HR Business Partner

Job summary

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) are looking for an experienced HR Business Partner to help shape the future of the UKHO.

The post holder will work closely with senior leaders to drive strategic people initiatives and stakeholder engagement, from workforce planning and culture change to talent acquisition and performance management and supporting more complex employee relations cases.

Using insight and data, the post holder will use their experience and skills to influence decisions, coach leaders, and deliver impactful people plans that support strategic objectives and achieve our vision for 2034.

Hybrid working

This job role can be worked on a hybrid basis, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, working between the office in Taunton and remotely within the UK. Attendance in the office is required in accordance with business need – which is likely to be 60% of working time and in agreement with the line manager.

Job description

• Work closely with the People Team, senior leaders and divisions as a strategically focused HR Business Partner
• Working with senior leaders and other stakeholders to develop and implement divisional strategic workforce plans to ensure UKHO has the workforce capability it needs to be fit for the future.
• Lead or contribute to changes and/or new initiatives leading to improvements in continuous delivery.
• Be an ambassador of the People/HR function and reflect the ‘UKHO Way’ values and behaviours.
• Establish professional credibility with peers and senior stakeholders to give confidence and assurance in helping support strategic and corporate objectives.
• Support colleagues in dealing with complex queries and cases to reach effective resolution
• Drive improvements in performance management through enabling high potential.
• Utilise management information and data to make informed decisions and provide advice based on data insights to support achieving organisational strategies.

Person specification

• Experience of working as HR Business within a complex and data driven organisation.
• The ability to quickly establish professional working relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders.
• Successful delivery of change and continuous improvement to support achieving organisational objectives.
• Ability to identify, resolve and mitigate risk with pragmatic solutions, taking a systems thinking approach.
• Demonstrating commercial acumen when assessing new situations and developing solutions to complex problems.
• Ability to work at pace and prioritise effectively.
• CIPD Level 5 qualification or equivalent.

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £48,746, UK Hydrographic Office contributes £14,121 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

At the UK Hydrographic Office, it's very important to us that our people feel valued.

We offer a huge range of benefits such as training and development, well-being support, flexible/ homeworking, a fantastic state of the art building, high spec equipment, and so much more.

See our attached Candidate Information Pack for more details.

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.

How to Apply:

When you click "Apply Now" at the bottom of this page, you will be required to attach your anonymised CV and give a supporting statement of 1000 words on the Experience criteria below.

Timeline:

• Advert Closes for applications: 13/04/2026
• Shortlisting: Week commencing: 20/04/2026
• Interviews: Week commencing: 04/05/2026

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

Sift/Shortlist Criteria:

All applications are processed anonymously. You will be short-listed against the following criteria - assessed by both your anonymised CV and personal statement.

Pre-Sift

Previous experience of working as a HR Business Partner at a strategic level

Experience:

• Experience of working as a HR Business Partner
• Experience of influencing senior stakeholders (Lead Criteria - used in the event of a high volume of applications)
• Experience of employment law and conflict resolution
• CIPD level 5 accreditation as a minimum

All the above criteria will be assessed from your CV and Personal Statement.

Interview Criteria:

You will be interviewed against the following criteria:

Experience:-

• Technical knowledge and experience in relation to the role (partly assessed by a presentation)

Civil Service Behaviours (SEO Level)

• Seeing the Big Picture (Lead Criteria - used in the event of a tie at interview)
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving (assessed by a presentation)

See here for further information: Success Profiles: Civil Service Behaviours

Process:

• Single Stage Interview via MS TEAMS. You will be contacted to book a suitable slot if you are shortlisted (see our Candidate Pack for further information)
• Interview will be with a panel of no more than 2 people and will last approximately 50 minutes. If selected for interview, you will be required to give a 10 minute presentation as noted above. The title of the presentation will be provided in your Invitation to Interview.

Onboarding Checks:

In the event you are offered a role with us, you will be required to go through Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which will include Employment and Right to Work Checks. Please see our attached Candidate Pack for further details and Terms.

Residency Requirements:

BPSS – non reserved

This is a Ministry of Defence non-reserved post and is open to UK, British Commonwealth, and European Economic Area nationals. Successful applicants will be required to pass the Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and will therefore need to provide evidence if they have resided outside of the UK for a period of 6 months or longer within the last 3 years. This is not a bar to employment, but a successful applicant will be required to provide sufficient evidence to allow the UKHO to conduct meaningful background checks. Please contact the recruitment team on the email address below if you have any concerns regarding this.

Please note, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship.

Due to the secure nature of our work, there may be eligibility restrictions if you hold dual nationality or are not a British Citizen. We will consider each application on a case-by-case basis. We will ask you in our application form to confirm your place of birth and details of any dual or previous nationalities.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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.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 : recruitment.queries@ukho.gov.uk
• Email : recruitment.queries@ukho.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment.queries@ukho.gov.uk

Further information

The Department’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the requirement of selection for appointment based on merit, open and fair competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles, details of which can be found at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact recruitment.queries@ukho.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can further contact the Civil Service Commission at: civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk or view more details at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk

Attachments

UKHO Candidate Information Pack (3) Opens in new window (pdf, 5685kB)Additional Pay Information Opens in new window (pdf, 331kB)