Head of People Advice and Guidance

Job summary

We’re looking for an experienced people professional to join COPFS as our Head of People Advice and Guidance.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead and shape the development of our People Advice & Guidance, Case Management and People Policy services, helping us move towards a more proactive, accessible and insight-led approach to supporting our people and managers.

You’ll provide strategic leadership on complex people matters, influence senior leaders, develop our approach to people policy and use data and organisational insight to drive continuous improvement. You’ll also lead and develop high-performing teams, building capability and helping to deliver fair, consistent and effective people outcomes across COPFS.

Job description

Strategic Leadership
• Provide strategic leadership for the People Advice and Guidance and Case Management services, ensuring they support organisational priorities and deliver high-quality outcomes
• Lead the continued development of a modern, proactive and customer focused People Advice and Guidance service
• Contribute to the wider strategic leadership of the People Directorate and support the delivery of corporate objectives
Service Delivery and Professional Expertise
• Lead the delivery of specialist advice, guidance and support on complex and sensitive people matters, ensuring compliance with employment legislation, policy and best practice
• Act as the organisation’s senior specialist in employee relations, case management and people advice, providing expert guidance to senior leaders and stakeholders
• Ensure services are delivered consistently, fairly and efficiently, prompting positive outcomes for managers, colleagues and the organisation

People Policy and Governance
• Lead the development, review and implementation of people policies, frameworks and guidance that support organisational objectives and reflect best practice
• Ensure effective governance arrangements are in place to manage employment-related risk, confidentiality and compliance requirements
• Monitor emerging employment legislation and sector developments, recommending appropriate changes to policy and practice
Insight, Improvement and Transformation
• Use workforce data, casework trends and organisational insight to identify opportunities for improvement and inform strategic decision making
• Lead continuous improvement and transformation initiatives that enhance service delivery, efficiency and customer experience
• Evaluate the effectiveness of services and implement changes that improve organisational capability and reduce people related risk

Stakeholder Engagement and Influence
• Build and maintain effective relationships with senior leaders and key stakeholders, providing professional advice, support and constructive challenge
• Influence decision making through evidence-based recommendations and a strong understanding of organisational priorities
• Work collaboratively across the People Directorate and wider organisation to deliver joined up people solutions

Leadership and Team Development
• Lead, develop and inspire the People Advice and Guidance and Case Management teams, fostering a high performing and inclusive culture
• Promote professional development, coaching and continuous learning to build capability and resilience within the team
• Ensure resources are effectively deployed and team objectives are aligned with strategic priorities

Person specification

You will be a credible and experienced people professional who combines strategic thinking with strong operational leadership. You will possess the confidence and judgement to advise, influence and constructively challenge senior leaders on complex and sensitive people matters while maintaining trusted and effective working relationships.

You will be naturally collaborative and recognise the importance of connecting people policy, advice, case management and organisational priorities to deliver better outcomes for managers, colleagues and the wider organisation. You should be comfortable operating in a complex environment and demonstrate political awareness, resilience and sound judgement when balancing completing considerations and navigating organisational change.

You should be analytical and insight driven, using data, casework trends and organisational intelligence to identify opportunities for improvement and proactively address emerging risks. You will be committed to delivering high quality, customer focused services and will continually seek opportunities to simplify processes, improve accessibility and strengthen manager capability.

We are looking for you to create and environment where colleagues feel empowered, supported and accountable, encouraging professional development, continuous improvement and shared ownership of outcomes. You will demonstrate integrity, discretion and fairness in all aspects of your work, ensuring sensitive matters are handled with professionalism, consistency and respect.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading high-performing teams managing complex employment casework and HR or people services
• Developing and delivering advice, guidance, triage or case management services
• Developing, reviewing and implementing HR/people policies
• Working with senior leaders to provide advice, challenge and support on complex people matters
• Using people data and casework insight to identify trends, risks and organisational improvements
• Leading service improvement and transformation initiatives
• Managing organisational change and supporting teams through change
• Working with complex organisations with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities
• Managing governance, risk, confidentiality and sensitive information

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

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

• Expert knowledge of UK employment legislation and its practical application within a complex organisational environment
• Ability to develop and implement people policy, advice and case management frameworks that deliver consistent, fair and customer focused outcomes

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £62,111, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service contributes £17,993 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).

We offer an excellent range of benefits which include:

• 25 days paid holiday + 11.5 public and privilege holidays (rising to 30 days paid holiday after 2 years).
• Generous Civil Service Pension employer contribution, on average over 28.97% of your pay
• Flexible working hours and family friendly approach to work.
• Cycle to Work Scheme and Season Ticket Loans.
• Employee Wellbeing Support with Mental Health First Aiders and access to an Employee Assistance Programme.

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, Experience and Technical skills.Assessment will be Success Profiles based. See Application Pack for more details.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo an enhanced (or equivalent) criminal record check.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.

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 : Rosie Elder
• Email : Rosie.Elder@copfs.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment@copfs.gov.uk

Attachments

Band F Head of People Advice and Guidance - Application Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 430kB)