HR Advisor

Hours: Full time (36 hours)

About the role

We’re delighted to share a fantastic opportunity to join our People Team at the British Library!

We’re looking for two experienced HR Advisors with a passion for people and a drive to make a real difference, to deliver first-line support to all employees and managers across the Library. This is your chance to contribute to shape culture, support managers, and help build a high-performing, inclusive organisation.

You will work closely with line managers to provide proactive and pragmatic advice and guidance on all aspects of people management, including sickness absence, disciplinaries, and grievances, taking ownership of a busy employee relations caseload as well as providing support with performance management reviews and day-to-day HR queries.

Your work will help deliver a proactive, customer-focused HR service, providing relevant and appropriate HR support, while promoting best practice and ensuring compliance with the Library’s policies, procedures, and employment legislation.

This is a role that requires confidence and a proactive approach to problem-solving and relationship-building in a busy and dynamic environment.

There are two vacancies, one based in our St Pancras, London office and the other one in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire.

About you

The ideal candidates for this role will have:

• Proven experience of providing HR advice to managers and employees
• Strong understanding and knowledge of the HR support required when managing employee relations cases, in particular absence management, grievance and disciplinary.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, HR policies and best practices
• Ability to work under pressure while balancing timely work output with high levels of accuracy, demonstrating excellent attention to detail
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to proactively build effective and trusting working relationships with a diverse employee population

For more information, please see the Job Profile.

About us

We are the national library of the UK and we are here for everyone. Our shelves hold over 170 million items in a living collection that gets bigger every day. Although our roots extend back centuries, we aim to collect everything published in the UK today, tomorrow, and far into the future. Our trusted experts care for this collection and open it up for everyone to spark new discoveries, ideas, and to help people do incredible things.

What we can offer you:

• Access to a defined benefit Civil Service pension scheme
• Flexible working arrangements including flexi-time
• 25 days holiday plus 2.5 privilege days in addition to 8 Bank Holidays
• Full details of employee benefits can be found on our Careers: Benefits

Things you need to know

• We are unable to provide sponsorship under the UK Skilled Worker visa for this role.
• Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check (DBS check).
• 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.
• We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse candidates and disabled candidates. Creating an inclusive workplace is the core of our business and a way to engage the diversity of thought that is essential to achieve our aims.

Closing date: 23:59 on 22nd February 2026