Job Purpose

The role is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the charity’s People Strategy. The Director of HR will design and execute initiatives, policies and processes to fulfil the HR strategy and the charity’s strategic plan. The Director of HR will also enact strategies which encourage a positive employment culture that prioritises staff wellbeing, learning and development. This role serves as the trusted advisor to the organisation on all HR operational, employee relation and recruitment matters. The Director of HR will also fulfil a comprehensive training and mentoring plan to progress the development of the HR team.

Job Scope

1. HR Strategy: Lead the design and implementation of the charity’s People Strategy. Oversee the organisation’s HR risk register and risk mitigation processes.

2. HR Team Development: Plan and fulfil a learning and development plan which nurtures the progression of the department.

3. HR Operations: Develop, review and revise operational policies, processes and procedures to ensure the HR service provided to the charity is efficient and achieves the charitable objectives and strategic goals.

4. Employee Relations: Lead on all employee relations matters and provide subject matter expertise and legal guidance to the organisation.

5. Employee Wellbeing: Manage the charity’s staff support structure and associated initiatives to foster a culture which promotes employee wellbeing across all areas of the organisation.

6. Compensation and Benefits: Perform cyclical reviews of compensation across the organisation to maintain fair and appropriate remuneration. Oversee employee benefits packages.

7. Recruitment: Manage the recruitment needs for the charity, providing an appropriate advisory service to managers.

8. Learning and Development: Support the Learning and Development Business Partner with the development and implementation of a continuous cycle of learning which supports the success of the HR strategy and strategic business plan.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

1. HR Strategy

• Modify and expand the organisation’s People Strategy with consideration to the Charity’s people priorities and objectives.

• Work with the Executive team to ensure that the People Strategy is fully delivered in accordance with specified deadlines.

• Recognise the inter-dependencies between the People Strategy and the wider organisation strategy to ensure that the People Strategy is configured to support the achievement of the charity’s short-term and long-term objectives.

• Maintain the charity’s HR risk register, design and monitor risk mitigations and employ the risk profile to inform the People Strategy and other initiatives.

• Implement and maintain internal communications strategy to ensure that staff are informed, engaged and the People Strategy is embedded across all areas of the organisation.

• Lead on the reporting on the performance and progress of the People Strategy to the Board of Trustees, the Executive Team and other senior stakeholders.

• Design a suite of KPIs to monitor the progress of the People Strategy and the component initiatives, set appropriate benchmarks with consideration to sector/competitor data.

• Develop and implement the charity’s workforce initiatives in support of the wider Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy.

• Embed the desired culture, values and behaviours, leading on change management initiatives as required.  

2. HR Team Development

• Establish and manage appropriate development plans for the HR department.

• Identify internal development routes to encourage and incentivise personal progression and collaborative team development.

• Assess external training and coaching opportunities to recognise appropriate development routes for the team.

• Provide the team with coaching and guidance to support their development and to maintain an appropriate balance between operational responsibilities and progression.

• Assess whether successful development initiatives achieved with the HR department can be expanded across the organisation.

3. HR Operations

• Lead the continued development, implementation and review of HR policies, processes, procedures and documentation in line with employment law legislation and regularity requirements, supporting the charity to drive performance and a positive people culture.

• Oversee all processes within the employee lifecycle to ensure staff are supported appropriately and the charity’s legislative responsibilities are fulfilled.

• Act as the organisation’s HR Management Information System champion and proactively verify that systems are managed effectively, maintained, audited, and updated in line with changing service needs and employment legislation.

• Ensure all HR records are compliant with GDPR requirements.

• Responsible for providing meaningful HR metrics, data and insights to the charity.

• Responsible for overseeing the organisation’s vetting services and ongoing Safer Recruitment checks (including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks and employment references) for all employees, self-employed contractors and volunteers.

• Ensure all policies and procedures are up to date and in line with current legislation and that a robust notification process is in place to inform staff of any policy changes.

• Manage the HR department’s budget, including the preparation of the annual budget and quarterly reforecasts, monitoring performance against budget and also overseeing the expenditure related to people and HR activities across all other departments.

4. Employee Relations

• Work in collaboration with the charity’s Learning and Development Business Partner to oversee the organisation’s PDR process, recognising where processes need to be reconfigured to accommodate the charity’s strategic priorities.

• Act as the senior point of contact for guidance on employment issues and associated laws and legislation.

• Provide line managers with prompt, clear, relevant and effective advice compliant with organisation policy and current employment legislation.

• Coach, advise and train managers to manage their employee relationships appropriately.

• Lead on hearings, such as dismissals, grievances and redundancy situations.

• Work in collaboration with managers to support any organisational changes such as changes to Terms and Conditions, restructures and redundancies. 

• Adopt a proactive approach to performance and absence support, working in collaboration with line managers to identify any potential risks to the charity.

• Take responsibility for the management and implementation of all organisational policies affecting HR issues.

5. Employee Wellbeing

• Oversee the organisation’s approach to employee welfare.

• Maintain an effective channel of communication so that staff are informed in a timely, accurate and consistent manner.

• Design and administer staff engagement initiatives to encourage staff feedback and input. Utilise this feedback to inform the People Strategy focus and the direction of other HR initiatives.

• Develop mechanisms for monitoring staff wellbeing and morale with appropriate frameworks for employees to raise any issues.

• Administer the charity’s mental health forum and ensure that initiatives developed by the forum are implemented.

6. Compensation and Benefits

• Responsible for annual salary benchmarking and salary reviews; ensuring compensation levels across the organisation are equitable and are competitive with the external market.

• Assess the charity’s non-monetary benefits package and identify opportunities to improve and expand the benefits that staff can access.

• Oversee the administration of the charity’s pension scheme, ensuring all auto enrolment requirements are met and monthly and annual reports are produced in line with requirements.

7. Recruitment and Selection

• Work in collaboration with managers across the organisation to provide ongoing recruitment advice and support.

• Manage a talent recruitment and retention strategy with support from the charity’s Learning and Development Business Partner.

• Ensure that the principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Safer Recruitment are implemented at all stages of the recruitment and selection process.

• Upskill managers to ensure that they understand their responsibilities with the recruitment process in compliance with all appropriate policies and procedures.

• Act as the organisation’s recruitment platform champion and proactively verify that systems are effectively managed, maintained audited and updated in line with changing service needs and employment legislation.

• With support from the HR team, responsible for the day-to-day management of the recruitment process; including reviewing job descriptions, website advertising, agency management and supporting the business with interviewing and selection where required.

• Manage the job evaluation process to ensure that all roles/vacancies have been reviewed, assessed and approved in accordance with the charity’s financial authorisation policy.

8. Learning and Development (L&D)

• Work in collaboration with the Learning and Development Business Partner to design and launch an L&D offer which encourages continuous development across the organisation, championing employee and organisational growth.

• Create new internal training opportunities and expand existing frameworks to support the development needs of the charity. Configure training frameworks to ensure that the different requirements for each department are appropriately satisfied.

• Build relationships with external training partners to expand the L&D opportunities that the charity’s employees can pursue.

• Support the Learning and Development Business Partner to develop a set of KPI metrics and targets to measure the success of L&D initiatives. Use appropriate sector benchmarks to monitor the impact of these strategies.

• Ensure that the charity’s performance development support framework is managed appropriately across all areas of the organisation.

Deliver initiatives to maximise employee engagement, particularly strategies which promote and support open, transparent and equitable employee engagement.