HR Apprentice – University of Oxford – Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences

About this apprenticeship

You will be passionate about starting your career in Human Resources and excited about the opportunity of becoming an apprentice at the University of Oxford. You may be starting your career or you may be looking for a career change.
You will be provided with the opportunity to develop full knowledge of the HR lifecycle, from planning recruitment and on-boarding new staff, to the end of fixed-term contracts and retirement planning. You will work to support the HR team with induction and payroll, reward and recognition, employee relations, and engagement. You will regularly interact with all members of the department and will learn to provide advice on university procedures and policies covering a range of issues such as employee welfare, maternity/paternity and absence management. You will provide a professional, high-quality customer-focused service. 
Responsibilities:

The HR Apprentice will be fully trained to provide essential support to the NDCN HR team
Act as first point of contact for enquiries from employees, line managers and the general public by telephone, email and face to face, answering straightforward questions or redirecting as appropriate
Learn how to manage the HR inbox where required, dealing with appropriate queries or directing emails to the relevant HR contact.
Learn how to use the University’s HR system, PeopleXD, to enter confidential, personal data, and assist with data entry into internal databases and spreadsheets
Accurately maintain all confidential electronic and paper-based personnel files
With support, prepare a wide range of written communications including; contracts, letters and wider communications. This could include drafting and updating information on the HR pages of the website, and helping to prepare training material. Edit job advertisements and job descriptions to ensure that they comply with University guidance and best practice
Learn about recruitment processes, assisting with the administration of recruitment exercises which will include; placing advertisements, generating letters to applicants and preparing short listing packs
Assist with maintaining personnel files, ensuring accurate records are kept, that they are complete and up-to-date, and support our project to move our physical files to electronic
Develop skills and understanding that contribute to the development and continuous improvement of HR activities
Assist in preparing HR metrics and various reports for the termly Committees and monthly meetings
Assist with the delivery of projects across the HR team; working with different team members on a varied array of projects, liaising with colleagues across the department to gather information and support successful delivery
Book meeting rooms and make administrative arrangements in support of HR team activities
Learn how to manage the recording and tracking of sickness absence and annual leave using PeopleXD or similar HR system. Act as first point of contact for associated queries
Gather information for visa applications where necessary
Assist with the compilation of data for HESA returns, HR Data returns and run ad hoc reports from the HR database when required
Learn how to monitor end of probationary periods and visa expiry dates and highlight any issues to the Senior HR Advisor
To develop and maintain the NDCN academic visitor database
Run monthly Staff in post and other PeopleXD Reports. Manage HR data quality
Undertake other duties in the department from time to time as determined commensurate with the grade and responsibilities of this post, and any other reasonable request

Training

Duration: 

13 months practical training period, plus 6 months for End Point Assessment 

Delivery model: 

Work-based training with your employer
Day release during term time (approximately 1 day a week for 1 year)
Level 2 Functional Skills in maths and English (7 days at college for each, if required)
Off the job training will count for at least 6 hours a week of an apprentice’s time at work  

Qualifications included: 

CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice
Level 3 HR Support Apprenticeship

End Point Assessment: 

Consultative project
Professional discussion

What you could go on to do

Over 80% of our apprentices continue with us in the role they have been trained for after their apprenticeship and that is just the start of their career