OD & Policy Officer

This is a Full Time Permanent Position. We have an exciting permanent opportunity for a HR professional looking to take the next step in their career and join our recently reorganised Policy, Projects and Industrial Relations Team. We are looking for someone who holds a relevant HR/OD qualification (CIPD Level 5) and/or demonstrable experience in either HR or OD at this level and has the right skills and values to join our team and make a difference. If you feel you have the relevant skills and experience to undertake this role, we look forward to receiving your application. Please ensure that your application demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria against the person specification as listed in the job description.

ROLE AND PURPOSE

This role is a supportive role, providing specified services within the Council to develop their workforce capability and capacity and to improve overall performance through Organisational Design and Development interventions and support to the OD & Policy Business Partner and Policy, Projects and Industrial Relations Manager to deliver a professional HR and OD service.

The key aspects of the role are:

• Facilitating the development of HR policy work, including researching and reviewing best practice and impending legislation.
• Supporting with change management, participating in working with solutions and improvements.
• Supporting OD & Policy Business Partner in preparing and delivering specific HR workshops/briefings.
• Analysing and reporting on HR data.
• Participating and contributing to the job evaluation process and methodologies used within the Council, providing advice and guidance.
• Taking new or changed proposals forward via the Industrial Relations Framework (CJCNC, IRJC as appropriate).
• Supporting the OD & HR Officers with complex issues.
• Supporting the OD & Policy/HR Business Partners with Organisational Design work including planning and preparing for service reviews applying the DMA design principles.
• Effectively communicate HR policies, processes, systems and behaviours that enable services to deliver.
• Supporting and guiding HR Officers with day-to-day HR policy and industrial relation work.

The above list is not exhaustive and highlights the key deliverables.

Maximises IT systems to capture and analysis HR information to identify trends and inform decision making about people related issues. Develops effective working relationships with managers and builds knowledge of council services to inform the HR Business Plan. Uses professional judgement when working closely with Senior OD & HR and Trade Union colleagues through appropriate consultation fora.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

1. To promote and safeguard the welfare of children, young people and/or vulnerable adults.
2. Customer Focus – Establish and maintain effective working relationships with senior managers to understand the people issues in services and to be able to provide constructive challenge. Provide sound OD & HR advice in relation to day-to-day policy, project and industrial relation queries. Be responsive to the situation and explore all options to seek a satisfactory resolution. Provide advice and guidance to OD & HR and Trade Union colleagues to ensure consistent application of policies and processes throughout the Council and industrial relation queries and responses are in line with legislation and the Industrial Relations Framework. Ensure that fairness, respect and impartiality is demonstrated in all interactions. Support the HR Policy, Projects and Industrial Relations Manager to develop interventions that maximise the capability of the Council and lead to higher Investor in People levels of accreditation.
3. Performance Management – Be proactive in supporting OD & HR colleagues and senior managers to have supportive and effective conversations regarding policy, project and industrial relation interventions to improve performance of the organisation. Research, interpret and analyse data to support the development and implementation of Council policies and processes, regularly review and evaluate to ensure consistent application and best practice. Facilitate the development of policies, processes and systems through appropriate consultation. Maximise opportunities to share good practice across services and take a council-wide view. Escalate cases of concern to the Policy, Projects, and Industrial Relations Manager.
4. Leadership – Leads specific projects/tasks allocated from the HR Business Plan and Policy, Projects and Industrial Relations Manager, escalating issues of concern. Participates, and at times lead, in working groups and briefings taking responsibility for specific actions allocated to ensure the effective delivery of the task. Provide support to OD & HR colleagues as appropriate.
5. HR Advice – Provide expert and timely advice on all HR matters, ensuring that the issue is fully understood, the implications for the council are clear and all options to resolve the matter are considered to identify the most effective solution. Work closely with senior managers to inform and influence organisational change proposals, utilising the tools available to ensure structures are compliant with agreed principles. Support the OD & Policy Business Partner with robust planning to take forward organisational change proposals in accordance with the Industrial Relations Framework to ensure that meaningful consultation takes place with the trade unions and staff. Maximise feedback during consultation to inform the final position and support the OD & Policy Business Partner to implement the proposal in partnership with the Assistant Director/Head of Service. Assist the OD & Policy/HR Business Partner in their discussions with Assistant Directors to develop service/directorate specific workforce plans for example Investor in People plan to include succession planning and talent management. Provide advice and guidance to managers on the quality of job descriptions submitted for evaluation (including evaluation applications) giving feedback if improvements in the quality can be made and generate discussions about opportunities to deliver services differently in the context of the council’s organisational change principles.
6. HR Delivery – Ensure that managers have the tools and advice to be able to handle organisational change proposals confidently and competently in accordance with the Industrial Relations Framework. Encourage and role model a culture of working together with the trade unions. Support and champion the principle of self-service and the use of the service desk when appropriate. Actively share knowledge, experience and lessons learned with the service desk to enable its continuous improvement and provide advice and guidance when a resolution cannot be identified by the service desk.
7. Recruitment – Support the Senior OD/HR Business Partner in the recruitment of Directors and Assistant Directors including the arrangements for the Appointment Committee, stakeholder, and technical interviews. Attend stakeholder interviews as the HR representative to brief the group and collate their feedback to the Appointment Committee. Undertake the preparation for HAY job evaluation panels ensuring that the evaluators have access to relevant comparator information and background information.
8. Personal Development – Build a reputation of professional respect from managers and colleagues by seeking feedback on performance and customer satisfaction. Work to the competencies of the CIPD Profession Map and Career Pathway to develop OD skills, knowledge and experience and ensure that your CPD log is maintained. Actively engage in PGPR discussions and be reflective on objectives, personal performance, and support.

Benefits of Working of Hull City Council:

• A competitive salary
• An excellent pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Initially 23 days annual leave depending on length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year, and three additional days off, one in May/August and one during the Christmas/New year period
• Career development and learning experiences from a range of training courses and learning methods
• Supportive and forward-thinking culture
• Great career development opportunities

Please ensure that you complete and submit your application by midnight prior to the closing date. We are committed to increasing the diversity, equality, and inclusion within our workforce to represent the people we serve and build an environment in which everyone can feel like they belong. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply. We adopt a ‘name blind’ approach to shortlisting. Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made. Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage.

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. Online searches, including social media, may be carried out as part of the recruitment process.