HR Advisor

Job summary

HR Operations is at the heart of the employee experience at DCMS, supporting colleagues and managers across a wide range of key moments throughout their employment journey.

We are a friendly, collaborative and supportive team who genuinely enjoy working together. As an HR Adviser, you’ll be trusted to manage your own work, use your judgement and take ownership, while always having the support and knowledge of the wider team around you. No two days are quite the same, which creates plenty of opportunities to learn, develop your HR knowledge and build experience across a broad range of people matters.

We are always looking at how we can improve the way we work, whether that’s simplifying our processes, making better use of our systems and data, or improving the service we provide to our customers. We encourage everyone in the team to contribute ideas and help shape how our services develop.

What makes HR Operations particularly special is our people. We work hard, support one another and share a real commitment to delivering a knowledgeable, inclusive and high-quality HR service across DCMS.

Job description

HR Advisers provide support across a broad range of HR activities, taking ownership of their work and delivering a high-quality service to colleagues and managers across the Department. Some of the areas you could be involved in include:

• Managing a varied caseload of joiners, movers and leavers, ensuring an excellent customer experience and responding to HR queries in a timely and professional manner.
• Leading HR drop-in Q&A sessions and delivering face-to-face upskilling sessions to colleagues and managers across the Department.
• Delivering HR induction sessions for new starters, providing key information and guidance to support a positive onboarding experience.
• Investigating and resolving pay and pension queries, including underpayments and overpayments, working with relevant teams to reach a resolution.
• Developing a strong understanding of departmental HR policies and procedures and providing clear, accurate guidance to business areas.
• Contributing to the continuous improvement of HR systems, processes and ways of working, identifying opportunities to make our services more efficient and user-friendly.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience, please note that desirable skills will only be used in the event of tied candidates:

Essential requirements:

• Excellent customer service skills demonstrated within a fast paced environment.
• Competent using M365 and Google Workspace Patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations.
• Excellent communication skills able to handle challenging conversations with confidence and sensitivity.

Desirable Skills:

• User experience of HR and Payroll systems, preferably iTrent.
• Experience of providing first line support to system users helping with general enquiries, signposting to policies.
• Experience of working in an HR environment/ managing a caseload and working to deadlines.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Frances Gyang, and will take place on:

• 10th November 2026, 11am

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form and you will be sent an invitation. Invites will only be sent after this deadline has passed.

Please note that the session will not be recorded and will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to [email removed]

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,307, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £8,779 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. We’re committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include:

• Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home

• 26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years’ service

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

• Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice

• 3 days of paid volunteering leave

• Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave

• Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year

• Occupational sick pay

• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice

• Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT+, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks

• Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work

• Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more!

Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary. Those applying for SCS roles should refer to the candidate information pack for more information on terms and conditions.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

To apply for this post, please send us the following documents no later than 23:55 on 15th November 2026 via the CS Jobs portal:

To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the