This role has a salary range of £45,680 to £49,588 per annum, based on a 36-hour working week.
We are excited to be hiring a new Senior People Consultant to join our fantastic People Consultant team. The team is based in Woodhatch Place, Reigate.
Rewards and Benefits
- 26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
- Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
- An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
- Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
- Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
- A generous local government salary related pension
- Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
- 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
- Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
Is this you?
You currently work in an HR role managing employee relations casework, and you're really good at it. You know your organisation's policies and practices and how to apply them and you also know your organisation and its culture. You know when you need to exercise your judgment and discretion to manage risk and get a good outcome. You're the go to person in your team and with the Managers you support because you really know your stuff, and more than that, you love doing this kind of HR work, it drives you and motivates you.
But maybe, you've learned what you can in your current role. Maybe, you're ready to take your HR knowledge and professionalism to the next level. Maybe, you want to do less of the sickness absence and probation cases and more of the collective disputes, more TUPE, more employment tribunal work, more of the intricate and complicated employee relations casework.
You do? That's great! Because we're looking for someone to do just that in our People Consultant team, maybe we're the right team for your next career step.
I could tell you that the person who is in this post now has just been promoted to be an Assistant Business Partner (which is true, her name is Frankie and we're really proud of her!) but the opportunity for progression shouldn't influence your decision to apply, not yet anyway. You should apply for this role because you're excited by the type of work we're offering, and you know you're ready for this.
And it's not just the casework, this role will give you the opportunity to deliver operational and strategic projects that drive improvements to how we work and collaborate with our Trade Union colleagues and across our People and Change function. You'll also play a key role in coaching and mentoring our People Consultants to ensure they deliver their casework to a high standard. One of the best bits, you'll be part of a fantastic team. We work in a hybrid way so sometimes we're in an office and sometimes we're not, but we make time to spend together in person as well as face to face, we support each other and work well together because we know this isn't the kind of job you should do alone.
We need someone who is really strong on their technical HR knowledge, not just employment law but the application of HR policies in challenging cases. We also need someone who has done more than your typical employee relations casework, we need someone who has effectively supported and managed TUPE processes and other change processes as well as collective grievances or disputes.
Shortlisting Criteria
We want to ensure you have the best opportunity to tell us why you're the person we're looking for. There are three application questions set out below. This is your opportunity to tell us more than is in your CV, although we want to see that too. Help us by providing great examples. Don't just tell us you communicate effectively or that you collaborate well with others, tell us how you do this, what sets your experience and skill apart?
To apply, alongside your CV, you will be asked to answer the following questions:
- Tell us about the most complex employee relations case you have managed.
- Tell us about a TUPE or complex restructure process you have managed.
- Tell us about an HR project, outside of your casework, where you successfully implemented a positive change.
We want to see your technical knowledge in action and understand your problem solving abilities. We're going to use your answers to these questions to shortlist, so make them count.
This will take effort on your part, but that's ok, because you're someone who cares about their work and is committed to doing the best they can do. That's why we're looking forward to meeting you!
If you're shortlisted, we'll send you the interview questions in advance. That's because we don't want you to be distracted by the unknown of the interview, we genuinely want you to present the best version of yourself.
Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.
The job advert closes at 23:59 on 17th June 2024 with interviews to follow.
We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.
Our Commitment
Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:
- The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
- The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form
Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.
We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.