HR Business Partner | Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust

Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust; Maidstone; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in Maidstone seeks an experienced HR Business Partner to enhance workforce engagement and provide strategic support to leadership. This position requires strong leadership skills and a thorough understanding of financial and governance aspects within healthcare. The ideal candidate will drive the People Strategy and support transformational change projects within the organization.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as an HR Business Partner or in a similar role.
• Strong understanding of finance and governance in a health care setting.
• Ability to support transformational change projects.

Responsibilities

• Drive the People Strategy within the assigned area to enhance engagement.
• Provide coaching and strategic leadership to senior teams.
• Ensure effective workforce planning and recruitment processes.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Influencing and negotiating

Workforce planning

Education

CIPD Level 7 or equivalent

Job description

We are looking for an experienced HR Business Partner to join our busy team based at Farm Villa in Maidstone.

Your role will be an integral part of the senior leadership team within your care group/ area, developing effective working relationships, negotiating and influencing in order to support the achievement of the People Strategy and Trust Objectives. The HR Team is responsible for supporting all our workforce to achieve the Trust vision and values.

As a senior HR professional, you will be expected to work on your own initiative. You will need to develop a thorough understanding of the services within your directorate/area, including finance and governance. You will also work collaboratively and support the wider workforce OD teams, ensuring the success of any change projects that are put in place.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the trust by driving the People Strategy within the assigned care group/ area, ensuring that we put our people first to drive greater engagement and belonging.
• Work alongside the senior leadership team and provide strategic leadership and coaching to the team they work with. They will also be the subject matter expert for all areas of HR, being the voice and the main point of contact for the centre of the area of expertise, or where there is a specific development need for the individual.
• Support the places to plan their workforce requirements promptly, working with HR Shared Services to ensure that recruitment is appropriate, budgeted, job evaluated and implemented most effectively.

About Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust

We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated ‘Good’ by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.

Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It’s why we’re passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

Join us – if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together.

At Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, we are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under‑represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.

The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

Please see the attached job description for full details of the main duties and responsibilities of the role.

This advert closes on Friday 5 Dec 2025.