HR Business Partner

HR Business Partner

As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is already a special place to work. We're an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history. But it's where we go next that makes things really interesting.

In our strategic vision: Archives for Everyone, we set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won't become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring.

That's where you come in. Because we can't do this without you.

About the Role

For us to remain this special place to work, we are seeking a highly credible HR Business Partner to join our friendly and supportive team, operating as a strategic partner to support the delivery of positive business outcomes.

In this role you will provide specialist HR expertise, supporting and challenging business leaders to achieve our strategic goals. Using your strong relationship-building skills, you'll coach and advise managers in order to raise capability and engender a culture of high performance. You'll drive consistency of approach in workforce planning, managing and developing talent to support current and future needs, in line with our strategic goals and strategic workforce plan. You'll use your knowledge of pay and reward to support delivery of our refreshed reward agenda and take the lead on pay issues. You will design and deliver high impact people solutions which align with our values, using management information to inform business decisions and anticipate trends. Working collaboratively across our wider People, Inclusion and Change team, you will proactively share best practice, raise capability and continually improve the level of service we provide.

This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department. A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.

Job Purpose

To operate as a trusted and strategic partner to dedicated directorates, providing specialist HR expertise, support and challenge to enable the organisation to achieve its strategic goals.

Role and Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with dedicated management teams to ensure HR operates as a strategic partner and adds value to support delivery of business outcomes.
• Drive consistency of approach across the organisation in workforce planning, managing and developing talent to support current and future organisational needs, in line with The National Archives' strategic goals and strategic workforce plan.
• Take the lead on Reward matters, supporting the ongoing development of our Pay and Reward approach, collaborating with Finance and HR colleagues and external stakeholders (e.g. Reward consultants) as required.
• Coach and advise Heads of Department and managers to be effective people managers, raising capability, engendering a culture of high performing teams and alignment with our values.
• Provide expert advice across a range of HR issues, designing and delivering high impact solutions that meet the needs of the business.
• As the route into HR, work collaboratively with People, Inclusion and Change colleagues, commissioning work from subject matter experts and ensuring clarity of responsibilities. Proactively share best practice and intelligence with colleagues to foster a 'one team' approach.
• Actively support cultural change to influence new ways of working and identify, develop and introduce new cultural change interventions, working in partnership with the Head of Organisational Change and Development.
• Work openly and constructively to continually improve the level of service offered, raise the HR and Business Partnering team capability and provide support to colleagues.
• Utilise management information to inform business decisions and respond to and anticipate trends affecting the business. Work with HR colleagues to ensure that reporting continues to meet business needs.
• Work closely with and coach HR Advisors on employment relations cases and take the lead on cases of a complex or sensitive nature.
• Work closely with trade unions to resolve issues and maintain positive industrial relations.

Working Conditions

• Normal office environment
• Display Screen Equipment user

Person Specification

Essential criteria:

• Qualified to MCIPD, or equivalent practical experience
• Significant HR experience operating in a strategic business partner model in complex organisation(s) with multiple stakeholders
• Demonstrable experience of using communication skills to explain HR concepts clearly to deliver business impact
• Extensive experience of handling complex employee relations cases and applying relevant legislation to achieve positive outcomes
• In-depth experience of managing the HR technical aspects of change across organisations.
• Strong relationship builder – ability to work in collaboration with team and across other functions to fully understand the needs of the business
• Experience of pay and reward and ability to use data to offer strategic insights and inform decision-making
• Innovative thinker with the ability to offer solutions to the organisation which reflect current thinking in HR trends

Other Requirements

• A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site.
• Must be prepared to travel to other Government departments as required.