Strategic HR and OD Business Partners (2 x roles) - Sutton

About the Borough

Joining us, you get to work for not just one high performing London Borough, but two.

Kingston and Sutton councils have a number of shared services serving both authorities, with some teams and roles more focussed on one council than the other, but the majority are shared across both, meaning you get multiple opportunities to learn from a wider pool of activities and two different political bodies.

We work flexibly in both Kingston and Sutton offices, and support working at home or flexible working patterns that enable you to tailor your working and personal life. We provide the equipment and tools to enable you to work flexibly, and in return ask you to use that flexibility to be creative and ambitious in the services we deliver.

There are some really exciting things happening in both boroughs. In Sutton, we are developing the London Cancer Hub, a world leading cancer research and treatment hub that will bring together professionals from across different sectors to identify and test new treatments and therapies. Over in Kingston, we are undertaking the largest housing regeneration programme ever delivered in the borough, building new energy efficient housing that will transform some of our oldest Council owned housing. Both boroughs have publicly committed to doing what they can to tackle the climate emergency and are investing in new technologies and societal change that will help bring carbon emissions down and improve our climate impact.

Kingston is a beautiful Royal borough with a historic setting on the banks of the Thames with excellent schools and a bustling retail centre, all surrounded by open green spaces such as Richmond Park and Bushy Park, former recreation grounds for Tudor Kings and Queens. The Council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat Administration and has a council plan “Greener, Fairer, Safer, Together”, that sets out a vision to be a vibrant, diverse and inclusive borough where residents are active, empowered, engaged and able to remain independent and resilient. The Council engages with residents through a number of forums and events through the year, and like Sutton plays a leading role in developing the South West Region of London.

Sutton is a well connected attractive part of London that has a reputation for excellent schools, green and leafy open spaces, and a history that drives a thriving heritage and culture offer through our museums and libraries. The Council is controlled by a long established Liberal Democrat Administration and has high ambitions set out in its corporate plan “Ambitious for Sutton”, that will ensure Sutton remains a great place to live, work and raise a family. The Council plays a leading role in a number of local partnerships and places great emphasis on engaging effectively with its residents, listening to local voices and making their message heard across London Government.

You should choose Kingston and Sutton if you are looking for an opportunity that will challenge you to deliver more, support you to achieve personal ambitions, and expect you to put borough residents at the heart of what you do.

About the Service and Team

This is an exciting opportunity to join a progressive HR, People and Organisational Development (OD) Service that focuses on our residents' needs, across the Royal Borough of Kingston and London Borough of Sutton. We are building a strategically focused OD service that is responsive to developing culture and capability, and enabling our workforce to provide the services needed for the communities we serve.

This represents a stand-out chance for an experienced HR and OD practitioner to play a key role in driving forward organisational development and change, specifically in Sutton. This is a great place to be a HR and OD Professional!

About One Sutton
As a council, Sutton delivers vital services that make it a great place to live and work - supporting vulnerable residents and maintaining our parks, streets and roads.

However, demand for services including Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, temporary accommodation and SEND continues to increase, while funding reduces. Sutton is addressing a £30 million budget gap over the next three years.

In response, we are transforming how we work.

One Sutton is our cross-council transformation programme - bringing together our people, services and communities to create a council that is:

• More people-focused and community-led
• Place-based in its approach
• Digital-first and innovative
• Driven by value and outcomes

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

About the roles
We are recruiting up to two Strategic HR & OD Business Partners to support the London Borough of Sutton through a period of significant transformation and service delivery.

These roles sit within our Shared HR Service (hosted by the Royal Borough of Kingston) and the remit is to work closely with Sutton Council services and senior leaders.

This is an exciting opportunity to either:

• Play a key role in delivering Sutton’s transformation programme, One Sutton, or
• Partner with senior leaders across core directorates, driving organisational performance and workforce strategy

Final role allocation will be based on candidates’ skills, experience and organisational priorities.

What you’ll be doing
As a Strategic HR & OD Business Partner, you will operate as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, working at both a strategic and operational level.

Depending on your role focus, you will:

• Partner with senior leaders and directorates to drive organisational performance and change
• Lead organisational design, workforce planning and transformation activity
• Support large-scale change programmes, including One Sutton
• Use insight and data to shape HR & OD interventions and priorities
• Support the development of inclusive, high-performing teams and leadership capability
• Provide expert advice on complex people and organisational challenges
• Embed corporate priorities including EDI, talent and succession planning

About you
We are looking for experienced HR & OD professionals who:

• Have strong Business Partnering experience in a complex organisation
• Are confident influencing and working with senior stakeholders
• Have experience of organisational change, transformation and workforce planning
• Are able to work with leaders to shape and embed culture change
• Demonstrate sound knowledge of employment legislation and HR practice
• Bring a collaborative, pragmatic and solutions-focused approach

Experience within local government or the public sector is desirable but not essential.

Additional information
This recruitment campaign is being run to fill up to two Strategic HR & OD Business Partner roles supporting Sutton Council and therefore although working in the shared service with Kingston, the majority of office presence time will be required specifically in our Sutton Civic Offices - we do operate a hybrid working model.

One role is expected to focus on the One Sutton transformation programme, while the other will support directorate-facing HR & OD delivery.

All roles are employed by the Royal Borough of Kingston as the host employer for the shared HR service, while supporting Sutton services.

We welcome applications from both internal and external candidates. Internal applicants will be considered for secondment opportunities where applicable.

As part of your application, please indicate whether you are interested in:

• Transformation-focused role
• Directorate-focused role
• Either role

Apply now to join a friendly, inclusive and outcomes focused team and to help shape services that make a real difference to Sutton’s residents.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• A unique opportunity to shape transformation and services within Sutton.
• Flexible and hybrid working.
• The opportunity to work across a shared HR service (Kingston & Sutton).
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave.
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston or Sutton.
• Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks.
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses.
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres.
• Interest free season ticket loans.
• Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme.
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme.
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support.

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.
Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.