Employee Relations Adviser

Service: Customer Support Services

Closing Date: Friday 26th June 2026

Argyll and Bute is one of Scotland’s most stunning areas. As its award-winning council, we play a vital part in the day-to-day life and long-term future of our beautiful and diverse communities. Our unwavering purpose is to make Argyll and Bute the place to be, the place where people want to live, to work and do business. And we are committed to making the council the place to have a great career, by providing excellent benefits and a friendly, dynamic working culture so that each of our 5000 colleagues can deliver services that help our corner of Scotland thrive. Join us to make a difference.

An excellent opportunity has arisen to join our Employee Relations team, providing high-quality, professional HR advice and support to managers across a broad range of employee relations matters. These include discipline, grievance, performance management, job evaluation, absence management, organisational change and terms and conditions of service.

You will manage a varied caseload and play a key role in supporting managers through complex cases, including undertaking fact-finding investigations and preparing clear, evidence-based reports. You will also contribute to hearings, providing procedural guidance and ensuring a consistent and compliant approach in line with Council policies and employment law.

This is a part-time maternity cover post, working 17.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday), on a temporary basis until 31 July 2027. We offer flexibility with remote and hybrid working arrangements and will seek to accommodate the successful candidate’s needs where possible. However, there will be an expectation of some attendance at Council offices and occasional travel across Argyll and Bute.

In addition, you will support the ongoing review and development of HR policies, procedures and guidance by researching best practice and contributing to benchmarking activity, helping to ensure our approach remains current, consistent and effective.

Our employees make good things happen in the day-to-day life and for the longer term future of Argyll and Bute. We want you to feel valued working for us. We offer various benefits to support you, such as a competitive salary, pension scheme, generous leave entitlement, access to flexible working (flexi-time), Employee Assistance Programme, Group Life Assurance, cycle to work scheme, discounts, wellbeing initiatives, and opportunities for learning and career growth. We also embrace a modern approach to work, offering a flexible first approach where possible to requests from our employees to how they work.

Argyll and Bute Council recognises the numerous benefits of a positive work-life balance to the wellbeing and productivity of our employees. We will take a flexible first approach to requests from our employees to change the way that they work. While we must balance such requests with the need to ensure the quality of the important services we deliver is not compromised, we will ensure that each request is given careful consideration with a view to achieving a positive outcome wherever possible.

We care about our people and the world around us and always aim to do the right thing. From employee recognition schemes to environmental policies we have many initiatives in place to help us look after the things we all care about.

Learn more here Argyll and Bute Employee Recognition Programme, Disability Confident, Armed Forces, Fair Work First Statement, Equality and Fairness, Climate Change, Flexible and Hybrid Working Policy 

Applicants should note that:-

• The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Order 2013, as amended, applies to this post.
• Happy to talk about flexible working arrangements
• The salary shown is the full time equivalent salary, the actual salary will be paid pro rata for the hours worked.
• This is a temporary post which may be filled on a secondment basis by an employee wishing to gain experience/career development and will be at the discretion of the employee's Third Tier Manager. If you wish to apply for this post as a secondment, please refer to the secondment guidance.

To apply for this vacancy, please click on the Apply Now button at the top of this page.

If you would like clarification on any information contained within the vacancy advert and/or the job description you will require to speak with the recruiting manager, who is:

• Jane Willan, Employee Relations Officer
• Telephone: 01546 604712
• Email: Jane.Willan@argyll-bute.gov.uk
• Reference: ARB18170/038110

Please note that you cannot apply for this vacancy by contacting the recruiting manager, applications must be made by clicking on the Apply Now button at the top of this page.

Please also note that we do not accept CVs, only applications completed and submitted via the Apply Now button on this page.

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about our commitment to this please visit Equality & Diversity Policy.