HR Officer - Milton Abbey School

We are looking for someone who has technical knowledge and experience of the full range of HR requirements consistent with a small independent school.  You will be part of a friendly and supportive team and training will be available to enhance skills.

The successful applicant will:

• be responsible for all stages of an employee life cycle — from recruitment to exit
• act as liaison with the school’s external payroll provider
• largely autonomously manage routine HR matters such as staff absences (sickness, maternity, paternity), flexible working requests
• provide HR guidance together with procedural and administrative support to school senior managers including occasions where contentious HR matters arise such as disciplinary procedures
• be the owner of all HR filing and administration records and processes

Experience of school HR processes and an understanding of the Single Central Record would be desirable, but full training will be given to a successful candidate whose experience has been gained in sectors other than education.

Remuneration will be dependent on experience and skills, but likely to be in the range £30-35k. Our staff also benefit from free parking, free refreshments, and a free lunch.

Further details may be obtained from our website or from the school’s HR department on 01258 880484 or email [email protected].  Applications must be submitted on the school’s application form.  The closing date for applications is Monday 17^th November 2025.

Milton Abbey School values the diversity of our workforce and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people; this is a commitment which we expect all staff and volunteers to share. The successful candidate will be required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines.

This role is UK based and your Right to Work will need to be established as part of the appointment process.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. The amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975, (2013 and 2020)) provide that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. The MOJ’s guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

Keeping Children Safe in Education

The school will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. All aspects of social media and internet searches will be conducted. As care must be taken to avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination, a person who will not on the appointment panel will conduct the searches and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.

Milton Abbey is a thriving independent boarding and day school based on a beautiful site in the village of Milton Abbas.  The school is small by choice with around 200 pupils and just over 100 staff.  The school offers both traditional academic courses and a market leading range of vocational courses.  In addition to an active boarding and co-curricular programme the school site is available for summer school and private lettings during the school holidays