policies
• Act as Level 1 User for the Sponsorship Management System (SMS), ensuring full compliance with Home Office requirements

What we are looking for in you -

About You

You are a confident, hands-on HR professional who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment where no two days are the same. You are comfortable working autonomously and taking ownership of both operational HR delivery and more complex employee relations matters.

You will bring:

• 4+ years’ experience in a generalist HR role
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice
• Experience managing employee relations cases independently
• Proven payroll experience and confidence working with HR/payroll data
• Experience working in fast-paced, changeable environments
• HR systems experience (Employment Hero desirable)
• Exposure to redundancy processes
• Experience with TUPE and/or M&A activity

You will also be:

• Highly organised with excellent attention to detail
• A confident communicator who can influence at all level
• Calm under pressure and comfortable managing competing priorities
• Proactive, solutions-focused, and able to work independently, and is self-motivated
• Takes pride in their work, is accurate, punctual, reliable and articulate.
• Discreet and professional when handling sensitive matters

Desirable:

• Understanding of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Knowledge of statutory employee relations processes (e.g. disciplinary, absence management, redundancy)
• CIPD level 3 (minimum), and CIPD membership is desirable

Why work with Us?

• Complete a funded course of your choice after your probation period
• Excellent holiday allowance plus bank holidays – to include one extra day’s holiday for your birthday / appreciation day  
• £50 Amazon thank you Voucher for your birthday and to say thank you!
• Company pension scheme 
• Refer a friend scheme 
• Inclusive culture and positive working environment to include Employee of the Month and Micro Recognition scheme
• Staff social events

You’ll be joining a growing and forward-thinking Group where you’ll have real autonomy, visibility, and the opportunity to influence how the HR function evolves. This is a varied and impactful role where you will be trusted to take ownership and make a real difference.

We are an equal opportunity employer, always looking for the right talent based on merit for every position. learndirect believes passionately in including all employees equally in the learndirect culture and mission. We actively encourage diversity of thought and champion our talented individuals. Our Values:

• Passionate “We show pride, enthusiasm, and dedication in everything that we do, for our learners, our customers, ourselves, and each other”.
• Agile “We positively embrace and respond quickly to change through a flexible, proactive workforce that seizes opportunities”.
• Courageous “We challenge the norm, creating continuous business improvement and opportunities through entrepreneurial thinking balanced with a sound commercial approach”.
• Empowering “We trust and inspire people to do their best and believe in themselves. We are open to a diversity of ideas, approaches, and points of view”.

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