Head of Employment Relations - Casework

Job summary

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, providing high‑quality, trusted insights on the economy, population and society. Within the People and Places Directorate (PPD), the Employee Relations, Policy and Casework function supports a fair, inclusive and legally compliant working environment across the organisation.

This role provides strategic leadership for the ONS’s employee relations casework approach, ensuring the implementation of our policies, guidance, and casework handling are modern, evidence‑based, and aligned with employment law. The postholder will lead the Casework team responsible for implementing complex casework, capability building, and high‑risk case oversight.

Job description

This leadership position is responsible for overseeing the organisation’s employee relations casework strategy. This role is pivotal in ensuring the effective management, resolution, and prevention of complex casework issues, fostering a positive working environment, and supporting legal compliance and organisational objectives.

You will lead a team of 10 Complex Caseworkers based across Newport and Titchfield, delivering specialist advice to the business, and partnering closely with HR Business Partners, unions, senior leaders, and legal advisors. This will include creating opportunities for purposeful in person activity where it supports collaboration, coaching, complex case discussion, stakeholder engagement and team cohesion across sites.

This role requires someone with employee relations senior experience working with ambiguity, resolving stakeholder issues, navigating people policies and influencing business leaders to drive a healthy and effective casework experience.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Set the strategic direction for Casework, ensuring alignment with organisational goals, Civil Service standards, and evolving workforce needs.
• Lead organisational approaches to conflict resolution, early intervention, and modern casework practices that ensure compliance while prioritising fairness, inclusion, and proportionality.
• Lead the design and implementation of casework workstreams to ensure continuous improvement projects are clear, modern, evidence-based and drive organisational objectives forward.

Leadership and Management

• Lead and manage the ER Casework team, ensuring high standards of professionalism, confidentiality, and ethical conduct.
• Oversee the handling of complex and sensitive cases, providing expert advice and guidance to HR colleagues, managers, and senior leaders.
• Coach and develop HR professionals and line managers in best practice case management.
• Plan and lead purposeful in person activities, including casework learning sessions, team development days, reflective practice discussions and cross-site collaboration to build capability and strengthen professional judgement.
• Act as senior escalation point, providing expert judgement and strategic advice for Directors, HR Business Partners, and senior leaders on high‑risk, complex, or sensitive cases (e.g. conduct, grievance, performance, attendance, whistleblowing), ensuring robust governance, consistency and organisational learning.

Casework and Risk Management

• Analyse trends in employee relations and casework, identifying areas for improvement and drive targeted interventions to reduce case volume and streamline process to improve employee experience.
• Provide regular reports and updates to senior management on key employee relations issues, casework volumes, outcomes, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Responsible for third party contracts such as ER Tracker (our casework tracking system), Government Legal Services and Health Partners.

Union and Stakeholder Engagement

• Build strong relationships with trade unions, employee representatives, and other stakeholders, facilitating constructive dialogue and negotiations.
• Work closely with senior leadership, Legal Services, PPD colleagues and external agencies (where relevant) to manage organisational casework risks.
• Represent PPD at bronze and silver command meetings when casework interventions are required.
• Use a variety of engagements methods to work effectively with senior leaders, HR colleagues, trade unions and managers where discussion of complex, sensitive or high-risk matters would benefit from direct dialogue, trust-building and shared problem solving.

Standards and Governance

• Ensure all casework is managed in accordance with relevant employment legislation, organisational policies, and best practice standards.
• Support the organisation’s commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion through fair and transparent casework processes.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

Leadership

• Experience leading and developing HR specialist teams, shaping culture, driving capability improvement and delivering organisational outcomes through others, with the ability to think beyond functional boundaries, demonstrate collective leadership and contribute to wider directorate and organisational priorities alongside their own area of responsibility.

Analytical & Insight‑Driven

• Ability to use data, insight, trends and analysis to inform strategy, evaluate risks and improve outcomes.

Change & Improvement

• Proven ability to identify systemic issues and lead improvements in the people function.

HR Knowledge

• Significant experience of Employment Relations Casework within a complex organisation. Able to apply specialist knowledge, professional credibility and evidence-based analysis to provide authoritative advice and shape strategic recommendations.
• Expert understanding of current employment and data protection legislation and its practical application.
• A strong awareness of future developments in employment legislation and professional developments in relation to good people management practice.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Demonstrates excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex, contentious and sensitive messages clearly and confidently to a wide range of audiences. Adapts communication style and approach to meet audience needs, using appropriate channels to support understanding, engagement and confidence.
• Brings strong professional credibility, with proven experience of advising, coaching and influencing others, including through purposeful in-person engagement where this strengthens collaboration, trust and outcomes. Builds and maintains effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including senior leaders, trade unions, government departments, and equivalent partners, to influence decisions and support successful delivery.

Judgement & Risk Handling

• Excellent judgement, with the ability to handle ambiguity, balance organisational and individual risks, and provide authoritative advice to a wide range of stakeholders.

Qualifications

MCIPD Level 7 or willingness to work towards this within the first year of being in the post.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,861, Office for National Statistics contributes £16,472 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.

Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.

Inclusion & Accessibility

At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.

As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.

If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.

ONS are committed to flexible ways of working that support a healthy work-life balance. ONS has already considered how this job could be right sized for applicants working flexibly and we are happy to explore options with you about working part time, in a job share or flexibly, in line with our hybrid working policies.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.

At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence:

• Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
• Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
• Security Services records

ONS may be able to provide visa sponsorship where the role meets ONS sponsorship criteria and all relevant Home Office requirements. Applicants must hold, or be eligible to obtain, the right to work in the UK before employment commences.

To work at ONS, applicants must meet the Civil Service nationality requirements, satisfy UK right to work requirements and, where applicable, meet the relevant security clearance requirements.

If you are unsure whether you meet the appropriate right to work or security clearance eligibility criteria, please refer to the guidance on Gov.uk or contact the recruitment email provided in the advert before applying. Failure to meet these requirements will result in your application being rejected and employment offers being withdrawn.

Application Process

Number of Stages: 2 stage process

Stage 1: Application

Stage 2: Interview

Stage 1 – Application

The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, CV, skills, experience and answers to the below questions. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.

Answers to the following questions should be no more than 500 words per answer:

1. Outline your experience of providing leadership within employee relations casework, including how you have set direction, supported others, improved service delivery, and driven effective outcomes.

2. Outline a time when you advised senior stakeholders on high-risk complex employee relations, policy/casework issue where there were competing risks or sensitivities.

Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.

We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need to go through a further selection process providing the role has the same behaviours, and essential skills.

When a high volume of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted. Candidates will be invited to interview based on their merit order, with those achieving the highest scores being prioritised. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass will be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.

Stage 2 – Interview

If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert.

You will be asked to complete an in-tray exercise which will be provided on the day of the interview and candidates will be allocated time to prepare. This in-tray exercise will assess candidates against the Success Profiles Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service.

Interviews will be held in person at our Newport & Titchfield (Fareham) offices. You will be asked to confirm your interview location preference in one of the questions when completing your application.

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.

Sift will be conducted w/c 19th October.

Interviews will be conducted w/c 2nd November.

Our Newport office location is: Government Buildings, Cardiff Road, Duffryn, Newport NP10 8XG.

Our Titchfield (Fareham) office location is: Segensworth Road, Titchfield, Fareham PO15 5RR.

Please be aware that we are unable to reimburse travel expenses associated with attending an interview.

Dates are subject to change.

For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment. Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Sarah A Jones
• Email : scs.recruitment@ons.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scs.recruitment@ons.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact recruitment.complaints@ons.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission

Attachments

2721 Advert 1B Permanent - ONS National v1-00 Opens in new window (pdf, 83kB)Role1_Standard_Requirements Opens in new window (pdf, 76kB)