Header image
Back to Hrjobs

Human Resources (HR) Manager Job Description

As a Human Resources (HR) Manager you will be the first point of contact for all HR communications, leading the HR team to ensure that all day-to-day duties and responsibilities are proactively undertaken and that all relevant professional standards are met.

Being an HR Manager

This role includes various senior responsibilities towards coaching, mentoring and supporting staff members and HR Managers are required in almost all sectors and industries. It can be a varied and rewarding role with duties centring on leading the HR department processes and managing a variety of HR policies, procedures and practices within the company.  

You will be expected to manage the team responsible for implementing HR processes with efficiency, while ensuring employment regulations, professional standards, policies and procedures and legislations are all in place. Your open approach will be an active representation of the company values, setting and reinforcing the standard for positive behaviours at all levels.   

You will need to be passionate supporting all employees, building strong relationships and representing the staff perspective in decision-making processes conducted at management and executive level. It is also expected that you will lead your team by example, displaying your adaptability to change and willingness to embrace new ideas and processes.  

HR Manager is a great role in which to apply your technical knowledge and experience, to ensure procedural excellence relating to human resources, employee relations, compliance, staffing, training, culture, and much more. 

HR functions have recently undergone a huge adjustment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Strategic business changes were needed, and new technology systems and remote working tools were introduced. Priorities, projects, budgets and headcounts were reviewed, and furlough schemes began.  HR Manager roles have shifted and changes to teams and recruiting processes will potentially have been revised to accommodate the business focus and priorities. 

Is an HR Manager job a good fit for you?

This is the perfect fit for you if you want to get more from your career and ensure that others get more from theirs.  

If you have been working in HR for at least 3 years and also have a year’s experience as a Manager or Team Leader, now could be the time for you to take the next step in your HR career, embracing the opportunity to apply Employment Law, HR policy, best practice and workforce development as HR Manager.  

You will need to be an experienced HR professional with the abilities and skills to manage the HR business unit, functions and staff. You will also need to have a good working knowledge of Employee Relations (ER) and employee experience. Experience in diversity and inclusion, learning and development, organisation development and design are essential. It is also beneficial to understand people analytics, resourcing, reward and talent management. Finally, you will require an understanding of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) and Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS). 

It is worth obtaining a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) at Associate or Chartered Member Level. To become a member, click here.   

Your day-to-day duties as an HR Manager will include:  

  • Manage all core HR departmental areas, including payroll, employee relations, HR admin, learning and development, internal recruitment, employee engagement, and maintaining and improving HR systems. 
  • Provide advice and direction where needed to the HR team on work priorities, budget and staff resources, strategic, policy, organisation and staff management issues.
  • Current regulation compliance, including accepted professional standards, policies and procedures and legislation (including legislation on data protection, the Equality Act and health and safety).  
  • Manage the implementation of employment policies. 
  • Ensure employment law, HR policy, best practice and workforce development are applied.
  • Ensure the onboarding process is handled in a professional manner to expedite the settling in period.
  • Manage the execution of the HR Strategy to ensure achievement of the objectives.
  • Support HR staff to ensure that all relevant professional standards are met. 
  • Continuously improve engagement and welfare activities, maximising productivity, devolving HR responsibilities to line managers and building leadership capability.  Identify HR trends so that attention can be directed to key issues and resources.
  • Identify staffing needs and manage the creation of job descriptions and handbooks.
  • Develop and implement management talent planning.
  • Develop the organisational structure to support future growth, using best practice principles. 
  • Manage the company’s employee programmes, staff benefits and packages. 
  • Control the performance review programme to deliver continuous employee development. 
  • Regularly coach, mentor, and support colleagues to identify individual strengths and development needs
  • Ensure employee training requirements are well managed and monitored. 
  • Manage the training and development plans and ensure they are of a high standard. 
  • Conduct annual remuneration and benefit surveys and reviews. 
  • Determine relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for incentive schemes.
  • Manage the diversity, equality, and inclusion values and practices within the company.
  • Enabled all team members to access appropriate guidance and information to manage their workload.
  • Ensure the offboarding process is handled in a professional manner to ensure everyone is consistently treated fairly.
  • Manage the allocation of HR budgets.
  • Ensure internal HR communications, including any issues, initiatives and programmes are well planned, coordinated, relevant, timely and adhere to the company’s values. 
  • Make sure that company values and approach are utilised to strengthen the organisational culture.
  • Demonstrate the company values, championing the leadership behaviour framework. 
  • Demonstrate a high-performance ethic with a focus on successful outcomes. 
  • Develop and maintain effective relationships to encourage retention and ensure the team perspective is fully represented in decision making. 

Are you a good fit for an HR Manager job?

To succeed as an HR Manager, you will need to draw on a range of skills and knowledge, while showing your personable nature, positive attitude and proactive leadership techniques.

Essential capabilities required: 

  • Working knowledge of employment regulations.
  • Good working knowledge and understanding of regulations, accepted professional standards, policies and procedures and legislation (including legislation on data protection, the Equality Act and health and safety). 
  • Excellent understanding of HR practices. 
  • The ability to manage the implementation of effective employment policies. 
  • Good understanding and technical abilities within all HR departmental areas including recruitment, employee relations, workforce administration, employee engagement, payroll, reward and recognition, welfare, learning and development and HR systems.
  • A confident leader with experience in leading a team.
  • The ability to develop strong working relationships and drive collaboration.
  • The ability to accept and provide feedback, be challenged on your advice and work well under pressure.
  • The ability to assert your opinion and ideas with confidence. 
  • The ability to understand HR statistical reports.
  • Experience in monitoring and driving KPIs.
  • The capacity to make quick but rational decisions. The ability to think innovatively and rationally about decisions and come up with creative solutions. 

Qualifications, Licences and Certifications

The essential qualifications required to become HR Manager include: 

  • A bachelor's degree in Human Resources Management, Psychology, or a business-related subject.  
  • Minimum 3 years’ experience in a HR role.
  • Minimum 1 year’s experience in a management role. 
  • Fluent level of English, both spoken and written. 

 In addition, employers will be looking for: 

  • Strategic thinking abilities.
  • Commercial acumen. 
  • Strong organisational skills.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills. 
  • Proactive, agile work ethic.
  • Experience of managing a skilled team.  
  • Leads with integrity, an inspiring role model and encouraging collaboration. 
  • Knowledge of Employment Law. 
  • Experience of using metrics for driving performance. 
  • Thorough and methodical attention to detail.
  • Confidence to use your initiative.
  • Excellent presentation skills.
  • Good time management skills and the ability to prioritise.
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills.
  • Problem-solving skills and initiative. 
  • Positive and approachable manner.
  • Adaptable to change and possess a willingness to embrace new ideas and processes.
  • Commitment to continual personal development. 
  • Proficient I.T. skills.  

Where can an HR Manager job take you?

An HR Manager with a variety of applicable industry knowledge is well recognised and sought after across many industries.  

After working as an HR Manager for 3 years and gaining Accreditation from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), or a bachelor's degree in Human Resources Management, Psychology, or a Business-related subject, your next step could be Head of HR 

Next steps

If you’re interested in an exciting and varied role within HR, that offers you the opportunity for self-development, meeting new people and making an impact on a company’s candidate pool, click here to see what HR Officer jobs we have available.

Visit our HR Jobs area for new opportunities or visit our LinkedIn page for the latest news. 

For more information you can click here for Careers Advice, or to review our recruitment process click here.

You can keep up to date with industry news and advice by visiting our blog.