HR People Operations Officer

The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1600 people. We play a critical role in protecting public health and consumers’ wider interests in food across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our vision is an important one - to drive change, delivering “food you can trust” and working towards a healthier and more sustainable food system.

At the Food Standards Agency (FSA), we are committed to delivering a professional, customer-focused people service that supports managers and employees throughout every stage of the employee lifecycle. We are looking for a proactive and organised HR People Operations Officer to join our People Operations team and play a key role in delivering high-quality HR and recruitment support. This is an excellent opportunity for someone with strong administrative and customer service skills who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment and making a positive impact on the employee experience.

The HR People Operations Officer will provide a customer-focused advisory service to line managers and employees across the FSA on a wide range of employee lifecycle matters. You will be responsible for processing HR and payroll changes through our HR systems, providing guidance on operational policies and procedures, and escalating more complex queries when required.

The successful candidate will support the delivery of end-to-end HR processes, including recruitment, contractual changes, family-friendly policies and other employee-related transactions, ensuring all activity is completed accurately and within agreed service levels. A significant aspect of the role involves supporting recruitment campaigns, including preparing candidate packs, advertising vacancies, managing recruitment administration and ensuring hiring managers complete the required paperwork for sifting and interview activities.

The successful candidate will also support onboarding activity, ensuring all pre-employment checks are completed and new starters are set up for success from day one. You will maintain accurate employee records, ensure documentation is retained in line with policy requirements and monitor temporary arrangements, working proactively with managers to arrange extensions or end dates with the appropriate approvals.

Working collaboratively across the People Operations function, you will provide flexible support to different directorates as business needs require. You will also act as a note taker at formal meetings and serve as a subject matter expert for key operational processes, providing advice, coaching and training to colleagues where appropriate.

In addition, you will contribute to the continuous improvement of HR services by reviewing and developing operational processes to ensure they remain compliant with employment legislation, reflect best practice and support the wider strategic priorities of the FSA.

Level 3 CIPD qualification.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Full details of the selection process can be found in the attached candidate pack.

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

Technical and Experience: You will be asked two questions to confirm that you meet the Technical and Experience requirements of the role.

• Level 3 CIPD qualification.
• Experience of working in an HR / Recruitment administrative role providing advice and guidance on relevant HR / Recruitment processes and procedures.

If you cannot answer yes to these questions – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

Essential criteria

Experience

• Lead criteria: Experience of working in an HR / Recruitment administrative role providing advice and guidance on relevant HR / Recruitment processes and procedures.
• HR Customer service experience including resolving and escalating queries.
• Excellent organisational skills including the ability to effectively manage own workload in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and numeracy skills.
• An understanding of employment legislation and how this directly links to HR policies.

Lead Criteria An initial sift will take place on the Lead Criteria.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Experience requirements of the role:

Experience

• Experience of working in an HR / Recruitment administrative role providing advice and guidance on relevant HR / Recruitment processes and procedures.
• Excellent organisational skills including the ability to effectively manage own workload in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and numeracy skills.
• An understanding of employment legislation and how this directly links to HR policies.

Assessment exercise

As part of the interview process, you will be asked to prepare a seen presentation to assess you on the following Experience criteria: HR Customer service experience including resolving and escalating queries. Further information and the presentation title will be provided to you 24 hours in advance of your interview.

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 17 November 2026

Sift: Expected to take place From 18 November 2026

Final panel interview: Expected to take place week commencing 30 November 2026

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application).

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare.

Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not offer visa sponsorship and cannot provide advice on visa applications

Making a complaint

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated fairly in accordance with the principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should email the FSA’s Director of People at jo.bushnell@food.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.