Head of Workforce Planning and HR Operations JBLE1_NI in Belfast

The Northern Ireland Office supports the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in promoting the best interests of Northern Ireland. We ensure that Northern Ireland interests are represented within the UK Government and that UK government responsibilities are fully and effectively represented in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Office employs around 160 staff, with offices in Belfast and London. As a small Department, we adopt a flexible project-based approach to ensure that we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place to support the delivery of our key objectives.

Our key priorities include:

• Supporting greater inclusion, tolerance and openness in Northern Ireland
• Contributing to a safer Northern Ireland, where terrorist and paramilitary groups are less able to cause harm to communities
• Ensuring that governance in Northern Ireland is responsive, transparent and able to deliver effective public service
• Addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) is looking for a dynamic Head of Workforce Planning and HR Operations (G7) to join its HR team to provide maternity leave cover for a 12 month period. This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious HR professional to develop their career and gain a wide range of experience, with regular exposure to senior stakeholders in a Ministerial Department. Working as part of a small but impactful team of HR professionals, this role is focused on attracting, recruiting and developing the workforce we need for now and the future.

You will have responsibility for a breadth of HR functions including Workforce Planning, Recruitment, Pay and Reward, Policy and Performance Management. You will be strategic in approach, ensuring our HR function supports our departmental delivery objectives. You will use business data and insight to inform the design, development and implementation of HR activities in a way that embraces diversity and inclusivity in line with our culture and values.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The main responsibilities of the role include but are not limited to:

• Leadership and direction of HR Operations portfolio, spanning Performance, Recruitment and Attraction, and Workforce Planning.
• Acting as subject matter expert on all workforce planning, collaborating with senior leadership to align with business objectives.
• Using data-driven insights to forecast workforce needs, identify gaps and develop solutions.
• Providing accurate and up to date Management Information to support decision making and policy direction.
• Leading recruitment activity, supporting recruiting managers to fill their vacancies and manage the transformation programme to implement our new applicant tracking system.
• Providing customer-focused support and advice to managers and staff on queries about HR policy, taking responsibility for coaching line managers to resolve.
• Reviewing ways of working to ensure continuous improvement with HR processes supporting our objective of having a diverse, inclusive and engaged workforce.
• Managing the relationship with third party providers including SSCL, our recruitment platform and Ministry of Justice, and ensuring value for money.
• Working closely with other corporate services within the NIO to provide a streamlined and joined-up employee experience throughout the employee life-cycle.
• Coordinating the engagement with the Departmental Trade Union side.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

The post holder will need to demonstrate the following in their application and at interview:

• Substantial experience across a range of HR disciplines.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to influence and engage, to bring together individuals from across the business to deliver key objectives.
• Excellent analytical and problem solving skills.
• Experience of managing competing priorities, working proactively and being accountable for the delivery of the outcomes.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA:

• Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) or willingness to work towards.
• Experience of strategic workforce planning.
• Experience of leading recruitment.
• Security Clearance at CTC level.

BEHAVIOURS:

We will assess you against the following Success Profiles behaviours for Grade 7 level during the application sift:

• Communicating and Influencing

HOW TO APPLY:

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. At the sift stage, you will be asked to submit:

• A 250 word statement on the behaviour: Communicating and Influencing.
• A statement of suitability no longer than 750 words to assess the essential and desirable criteria.

INTERVIEW:

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview via Google Meets Conferencing. Candidates will be assessed against the following behaviours and will be asked to provide examples of how they have demonstrated these:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Managing a Quality Service

OFFER:

Once all interviews have been completed, you will be notified of the outcome by email. Offers will be made in strict merit order to the highest scoring candidate first.

SECURITY CLEARANCE:

This role requires National Security Vetting given the access to sensitive information afforded by the job role.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The NIO offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different NIO sites and/or from home. All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.

BENEFITS:

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension
• 25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days after five years service.
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance