Employee Relations Specialist (Change & Transformation)

Are you resilient, decisive, and focused on delivering results? Do you communicate with clarity and take ownership of outcomes? If so, this could be the right opportunity for you. This role offers the chance to make a tangible impact, combining strategic influence with hands-on delivery in a fair and inclusive manner. You will build your expertise, broaden your experience, and drive meaningful organisational change that delivers real value to colleagues and the wider public.

You will join a high-performing People & Change team, where your experience will contribute directly to shaping organisational transformation. As an Employee Relations Specialist (Change & Transformation), you will play a key role in delivering expert employee relations support across complex change programmes. You will operate in a fast-paced environment where accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement are essential.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is evolving its culture, perspectives, and ways of working to strengthen its core outcomes. This is an opportunity to take ownership, sharpen your professional capability, and play a part in improving the police complaints system across England and Wales.

Main Responsibility:

• Organisational change and transformation projects, such as restructures, realignments, and redundancies are effectively delivered in line with employment law, best practice and civil service governance frameworks.
• Complex casework, such as grievances raised because of change and transformation are managed promptly and effectively and seek ways to mitigate financial risk and legal recourse.
• Restructure, redeployment, and realignment activities are managed sensitively and in accordance with IOPC policy and employment legislation.
• Consultation with staff is effectively conducted and proposals offered by colleagues are given full consideration by leaders, and support management with providing a written response.
• Work alongside People Business Partners to ensure that our redeployment and realignment processes are fully exhausted to reduce exit costs.

The Ideal Candidate:

• Qualifications: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development level 7 qualification or equivalent experience.
• Knowledge: Excellent knowledge of change management and transformation principles, employment law and its practical application, HR best practice when managing change, leadership principles and practices, and redundancy consultation.
• Experience: Leading and advising senior managers on implementing organisational change and restructures, consulting and negotiating with trade unions, supporting staff through change, providing employee relations advice in relation to redundancies, redeployment and grievances, leading large organisational transformational change, working in a People/HR environment, developing processes and policies to facilitate effective change, and assessing and evaluating the outcomes of change and transformation.
• Skills: Excellent influencing and negotiation skills, communication and interpersonal skills, analytical skills, decision-making skills, problem-solving abilities, and coaching and mentoring skills.

Other requirements:

• Applicants must be willing to travel to regional locations to conduct in-person meetings with staff and senior management.

We believe that diverse perspectives contribute to a more innovative and dynamic workplace. We actively encourage applications from individuals who are typically under-represented or disadvantaged in society. This includes women, people from ethnically diverse backgrounds, parents and carers, and disabled candidates, including neurodiverse candidates. We are committed to providing equal opportunities for all applicants and creating an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are valued and supported.

The role requires clearance to BPSS National security vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK.

What we Offer:

• 27.5 days paid annual leave (increasing with service to 32.5 days).
• The option to buy, sell, or carry over annual leave is reviewed each year and offered when possible.
• Voluntary Health Cash Plan provided by BHSF.
• Civil Service pension.
• Civil Service maternity leave package.
• PAM employee assistance programme.
• Access to Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC) membership.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Car Leasing Scheme.
• Staff Networks focussed on each of the protected characteristics.
• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.

Emotional Consideration:

In performing this role, you may have occasional exposure to distressing material which will likely be impactful, traumatic and challenging. Given the nature of the work, it is also possible that you will have contact with individuals who are experiencing extreme distress. The IOPC recognises this and offers all staff a range of wellbeing provisions, including TRiM (Trauma Risk Management), peer-to-peer support, a dedicated Wellbeing Advisor, and access to free confidential counselling. All staff are strongly encouraged to proactively access and engage with the support available.