People Consultant

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Kettering; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust seeks a People Consultant to provide focused employee relations support across Mental Health and Community Nursing within Adult and Children’s Healthcare services in Northamptonshire.

The role sits in the People Consultancy Team and supports managers with a proactive, pathway‑driven ER service, advising on terms, conditions and best practice while balancing workload in a busy service.

Qualifications

• Degree in HRM or related field or equivalent level of experience.
• Associate CIPD member or working towards CIPD.
• Experience providing People advise in a unionised/public sector workplace.
• Ability to hold a high volume employee relations caseload.

Responsibilities

• Provide proactive employee relations support to managers across the Trust.
• Advise on terms and conditions and HR policies.
• Develop comprehensive understanding of ER casework including sickness absence.
• Support projects within care delivery pathways and NHS context.

Skills

People management

Employee relations

Communication

Education

Degree in HRM

CIPD membership

Tools

ESR

HR policy databases

Job description

We are pleased to be recruiting a People Consultant to provide focused, professional employee relations support across the Trust, in delivering Mental Health and Community Nursing within Adult and Children Healthcare services across Northamptonshire.

The People Consultant works as part of the People Consultancy Team and is responsible for supporting managers across Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust by delivering a proactive, pathway-focused employee relations service.

The post holder acts as the first point of contact for managers on a broad range of workforce matters, providing advice and guidance in line with Trust policies, employment legislation and best practice. The role supports the delivery of effective people management solutions, enabling managers to address workforce challenges and create positive working environments.

In return you will benefit from working for an organisation who values you for your individuality, who supports your health and wellbeing and blend a generous reward package with a supportive work life balance.

As a valued member of our friendly, supportive and professional team you will utilise your existing people and employee relations skills and knowledge to fulfil a varied role where every day is different, interesting and rewarding.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work as part of the People Team. The successful candidate will need to quickly build relationships with managers through the Trust. The People Consultant will be encouraged to develop a comprehensive understanding of employee relations case work (including sickness absence) ensuring pragmatic solutions are reached for employee relations issues. They will also advise on terms and conditions and support projects within the care delivery pathways.

We are looking for candidates who ideally have experience of working in the NHS or a similar setting, have a CIPD qualification or are working towards this, and some experience of delivering a people service and supporting cases. Candidates will need to be great communicators, have a passion for people management and engagement and have the ability to balance priorities and workload to meet the needs of a busy service.

The People team are based at St Mary’s Hospital, Kettering and work in a hybrid flexible way working from home as well as in the office, delivering timely advice utilising video conferencing and appropriate technology in order to fulfil the role requirements.

Working for our organisation

NHFT is an integrated primary care and mental health Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in both hospital settings and out in the community. Because we put the person at the centre of all we do, we focus on delivering care that is as easy to access as possible. This means many of our services can be provided at home, work or in schools. We also provide health services to various prisons and detention centres in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information on the advertised role, please refer to the job description located under the Supporting Documents heading. The full person specification can be accessed under the ‘About You’ Section of the document.

NHFT is an integrated primary care and mental health Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in both hospital settings and out in the community. Because we put the person at the centre of all we do, we focus on delivering care that is as easy to access as possible. This means many of our services can be provided at home, work or in schools. We also provide health services to various prisons and detention centres in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Person specification

Qualification

• Degree in HRM or related field or equivalent level of experience
• Associate member of the CIPD

Experience

• Knowledge and practical experience of current people management practice.
• Experience of providing People advice and support in a unionised or Public Sector workplace
• Ability to hold a high volume employee relations caseload
• Implemented and updated policies and procedures
• Delivered training on people topics

By completing an application you are giving authorisation for the transfer of your data. In submitting an application form, you authorise us to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process. Including factual reference, occupational health clearance and statutory and mandatory training records and full service history.

You must ensure that your application, including supporting statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

Correspondence regarding your application will be sent to you via a TRAC system account.

Please submit your application as soon as possible; due to the high volumes of applications we receive we reserve the right to close any adverts before the closing date once we have received sufficient applications.

We are an equal opportunities employer, which aims to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons from all backgrounds.

All roles are subject to the home office immigration rules and therefore eligibility must meet certain requirements for any sponsorship to be considered. Please visit the government website for more information regarding eligibility,

At NHFT we support many of our colleagues to work flexibly and we will consider requests for flexible working from day one. For this role, we are open to discussing a range of options including flexible hours, agile/home working, compressed hours and part time hours. Please have a conversation with the recruiting manager about the flexibility you need and we will promise to explore what is possible with you.

Applicants who have a disability and meet the essential criteria for the job will be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme. If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process please make the recruitment services team aware as soon as possible.

All posts that are engaged in a regulated activity will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and a DBS re-check on a three yearly basis whilst employed in such a role. Staff employed in these posts will therefore be asked to register with the DBS Automatic Update Service upon receipt of their DBS certificate and must update yearly , the annual fee will be reimbursed subject to Trust policy. For further information please visit: DBS Update Service: applicant guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Please note if a DBS is applicable for the position then a charge will be deducted from your first salary.

Please note that all new starters to the trustare subject to a probationary period.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.