Organisation Development Consultant in Chelmsford

This contractually based role is located in Chelmsford and offers the flexibility to work from home, with a requirement to attend the office 1‑2 days per week as business needs dictate.

Contract: Permanent, Full Time

Salary: £50,768 to £59,726 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Accountabilities

• Influence and drive the design, implementation, and evaluation of organisational development (OD) strategies and initiatives to enhance overall effectiveness and performance, applying the full consultancy cycle and model to provide a service which supports delivery, professionalism, and productivity.
• Manage highly complex and difficult conversations; present, explain, motivate, engage, and influence, persuade, and challenge at all levels.
• Work with the Organisation Design Consultants, advising on work design choices and approaches to ensure alignment between structure, systems, processes and culture to enhance the employee experience and deliver results.
• Build organisational capability through effective collaboration with leaders and stakeholders across the council to identify and address organisational challenges, providing expert advice and solutions to influence the delivery of the OD strategy and associated people initiatives.
• Identify, design and deliver organisation development and behavioural interventions including change management processes, leadership development programmes, and leading cultural change programmes and initiatives, aligning them with the business priorities, workforce strategy and councils’ transformation agenda.
• Undertake organisation diagnostics to analyse organisational needs, applying appropriate methodologies and professional expertise as well as utilising data and insights to inform the development of tailored OD solutions and interventions to support the evolving OD strategy.
• Partner with People & OD teams to integrate OD practices into leadership, management and talent development, employee experience, wellbeing and EDI agendas, along with other people processes and practice, ensuring alignment with the overall people agenda and workforce strategy.
• Evaluate the impact of OD initiatives, measuring key performance indicators and providing recommendations for continuous improvement and refinement of organisational processes.
• Regularly update knowledge and skills to meet the evolving standards set by the CIPD at standards level of Chartered Membership or above.
• Integrate the CIPD profession map and its framework into all actions, including participation in continuous professional development activities and ensuring that ECC’s HR practices and strategies are in accordance with the CIPD's professional standards and ethical guidelines.
• Actively participate in the development and continuation of communities of practice and networks to share best practices, ensuring a cohesive approach to OD and employee experience across the organisation.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• Educated to degree level in a relevant professional field such as Organisational Development, Human Resources, Psychology, or equivalent by experience.
• Professional membership of CIPD at Chartered level or working towards this.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in the relevant professional area.
• Demonstrable experience of managing complex culture, behavioural or systems issues through professional application of the consultancy model to drive results.
• Strong understanding of leading‑edge organisation development and change theories and methods, with demonstrable experience of practical and successful application of these within a complex matrix environment.
• Previous experience of planning, designing, delivering, and evaluating OD and change interventions, in a large and complex organisation.
• Strong communication and influencing skills with the ability to clearly articulate messages to a range of audiences with differing levels of understanding.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to link initiatives and deliver tangible outcomes through alignment with strategic business priorities.
• Strong working knowledge of current business technology.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. We also interview all veterans and care leavers who meet the minimum requirements for the role. At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour and ask that all applicants embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.