Job Description

People Advisor

Application Deadline: 13 April 2026

Department: People

Employment Type: Fixed Term - Full Time

Location: Brize Norton

Reporting To: James Macnamara Allen

Compensation: £36,191 - £47,475 / year

Please note this is an 8 month Fixed Term position

We’re looking for a proactive, confident, and people‑focused People Advisor to join our People team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in shaping the employee experience at AirTanker by providing high‑quality HR advice, supporting managers, and helping deliver business‑focused people solutions.

Why AirTanker?

AirTanker is a vital part of the UK’s defence capability, delivering air-to-air refuelling and air transport services to the RAF and MOD. We operate at the intersection of military precision and commercial innovation. As a People Advisor, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the employee experience and supporting the organisation in building a positive, consistent, and high‑performing people culture. By providing trusted HR guidance, managing a varied employee relations caseload, and supporting managers across the business, you will directly contribute to the wellbeing, engagement, and overall effectiveness of our workforce. Through proactive advice, data‑driven insight, and collaborative partnership, you’ll help ensure our people practices remain fair, compliant, and aligned with our organisational goals.

What's in it for you?

• Managerial Confidence: Through expert coaching and practical HR advice, you’ll empower managers to confidently handle a wide range of people matters, helping them lead effectively and resolve issues at pace.
• People Experience Impact: By supporting the full employee lifecycle and helping shape policies, processes and training, you’ll directly influence how employees experience work at every stage of their AirTanker journey.
• Operational Impact: From managing complex employee relations cases to guiding managers through sensitive people decisions, you’ll play a central role in strengthening organisational culture and ensuring fair, consistent and compliant HR practices across the business.
• Comprehensive Benefits: Including private medical insurance, bonus scheme, EV scheme, contributory pension, and more.
• Adventure & Belonging: Battlefield tours, adventure training, and family fun days.

What you'll be doing

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with stakeholders across the organisation, acting as a first point of contact for HR queries.
• Manage a diverse range of employee relations cases including disciplinary, grievance, investigations, absence management, family-friendly matters and performance management.
• Work alongside People Partners to support change programmes such as restructures and redundancy activity.
• Coach and advise managers on best practice to ensure consistency, compliance and effective people management.
• Support the development and maintenance of job evaluation documentation and the AirTanker role profile library.
• Analyse People data to identify trends, provide insights and recommend improvements.
• Support the creation, review and communication of policies and procedures.
• Deliver training sessions and workshops to help educate managers and employees.
• Support the employee lifecycle, ensuring a positive experience from onboarding onwards.
• Stay up to date with employment law and HR best practice to ensure compliance.
• Assist with the HR inbox and HRIS system, ensuring all queries are completed efficiently and professionally.
• Contribute to People projects and wider team initiatives.

What you'll bring

• CIPD Level 5 qualification (or currently studying).
• Strong HR generalist background, ideally at People Advisor level.
• Significant experience managing ER cases end‑to‑end.
• Good understanding of UK employment law.
• Experience working in a unionised environment (desirable).
• Strong organisational skills with excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to work well under pressure and to tight deadlines.
• Experience leading projects or implementing new initiatives.
• Confidence building strong relationships at all levels.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and HR systems.