About us

At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better.

You’ve probably seen the headlines. Heavy workloads, constant change, admin pressure on teachers and staff at every level… sometimes it feels like this is just part and parcel of school life today. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

We passionately believe that there’s a better way to work. And it starts by giving everyone the right tools and technology for the job.

We’re building a platform and products we believe in - as well as a strong, diverse team of experienced specialists, ex-teachers and Edtech engineers passionate about making a difference to the sector.

Ultimately, we’re here to help make our schools and trusts stress a little less, and focus on what matters most - improving the lives of teachers and outcomes of students everywhere.

About the role

The People Team at Arbor sit at the heart of the business and are passionate about creating an environment and culture for people to do their best work. In line with our values we believe in creating space for people to “own what they do”, “make an impact” and drive a culture where “everyday is a school day”. In this role you'll be responsible for creating a world class experience for our UK team at all stages of their employee journey. Because ‘noone can whistle a symphony’.

As Senior People Advisor, you will work with the rest of the People Team to deliver on our people strategy as well contributing and leading on larger strategic projects that enable us to continue our growth. The last 12 months have seen our headcount more than double from 100 employees to almost 250 and this is forecast to increase further during 2023 through a mix of organic growth and acquisitions of other businesses.

Core responsibilities

The People Team have the following key results which you will play a big part in helping us achieve:

• Staff retention and employee NPS

• Management of ER cases across the division, including but not limited to, sickness cases, flexible working requests, underperformance, grievances and disciplinary processes

• Career progression and development frameworks

• Creating a seamless and enjoyable employee onboarding/offboarding

• Policies and processes which helps us grow at pace whilst adhering to HR best practices

• Play an active role in TUPE negotiations where necessary as result of Arbor acquiring additional businesses

• Leading our people team presence in Leeds, our largest office, and being the first point of contact for any people related queries

• Provide coaching and mentoring to people managers across the business 

• Standardising processes across multiple business units that deliver real impact to our people and bring us closer together

• Utilising feedback and engagement tools to build on our culture and action any themes resulting from eNPS/engagement surveys

• Executing on both external initiatives to drive greater diversity in our workforce and internal initiatives to create an inclusive culture where everyone can bring their full self to work

• Ownership of UK probation processes

• Dotted line management of the Group People Coordinator

• Undertaking salary benchmarking when required

What we offer

The chance to work alongside a team of hard-working, passionate people in a role where you’ll see the impact of your work everyday. We also offer:

• A dedicated wellbeing team who champion initiatives such as mindfulness, lunch n learns, manager training, mental health first aid training and much more!

• 32 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays). This is made up of 25 days annual leave plus 7 extra company wide days given over Easter, Summer & Christmas

• Enhanced maternity and adoption leave (20 weeks full pay) and paternity (6 weeks full pay) pay

• 5 free return to work maternity coaching sessions, helping you adapt to this new exciting time of life!

• Access to services such as Calm, Bippit (financial wellbeing coaching) and Health Assured (Employee assistance programme)

• All of our roles champion flexible working and we are happy to discuss what this means to you!

• Social committees that plan team, office and company wide events to bring people together and celebrate success

• Dedicated professional development training budget (CPD courses, upskilling resources, professional memberships etc)

• Volunteer with a charity of your choice for a day each year

• Dog friendly offices!

Refer a friend: Know someone else who would be good for this role? You can refer a friend, family member or colleague, if they are offered a role with Arbor, we will say thank you with a voucher valued up to £200! Simply email: careers@arbor-education.com

Arbor Education is an equal opportunities organisation

Our goal is for Arbor to be a workplace which represents, celebrates and supports people from all backgrounds, and which gives them the tools they need to thrive - whatever their ambitions may be so we support and promote diversity and equality, and actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

If you need any adjustments to be made to support you through the recruitment process, let us know at careers@arbor-education.com.

Please note: We are unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time.