People Team Advisor – Maternity cover

Who are we?

Abel & Cole has pioneered organic, ethical and sustainable food delivery for over 35 years. Doing things better is our bread and butter; from saving over 60 million plastic bags by using reusable boxes for our food deliveries, to finding alternatives to plastic long before it hit the headlines. We are forever challenging ourselves to find the most positive way to do business and want everyone to eat organic because it’s one way to save the future. It’s these values that enabled us to become B Corp certified; an optional audit we’ve gone through to recognise how we put people and planet before profit, as well as help us find room for further improvement.

We’re looking for more people to join our team of almost 600, to share our passion for doing the right thing even bigger and better than we do already. In a fast paced and competitive market, we know it’s our people who make the difference. We’ve learnt how important it is to recognise, develop and promote from within; and that trusting people lets them come up with the best ideas and that helps our entrepreneurial spirit to thrive.

Want to see more?

Check us out at www.abelandcole.co.uk, https://bcorporation.net/directory/abel-cole, and Instagram

Role Summary

The people who work at Abel & Cole are really important to our success and we are committed to maintaining this as a great place to work. In this role you will play a pivotal role in providing expert HR guidance across a diverse range of topics. You will be required to provide a comprehensive HR service which ensures that managers and employees are equipped with best practice to foster a high performance, compliant and happy culture. We are a small team where there are lots of opportunities to input into even better ways of working. As this is a maternity cover position, we’re looking for someone with experience at Advisor level, confident, proactive and happy working at pace who can slot into the team and get up to speed quickly.

Responsibilities

You will be a first point of contact for all People/HR queries from employees & managers.
Provide employment law advice to managers effectively addressing employee relation issues including investigations, disciplinaries, grievances, appeals and performance management.
Attend investigation, grievances, and disciplinary meetings as required and support with finalising accurate, high-quality outcome letters aligned with best practice.
Advising/supporting family leave requests (maternity, paternity and shared parental).
Advise on sickness absence issues including monitoring absences, liaising with Occupational Health/GP’s, implementing reasonable adjustments and working with line managers to reduce sickness absence.
Support the People Team Assistant to ensure all new starter and leaver processes are completed in a timely and effective manner, including the production and completion of documentation, offer letters, contracts of employment, internal offer letters and change to terms of employment letters.
Manage the maintenance and development of our HR databases; iTrent and People First.
Support training across the company, including facilitating workshops, scheduling and organising training and development activities.
Assist with writing and updating People policies/procedures and then advising line managers on how to apply the policies practically.
Provide support on recruitment activities across the business, ensuring best practice, including support with screening applicants, attending interviews and advising on selection tools.
Ensure all files and records are kept up to date, organised and held securely complying with GDPR guidelines.
Provide guidance and support to colleagues across the business on accessing their benefit packages and systems.
Work collaboratively with other members of the People team and the wider WJFG stakeholders including payroll.
Occasional travel to the depot sites and Putney where required.
Act as an ambassador for our B Corp values: make all decisions with our social and environmental impact in mind and look for opportunities, no matter how small, to use our business as a force for good.

Required Skills

Experience in a broad HR Generalist role.
Strong working knowledge of current employment law and HR best practice.
Excellent organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritise workloads, meet deadlines, and use initiative effectively.
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build rapport with colleagues and managers.
Meticulous attention to detail.
Ability to constructively challenge stakeholders when appropriate.
The ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and with other departments.
Competent at using Microsoft office packages, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Desirable

Experience working in an Advisory role in retail / manufacturing
CIPD Qualified or working towards

What we offer

This is a full-time position, Monday – Friday, 37.5 hours per week. There is flexibility on start and end times as well as duration and timing of a lunch break. You can also flex your hours across the week. The role is a hybrid split where you will be able to work flexibly but will work from Andover a minimum of 3 days per week on site. This is a 13-month fixed term contract.

Salary of £32,000 - £33,000 per annum (FTE).

Anticipated start date: end of August / start of September

33 days holiday inclusive of bank holidays (FTE).
A free box of fruit and veg every week.
Up to 35% discount on A&C products.
Wellbeing and Rewards platform with access to discounts, GP service and Employee Assistance Programme
Cycle to Work Scheme.
Contributory pension scheme.

The deadline for submitting applications is 19^th June 2026.

Abel & Cole promotes equal opportunities for all employees. We want our employees to feel they can be themselves at work and develop their talents to the full. Members of staff are expected to take personal responsibility for keeping our workplace free from discrimination, harassment, and bullying - a place where everyone is treated fairly and respectfully.

As part of the recruitment journey, if you need us to make any reasonable adjustments so you’re not disadvantaged, please contact us as soon as possible. We welcome applications from people with disabilities.

To support Abel & Cole’s commitment to inclusion and diversity, we ask that you remove all personal details from your CV. This includes removal of home address, D.O.B and place of education.

Abel & Cole

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People Team HR Advisor (Maternity cover)