HR Coordinator

VolkerRail is a leading multidisciplinary railway infrastructure contractor which comprises of two businesses: Major Projects and Specialist Businesses.

Major Projects is an expert in collaborative working, leading on large, multidisciplinary joint venture and alliance projects.

Specialist Businesses is made up of expert divisions in signalling, track, power, electrification, and piling, and has an in-house plant division and bespoke design teams.

Our Head office is based in J3 Business Park, Doncaster and provides support to the businesses in the following areas: Finance and Payroll, Human Resources, HSQES, Work Winning, Procurement and Fleet.

We are proud of our reputation as a high-performing business, working in harmony and partnership with our stakeholders, ensuring we help our clients deliver a rail network for the future.

We are looking for an experienced and proactive HR Coordinator to oversee the day-to-day delivery of HR administration across the full employee lifecycle. This is a key role within the HR team, ensuring a high-quality, efficient and consistent HR service while coordinating and supporting three HR Assistants.

You will act as the first point of escalation for more complex HR administration queries, maintain accurate HR data, ensure compliance with policies and procedures, and provide timely information and reports to support HR Business Partners and the wider business.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys leading people, improving processes, and working in a fast-moving, customer-focused environment.

Key Responsibilities

Team Coordination & Leadership

• Coordinate, oversee and prioritise the daily workload of three HR Assistants, ensuring deadlines and service levels are consistently met.
• Provide day-to-day guidance, coaching and support to promote accurate, consistent and compliant HR administration.
• Act as the first escalation point for HR Assistants on queries, issues and process clarification.
• Identify bottlenecks and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across HR operations.
• Support training and upskilling of the team on HR systems, processes and procedures.

HR Administration & Employee Lifecycle

• Oversee HR administration across recruitment, onboarding, absence management, probation, performance processes and employee records.
• Quality check HR documentation and correspondence, including references and family leave letters.
• Ensure recruitment administration, pre-employment checks, medicals and D&A screening are completed in line with policy.

Absence, Leave & Employee Records

• Oversee sickness absence processing, long-term absence tracking and Occupational Health referrals.
• Ensure annual leave, special leave, carried-forward leave and long service awards are accurately recorded and managed.

Systems, Data & Compliance

• Ensure HR systems and records are accurate, up to date and regularly audited.
• Oversee right-to-work checks, visa tracking and compliance reporting.
• Maintain organisation charts and escalate discrepancies where identified.

Reporting & Stakeholder Support

• Produce and review weekly and monthly HR reports, ensuring data accuracy and quality.
• Support HR Business Partners with timely information and insights.
• Oversee vacancy bulletins, job advertising and intranet updates.
• Manage agency and contractor administration and monthly reporting.

About you

Essential:

• Proven experience coordinating or managing HR administration in a customer-focused environment.
• Experience leading, guiding or coordinating the work of others.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• Confident user of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with a strong service mindset.
• Sound judgement, resilience and the confidence to escalate issues appropriately.

Desirable:

• Experience working in a fast-paced or complex organisation.
• Demonstrable experience of driving improvements or change within HR operations.
• Knowledge of HR systems and data reporting.

Why Join Us?

• A varied and influential HR role with real responsibility and scope to improve how HR services are delivered.
• The opportunity to lead and develop an HR administration team.
• A collaborative, values-driven environment focused on integrity, inclusion and continuous improvement.

If your past experience doesn't match perfectly with every requirement of the job description, we still encourage you to apply. You may be just the right candidate for us.

Why work with us?

VolkerRail is under the umbrella of VolkerWessels UK which is a multidisciplinary contractor that delivers innovative engineering solutions across the civil engineering and construction sectors including rail, highways, airport, marine, energy, water, and environmental infrastructure.

By utilising the specialist skills of each business unit within VolkerWessels UK, VolkerRail are able to ensure our staff provide unrivalled resources and expertise to our clients.

We offer competitive rewards and benefits, recognising the value we place on our employees.

We offer a range of benefits, including:

• Competitive salary
• Competitive annual leave and an additional day off on your birthday
• Private medical care
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Shopping and restaurants vouchers, rewards, and discounts
• Training and development opportunities-comprehensive skills-based training
• Family friendly polices including enhanced maternity benefits
• Employee Assistance programme
• Mental health, physical health, and financial support
• 24/7 Virtual GP service

Fairness, inclusion and respect

We believe in pushing boundaries in the pursuit of fairness, inclusion and respect. So, our teams can be comfortable that, whatever their background, VolkerWessels UK is a place where they can be themselves and thrive. You can read more about our FIR Strategy as well as our partners here Fairness, Inclusion and Respect VolkerWessels UK

If you need support with your application, please contact us at

Additional information

Note for Recruitment Agencies:

Our preference is to hire directly, and we will reach out to our Preferred Supplier List (PSL) agencies if this particular role qualifies for release.

We kindly request that you refrain from sending speculative CVs. In the event of speculative CV submissions, no fees will be applicable, and we kindly ask that all inquiries to be directed

VolkerWessels UK is committed to maintaining healthy, safe and productive working conditions for its entire staff and therefore a drugs & alcohol screening is mandatory for all.