Senior Workforce Business Partner in Crewe

Main area: Workforce Business Partner. Grade Band: 8a. Contract: Permanent. Hours: Full time, Flexible working, 37.5 hours per week (9 day fortnight supported). Job ref: 412-CORP-7088016-A. Employer: Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Site: Infinity House. Town: Crewe. Salary: Per Annum. Closing: 27/02/2026 23:59.

Job overview:

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team on a permanent basis. As a Senior Workforce Business Partner, you will work strategically with designated divisions to understand their service strategies and business objectives and work collaboratively to identify and develop business-focused solutions. You will be responsible for developing and supporting the delivery of divisional workforce and organisational development strategies as well as providing regular reports, analysis and recommendations for action against key performance indicators and transformational change objectives.

You will directly manage your "business unit" team, ensuring that they are fully supported and that their work delivers against both the divisional and people directorate objectives. You will be required to support hearings, appeal panels and complex investigations as needed and undertake policy development. You will form strong partnerships with your divisional teams, the HR/Workforce Business Partner Team, other teams across the Trust as well as Trade Union representatives to progress the people agenda.

Main duties of the job:

• Strategic Business Partnering
• Workforce Planning
• Workforce Transformation
• Role Redesign
• Talent & succession planning
• Quality Improvement
• Transformation & Change
• Project Management
• Complex Employee Relations and Risk Management
• Delivery of Workforce KPIs

Working for our organisation:

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides a full range of hospital and community services for people across East Cheshire and West Cheshire and Chester. The Trust provides high quality planned and emergency care, cardiac, critical care, child health, maternity services and intermediate care at Leighton Hospital in Crewe, Victoria Infirmary in Northwich, and Elmhurst Intermediate Care Centre in Winsford. The Trust provides 500 beds and employs over 5,000 members of staff.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

As a Senior Workforce Business Partner, you will lead on the delivery of the Trust’s Workforce Strategic Plan at a divisional level and provide proactive, professional, expert advice to senior managers on a range of workforce and OD issues. You will act as a senior member of the Trust’s People Directorate and represent the directorate at Divisional Boards, Divisional Performance Meetings and at other corporate meetings. You will also take the lead on Trust-wide projects where appropriate.

As a SWBP, you will be responsible for developing and supporting the delivery of divisional workforce and organisational development strategies as well as providing regular reports, analysis and recommendations for action against key performance indicators and transformational change objectives. You will lead on workforce planning and talent and succession planning at a divisional level and advise on complex change management processes.

You will directly manage your "business unit" team, ensuring that they are fully supported and that their work delivers against both the divisional and people directorate objectives. You will also provide assurance to the Associate Director of People that employee relations case work is being appropriately managed, highlighting risk and identifying actions to address. You will be required to support hearings, appeal panels and complex investigations as needed and undertake policy development. You will form strong partnerships with your divisional teams, the HR/Workforce Business Partner Team, other teams across the Trust as well as Trade Union representatives to progress the people agenda.

Person specification:

Knowledge: Educated to Degree level (or equivalent experience), Chartered Member of CIPD, Quality Improvement Training.

Experience: Experience of operating in business partner model, Experience (to masters degree level) of working as a senior HR/OD professional which has enabled individual to demonstrate essential skills, knowledge and competencies, NHS Experience.

Skills: Experience of influencing at a senior level, Report writing at a senior level, Management of Complex Employee Relations Cases, Managing organisational change & service transformation, Partnership Working with Trade Unions, Workforce Planning, Project Management, Use of OD Interventions/models.

Key Messages:

Not all NHS roles are eligible for sponsorship. Candidates that require sponsorship to work in the UK are strongly advised to check the Government website for up to date and job specific information. The salary threshold for sponsorship is £25,000 for Health and Care Visas and £41,700 (with limited exceptions) for Skilled Worker visas. The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet these immigration rules.

Please let us know if you require an adjustment to our recruitment process and we will be happy to discuss this with you. We actively promote flexible working so please discuss any requirements you may have with us. Secondments will be considered for fixed term positions when both parties agree. Candidates should seek approval from their current line manager before application.

All correspondence will be sent via the email address you have registered as your TRAC account. Selection is based on the Trust's values, and the criteria outlined in the Job Description for the role. Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the entry point (bottom) of the pay band. Appointments are subject to a 6-month probationary period. LED Doctors are subject to a 3-month probationary period. You are required to pay for a DBS disclosure where the post requires one, and we encourage applicants to join and remain registered with the DBS update service. We do not reimburse travel to interview expenses.

If you have problems applying, contact:

Address: Recruitment Team, Leighton Hospital, Middlewich Road, Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 4QJ. Telephone: 01270 904488.