Job Description

People Services Associate - Absence
We're proud to be Bakkavor
Competitive Salary
Stakeholder Pension Scheme, Personal Accident Insurance, Discount & cashback platform
Spalding
Hybrid
Monday to Friday / 08:30 - 17:00
Fixed Term Contract - 4 months
Why join us?
We're proud to offer you a career with a global leader in the fresh prepared food industry. We're proud to give everyone the opportunity and support to develop and progress their career. To nurture talent, fuel ambition and work with resilience and purpose to achieve the highest possible standards.
About the role.
In this busy and exciting role, you will provide high quality, consistent and compliant advice, support and resolution to all tier one absence customer requests for assistance to MyHR Employee Services - ensuring that all responses delivered are within agreed parameters in order to maximise customer efficiency, effectiveness, and confidence.
You will administer a diverse range of operational Absence and HR Administration related tasks associated with the employee lifecycle promptly and within agreed procedures, standards and timescales
Role Accountabilities:

• Provide first line advice, guidance and support to customer absence requests for assistance to the MyHR Shared Service Centre in a timely manner and in accordance with the MyHR Employee Service Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Service Level Agreement, Company policy, procedures and employment legislation.
• When necessary, liaise with colleagues in other areas of MyHR Services, Centre of Expertise or HR Business Units to resolve issues and provide service as appropriate, attempting to resolve matters first time, as opposed to simply handing off. Ensure the correct escalation of queries to subject matter experts in these areas.
• Maintain team and customer relationships through advice, support and continuous improvement, providing a great experience first time, every time.
• Provide proactive assistance and support to colleagues to ensure that requests are effectively managed, that workload is fairly shared and that bottlenecks within the team are avoided.
• Ensure that relevant records and systems are maintained and that all employee data is entered into the HR Information System in real time and any other associated systems in a timely, accurate and consistent manner.
• Be an active member of the team developing MyHR Employee Services by feeding back and contributing to the improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the service, including making recommendations for new ideas and ways of working.
• Helping to maintain a bank of frequently asked questions to help standardise the quality of responses to generic queries.
• Be an active member of the team developing MyHR Employee Services by feeding back and contributing to the improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the service, including making recommendations for new ideas and ways of working.
• Maintain a working knowledge of HR policies and procedures.
• Encourage self-service, wherever possible, and signpost customers to policies, procedures and supporting resources including Line Manager toolkits, Process Maps and Behavioural Guides. Be a subject matter expert on the HR SharePoint pages for absence, supporting managers to find documents that they need.
• Generate weekly / monthly absence reports for customers and HR colleagues to support the business with essential absence data in accordance with SLA and service requirements, using all HR systems to acquire relevant data.
• Ensure a high level of confidentiality is maintained in all aspects of work.

About you

• Proven experience of providing administrative support within a busy office environment.
• Experience, understanding and competent in the use of the Microsoft suite of products including outlook, word, excel and power point.
• Accuracy/thoroughness, diligence and the ability to identify errors and/or omissions.
• Clear and articulate communicator.
• Proactive, organised, and sound analytical/problem solving skills.
• Flexibility in approach and thinking.
• Ability to handle confidential information discretely, professionally and appropriately and comply with GDPR regulations.
• Remain calm and ability to work under pressure.
• Delivery focus and willingness to "go the extra mile".
• A willingness to embrace new HR technologies and changing processes.
• Strong team working skills focusing on sharing best practice and supporting colleagues.

Nice to have:

• Experience of providing advice on a range of HR issues
• Customer Service Qualification Level 2
• CIPD Level 3 Qualification
• Experience of HR Systems

What you'll receive
As an equal opportunity employer, we're committed to providing a safe and rewarding environment for you to thrive in. This is why we work hard to deliver benefits, rewards and wellbeing offerings that are important to you.
You'll Enjoy

• Life Assurance (1 x salary)

• 25 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays as standard (may vary by role)

• Private medical insurance (after 5 years' service)

• Staff Shop

• Stakeholder Pension Scheme

• Discount & cashback platform

• Personal Accident Insurance

• Free health check

• Employee Assistance Programme

• A range of voluntary benefits (holiday purchase scheme, additional life assurance, dental & hospital cash plans)

• Salary sacrifice car lease scheme

• Free independent mortgage advice

• Discounted tutoring for children

• Access to financial learning tools and affordable loans via your salary

• Free car parking - Site dependant

Plus, a commitment to your wellbeing that includes emotional, physical and financial support services delivered by our fantastic team of wellbeing champions.
Proud to be Bakkavor
At Bakkavor, we are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive, and we believe that diversity makes us stronger. We welcome and encourage applications from all backgrounds and ensure fair, transparent recruitment practices. Learn more about our commitment in our Inclusion and Diversity Policy ( ).
Find out more and apply
#LI-JM1
#CVL
Bakkavor
We are the leading provider of fresh prepared food in the UK, with operations also in the US, positioning the Group well in these high-growth markets. We leverage our consumer insight and scale to provide innovative food that offers quality, choice, convenience, and freshness. Around 15,000 colleagues operate from 31 sites across our two markets supplying a large portfolio of products across meals, pizza & bread, salads and desserts to leading grocery retailers in the UK and US.
Department: Human Resources
Location:
Spalding, GB, PE11 2BB
Workplace: Hybrid
Date: 6 Oct 2025
Req ID: 26221

Skills Required