People & OD Partner

NHS; Cardiff; Remote; GBP 58,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Home or remote working

37.5 hours per week

Job summary

NHS in Cardiff is seeking a Senior People Partnering professional to work with Executive Directors and senior leaders. This role is fixed-term/secondment until March 2028, with 37.5 hours per week and flexible/home working options.

Salary ranges from £58,379 to £65,723 per annum, with interviews scheduled for 17 November 2026 in person at CQ2. You will provide senior People & OD advice, help leaders translate priorities into practical workforce actions, and work across the organisation to

Qualifications

• Masters-level qualification in HR/OD or equivalent knowledge and skills.
• Chartered Membership of CIPD (MCIPD) with evidence of continued professional development.
• Significant senior-level HR business partnering experience.
• Experience of workforce planning and organisational design.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior People & OD advice, coaching and constructive challenge.
• Navigate organisational change, including service changes, organisation and role design, restructuring and new ways of working.
• Translate organisational priorities into practical workforce and organisational plans.
• Use workforce data and insight to inform decision-making and drive improvement.

Skills

Senior HR partner

Influencing skills

Strategic workforce planning

Stakeholder management

Education

Masters-level HR/OD qualification

MCIPD membership

Job description

Main area People Partnering Grade Band 8a Contract 17 months (Fixed Term or Secondment until 31 March 2028 due to funding) Hours

• Full time
• Flexible working
• Home or remote working

37.5 hours per week Job ref 028-AC209-1026

Site Capital Quarter 2 Town Cardiff Salary £58,379 - £65,723 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 08/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 17/11/2026

Job overview

THIS POST IS FIXED TERM/SECONDMENT FOR 18 MONTHS END MARCH 2028 DUE TO FUNDING.

Do you enjoy getting underneath what an organisation is trying to achieve and helping leaders turn that into practical people and workforce decisions?

We’re looking for an experienced People/HR Partner to work alongside Executive Directors and senior leaders across Public Health Wales.

This is a broad partnering role where you’ll bring insight, professional judgement and constructive challenge, connecting the right People & OD expertise to help leaders move from thinking and planning into delivery.

You’ll be joining at an important time for the organisation as there will be significant change alongside the day-to-day workforce challenges of running our services. We need someone who can see the bigger picture, make sense of complexity and help leaders translate priorities into practical action.

You won’t be expected to have all the answers yourself. A key part of the role is knowing when to challenge, when to advise and when to bring together expertise from across People & OD and the wider organisation to help move things forward.

Interviews: 17 November 2026, in person at CQ2

Main duties of the job

About you

You’ll have substantial senior-level People/HR/OD partnering experience in a complex organisation and be comfortable working with senior leaders, managing competing priorities and moving between the bigger organisational picture and the detail needed to make things happen.

You’ll bring sound professional judgement, strong influencing skills and the confidence to challenge constructively. We’ll also want to understand how you’ve used workforce insight and your professional expertise to deliver practical, measurable improvements.

You’ll need the professional knowledge and experience set out in the person specification, including Chartered Membership of the CIPD (MCIPD).

This is an opportunity to make a real contribution

You’ll be joining at a point where strong People partnering really matters. You’ll have significant autonomy and the opportunity to work on real organisational questions, helping leaders think through workforce, capability and organisational issues and turn decisions into delivery.

If you enjoy making sense of complexity, working with senior leaders and turning workforce challenges into practical action, there will be plenty here to get involved in

How we work

We work in a hybrid way. The Partner team meets face-to-face monthly and you’ll also attend key Directorate meetings in person. Beyond that, where you work will be shaped by the needs of the role and the Directorate(s) you support

Working for our organisation

We are Public Health Wales – the national public health organisation in Wales. Our purpose is ‘Working together for a healthier Wales’. We exist to help everyone in Wales live longer, healthier, happier lives. Together with our partners, we work to increase healthy life expectancy, improve health and well-being, and reduce inequalities for everyone in Wales, now and for future generations.

We are guided by our Values, 'Working together, with trust and respect, to make a difference'. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace that values equality and diversity. We welcome applications which represent the rich diversity of the communities we serve and are supportive of flexible working arrangements, including part time roles and job sharing.

The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents.

Working with Executive Directors and senior leadership teams, you’ll provide senior People & OD advice, coaching and constructive challenge.

A significant part of the role will be helping leaders navigate organisational change, including service change, organisation and role design, restructuring, skill mix and new ways of working. Alongside this, you’ll:

• translate organisational priorities into practical workforce and organisational plans;
• help leaders think ahead about workforce capacity, capability and future requirements;
• use workforce data and insight to support decisions and identify where action is needed;
• help navigate complex and sensitive people issues;
• support culture, leadership, engagement and team effectiveness;
• work constructively with Trade Unions and staff representatives;
• connect leaders with expertise across People & OD and other functions; and
• use evidence and insight to understand what’s working and where we need to do something differently

Already working in the NHS?

This could be a really good opportunity to broadening your experience, working closely with senior leaders and contributing during an important period for the organisation.

We particularly welcome applications from existing NHS colleagues interested in joining us on secondment, subject to agreement with your current employer.

Coming from outside the NHS? We’d like to hear from you too.

NHS experience is helpful, but it isn’t essential. If you’ve worked at a senior People/HR/OD level in another organisation, have recent experience of organisational change and can build credibility quickly, your experience could translate well.

Experience of working in a complex, unionised environment will be particularly useful.

You’ll need to get to grips with Public Health Wales and the NHS Wales context quickly, but we’re equally interested in the different experience and perspective you could bring.

Person specification

Qualifications and Knowledge

• Masters‑level qualification in HR/OD or equivalent knowledge and skills gained through significant experience.
• Chartered Membership of CIPD (MCIPD) with evidence of continued professional development.

Experience

• Significant senior‑level experience in a HR/People business partnering role within a complex organisation.
• Experience of supporting senior leaders and leadership teams on complex workforce and organisational issues.
• Experience of workforce planning, organisational design and implementing workforce solutions to meet organisational need.
• Experience of using workforce data, insight and evidence to inform decision-making and drive improvement.
• Experience of working effectively with Trade Unions and other key stakeholders.

Skills & Attributes

• Highly developed influencing, negotiating and communication skills, able to convey complex, sensitive or contentious information effectively to diverse audiences
• Ability to build credibility and effective working relationships with senior leaders and stakeholders.
• Ability to provide constructive challenge and professional judgement to support decision-making and organisational improvement.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.