People Director

Join the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in a new and exciting people centred leadership role as our Director of People. You will be instrumental in leading and shaping our full spectrum of people services including Corporate HR, Organisational Design and Development, and Colleague Experience and Social Impact teams. Working with the Chief People Officer, you'll develop and deliver the overarching People Strategy, policies and processes whilst supporting our organisation's strategic people direction and mitigating and managing any potential workforce risk.

We're looking for a proven senior people leader, who is passionate about driving a high performing, collaborative inclusive and open culture to support engaging and empowering our colleagues at all levels through our people team offer. We're committed to being a flexible employer and are currently hybrid working. The office base for this role is Newcastle upon Tyne and we ask for flexibility to attend the office for in-person collaboration when needed.

What do we offer?

• 27 days annual leave, rising to 29 days after five years service and 33 days after ten years service + public holidays
• Excellent pension, 23.7% employer contribution
• Flexible working
• Active wellbeing and inclusion networks
• NHS Car Lease Scheme
• Access to a wide range of benefits and high-street discounts

As a senior leader and member of NHSBSA Leadership Team, reporting into the Chief People Officer, you will provide strategic, technical and professional expertise to deliver a leading-edge people agenda. Collaboratively lead and develop a strategic framework for the People Team, with robust plans to deliver against the strategic objectives of the overall organisation. Ensure the day-to-day provision of an effective overall People function, delivering service excellence aligned to our strategic objectives, and the continuous development of forward thinking, and legally compliant function.

Effective and supportive leadership of Heads of Service of a variety of people focused teams, ensuring service excellence and efficiency is embedded in all areas. Provide expert advice across the organisation on complex workforce matters and provision of strategic solutions to related business challenges, including organisational change, new ways of working and transformation. Responsible for bringing together, connecting and aligning all organisational wide HR, OD&D and CESI programmes into one coherent strategic framework, enabling our workforce to thrive now and in the face of future demands.

Develop and retain top talent, ensuring succession planning strengthens future leadership pipelines and navigate complexity with confidence, ensuring teams are agile, motivated and outcome-focused.

Here at the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), what we do matters. We manage the NHS Pension scheme, process prescription payments and much more. Our services are used by NHS organisations, contractors and the public: we're proud to be part of something meaningful, that touches millions of lives. We design our services around customer needs and place people at the heart of our organisation. That's why when you join us, you'll be empowered and supported to help your career grow.

As one of the UK's Best Big Companies to work for, we're connected to our values: Collaborative, Adventurous, Reliable and Energetic. We care about our people, our purpose, and your progress. We strive to offer a fantastic colleague experience, where every colleague is heard, supported and respected. Wellbeing, diversity and inclusion is at the centre of this, and you can join our Lived Experience Networks who help us bring our authentic selves to work.

We're committed to being a flexible employer and we try to offer a working pattern that suits you where possible, through hybrid working, flexible hours and more. Alongside a competitive salary with pay progression, we offer a people-centric benefits package, connecting you to the rewards and benefits you value most!

Ready to join us in delivering business service excellence to the NHS, helping people live longer, healthier lives? Apply today and see where the NHSBSA can take you. We are people connected to care.

The post holder will be an important member of the NHSBSA's Leadership Team. As part of this team, you will help lead the organisation into the future, managing day to day challenges and supporting the NHSBSA to realise its strategic ambitions. You will champion and drive closer working and greater integration between Directorates to collectively ensure we fulfil our purpose and vision. This will include cultivating relationships with a wide network of colleagues external to NHSBSA.

You will therefore provide a central leadership role to the future development and transformation of the NHSBSA services, workforce and organisational culture. This role is a key decision maker and will have overall responsibility for the effective service delivery of the People function, influencing at the highest level and able to cope with competing demands. In conjunction with the Chief People Officer, you'll develop and deliver the overarching People Strategy, supporting the overall organisation's strategic direction, whilst mitigating and managing any workforce risk.

As an expert in holistic people best practice, this role will also provide significant support to the Executive Director team, deputising where appropriate, leading a senior management team and working with key external stakeholders across the system.

Job Summary: As a Senior Leader and a member of our Leadership Team, reporting into the Chief People Officer, you will provide strategic, technical and professional expertise to deliver a leading-edge people agenda, maximising the use of resources within your remit, setting and achieving key performance indicators and break even budgets. Alongside this you will lead and embed significant workforce transformation and look to continuously improve colleague experience and business performance.

Leading a diverse workforce, you will lead, inspire and develop colleagues across a range of disciplines through a high performing, inclusive and collaborative culture, in addition to building and maintaining effective trusted relationships with key stakeholders. You will be responsible for leading and managing the development and implementation of the right People strategies, policies and processes to enable the NHSBSA to deliver its ambitious agenda.

With a forward thinking, commercially minded and collaborative approach, you will be instrumental in leading, shaping and overseeing the Corporate HR, Organisational Design and Development and Colleague Experience teams that form the People function. You will horizon scan, collaboratively setting the strategic direction of the People teams across the NHSBSA, using the People strategies as a key enabler for change. You'll be required to act autonomously, making significant decisions that impact the organisation to ensure excellence is achieved and maintained.

Collaboratively lead and develop a strategic framework for the People Team, with robust plans to deliver against the strategic objectives of the overall organisation. Ensure People team priorities are aligned to overall strategy and reviewed regularly, with accountability for success driven within all teams. Develop feedback mechanisms to support the improvement of service delivery. Ensure the day-to-day provision of an effective overall People function, delivering service excellence aligned to our strategic objectives, and the continuous development of forward thinking, and legally compliant function.

Ensure effective people practices, ensuring expert advice and support, on a wide range of complex workforce issues can always be provided. Provision of expertise level knowledge in employment related legislation and Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions. Effective and supportive leadership of Heads of Service of a variety of people focused teams, ensuring service excellence and efficiency is embedded in all areas. Work to streamline processes and digitise where possible.

Strategic Leadership: This role will ensure strategic alignment of service delivery, workforce planning and operational excellence and ensure a culture of financial discipline, value for money and optimising resourcing is embedded. You'll champion efficiency, continuous improvement and customer centric innovation to enhance service impact and oversee governance, risk, and compliance with a strategic and ethical lens, balancing ambition with responsibility.

Responsible for bringing together, connecting and aligning all organisational wide HR, OD&D and CESI programmes into one coherent strategic framework, enabling our workforce to thrive now and in the face of future demands. Ensuring appropriate people policies are in place that support our colleagues and organisational aims, are accessible, embedded, continuously improved and legally compliant.

Provide expert advice across the organisation on complex workforce matters and provision of strategic solutions to related business challenges, including organisational change, new ways of working and transformation. Ensure our wider teams are appropriately resourced to deliver SME expertise. Ensure our organisation develops and embraces Strategic Workforce Planning, ensuring we are fit for the future and agile to change.

Ensure the provision of strategic advice on workforce impacts, workforce business planning and scenario planning for future business opportunities and challenges. Provision of strategies to help address organisations workforce risk. Be an expert practitioner of change, ensuring best practice, and effective change management practices and skills are embedded across the organisation and led by SMEs, ensuring colleague wellbeing runs throughout any programme of change.

Ensure we are ready and able to support large scale change/TUPE where required. Ensure the organisation has a robust and strategic approach to talent acquisition, development, reward and recognition, ensuring effective resource planning, embedded EVP and an organisational view of vacancy levels, with appropriate, transparent and wide ranging strategies to attract, develop and retain the right people, with the right skills, in the right roles.

Support the development of a creative and best in class approach to reward and recognition, within the boundaries of Agenda for Change. Ensure that an agile, innovative and evidence based approach is taken in all aspects of learning, talent, leadership and organisational development and design which facilitates the cultural and wider transformation of the organisation as well as continuing to meet the existing needs of our customers and stakeholders and includes strategic leadership development strategies and interventions that mitigate retention and succession risk.

Ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion, social impact and wellbeing are key drivers running across all workforce strategies and work streams, ensuring strong levels of organisational wide engagement and a continued focus on this agenda at all levels.

Operational Leadership: Cultivate a high-performing, inclusive culture that empowers and engages colleagues, lead with authenticity, embedding the NHSBSA's values in decision making, behaviours and leadership practices. Develop and retain top talent, ensuring succession planning strengthens future leadership pipelines and navigate complexity with confidence, ensuring teams are agile, motivated and outcome focused.

Decision Making and Continuous Improvement: Continuously develop and drive service insight and other complex data to evaluate current operating model and service provision, to determine changes needed within the service area whilst inspiring horizon scan across the People function and wider organisation. Leading on major strategic projects, in conjunction with other Directors and Executive Leadership Team, acting as SRO for programmes and projects undertaken where appropriate.

Budgetary responsibility for the People Team. Overall responsibility for the effective management and monitoring of budgets. This will include prioritisation of resources and ensuring all benefits are captured and delivered. Allocating funds for high-priority, high-impact activity by seeking out the most cost-effective way to deliver services, ensuring corrective action is taken where necessary including working closely with other stakeholders.

Transformation, Innovation and Stakeholder Influence: Lead large scale change, and transformation with vision, adaptability and strategic foresight. You will foster a culture of curiosity, challenge and continuous improvement to drive sustainable innovation, building and leveraging influential relationships, managing complex stakeholder landscapes with political acumen. This role will align internal and external partners to advance NHSBSA mission, securing commitment to shared goals.

Building and leading effective partnerships with our recognised Trade Unions, and colleague representative groups, chairing our Working in Partnership Committee and other relevant boards/committees.

Leadership Level Responsibilities And Accountabilities: Be a champion for equality and diversity for the organisation, actively working to create and maintain an environment that is diverse and inclusive of all.