Head of Human Resources (HR) Partnering and Digitalisation

Job summary

The Head of Human Resources (HR) Partnering and Digitalisation provides senior operational and strategic leadership for a significant part of the People function, ensuring delivery of a high-quality, consistent and values-led service across Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB. The postholder leads the HR Business Partnering and Digitalisation portfolio, supported by the Deputy Head of Business partnering and the HR advisory/employee relations service, and is accountable for the operational oversight, governance, quality assurance and continuous improvement of the service. The role provides authoritative leadership and advice on highly complex and sensitive workforce, organisational development and employee relations matters, including organisational change, service redesign, workforce risk and collective employment issues. The postholder leads implementation of workforce priorities aligned to corporate objectives, translates corporate and People strategy into strategic and operational plans for the portfolio with organisation-wide impact, builds strong partnerships across the system and with staff side colleagues, and deputises for the Director of People as required. The role also supports the Head of Workforce Design and Organisational Development in the delivery of workforce health and wellbeing priorities, including inclusive initiatives, oversight of employee support schemes, and partnership working to identify and share best practice.

Main duties of the job

Lead the performance, direction and continuous improvement of the HR Partnering and Digital Services portfolio, ensuring clear priorities, effective governance, measurable outcomes and alignment to the ICB strategy and People priorities.

Provide authoritative professional leadership for HR advisory/employee relations, ensuring consistent, high-quality practice and compliance with employment law, NHS terms and conditions, organisational policies and governance requirements, with clear escalation routes, quality standards and decision-making thresholds.

Deputise for the Director, including representing the function at executive, system and governance meetings and leading decision-making as required.

Lead the People contribution to highly complex organisational change, service redesign and workforce transformation programmes, ensuring effective consultation, risk management, staff side engagement and delivery of strategic workforce objectives.

About us

The People function is a small team that supports the ICB in all aspects of workforce. The ICB has been through a significant period of change and restructure that is due to end in November. This will require significant support and development for leadership, teams and individuals as new teams and roles have been developed across the organisation. The People function has a People plan and a number of key priority areas to support the next phase of the ICB transformation. This will be a pivotal time to join the team and the organisation and to make a real difference. The ICB will continue to grow over the next period as it hosts more services.

Job responsibilities

• Provide senior leadership to the HR Partnering and Digital Services portfolio, setting direction, standards and priorities across HR advisory, employee relations and digital service development.

Support the Head of Workforce Design and Organisational Development, in collaboration with partners, in the development and delivery of inclusive staff health and wellbeing plans and initiatives, including employee support schemes.

Translate organisational strategy into strategic and operational People plans for the portfolio, including workforce capability building, digital service development and contribution to wellbeing initiatives led through the Head of Workforce Design and Organisational Development, and adjust plans in response to organisational priorities, risk and service demand.

Provide authoritative advice and assurance to senior leaders on highly complex workforce, organisational development, capacity and employment matters, including wellbeing-related workforce considerations where these interface with the roles portfolio, and cases where there are conflicting options, significant organisational risk or no clear precedent.

• Lead and chair relevant internal People governance meetings and working groups, producing clear decisions, actions and follow-through; communicate highly complex and sensitive information to senior stakeholders, managers and staff.

• Establish and maintain performance reporting across the People & OD portfolio, including KPIs, dashboards, deep dives and exception reporting.
• Identify and manage risks and issues (including employee relations risk, change risk and capacity risk), ensuring mitigation plans and escalation routes are effective.
• Provide assurance on the quality and consistency of advice, case management, documentation and decision-making across advisory/employee relations activity; ensure the effective operation, integrity, development and use of workforce information, reporting and associated systems within the portfolio.
• Establish, communicate and monitor clear expectations for case progression, documentation quality, review points, escalation routes and decision-making thresholds across advisory/employee relations activity, intervening where standards, timeliness or consistency are not being met.
• Use workforce and case data, including themes, timeliness, outcomes and variation, to identify service risks and inefficiencies, support assurance to senior leaders, and drive targeted improvement activity across the portfolio.

• Lead the People contribution to organisational change programmes (e.g., restructures, consultation activity, transition planning), ensuring robust processes and positive colleague experience.
• Provide senior oversight of consultation, staff-side engagement, equality considerations and workforce risk management in complex organisational change and transformation activity, ensuring fair, transparent and legally compliant processes.

Support the Head of Workforce Design and Organisational Development in delivering wellbeing strategies that improve attendance, support colleagues to remain well at work, and align with wider workforce priorities.

Work with the Head of Workforce Design and Organisational Development, Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB health and wellbeing champions and wider partners to identify, adopt and share best practice, and to review the effectiveness of wellbeing and employee assistance provision.

• Drive continuous improvement of People operating processes, customer experience and service standards; evaluate the impact and sustainability of interventions and adjust delivery accordingly.

• Ensure compliance with employment law, NHS terms and conditions and organisational policies, supporting fair, consistent and timely decision making.
• Oversee the development, review and implementation of People policies and frameworks within the portfolio, ensuring alignment to national guidance and robust governance for high-risk decisions and programmes, and contributing to policy and practice development with impact beyond the immediate service area where required.
• Ensure adherence to data protection, confidentiality and information governance requirements for workforce and employee relations information.
• Provide governance and assurance over key employment controls within the portfolio, including the fair and lawful application of employment checks, fixed-term arrangements, right to work requirements and other high-risk people processes, escalating themes and risks appropriately.

• Lead effective resource planning for the People service, ensuring capacity is aligned to demand and organisational priorities.
• Manage delegated pay and non-pay budgets for the portfolio, ensuring effective budgetary control, forecasting, value for money, delivery within agreed limits, and contribution to wider financial planning and sustainability.
• Identify and deliver productivity and value opportunities, contributing to corporate financial sustainability and workforce efficiency.

• Line manage senior staff within the portfolio, setting clear objectives, providing supervision, developing capability and ensuring high standards of practice.
• Lead a culture of accountability, inclusion, continuous improvement and compassionate leadership across the People team(s).
• Support workforce planning, talent development and succession planning for People roles in conjunction with other parts of the People team.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• MCIPD qualification and membership (or equivalent senior HR professional qualification).
• Educated to Master's level or equivalent demonstrable experience in HR/OD leadership, organisational development and workforce transformation.

Desirable

• Educated to Master's level or equivalent demonstrable experience in HR/OD leadership, organisational development and workforce transformation.
• Project / programme management qualification or equivalent experience leading complex change programmes.

Experience

Essential

• Significant senior HR and/or OD leadership experience, including leading multiple workstreams/teams and delivering organisational priorities.
• Demonstrable experience leading complex organisational change and workforce transformation programmes, including consultation and engagement.
• Extensive experience providing expert advice on complex and sensitive employee

knowledge of ER, employment law

Essential

• Expert knowledge of employment law, employee relations practice, NHS terms and conditions and best practice People governance.
• Proven experience of developing and implementing People policies, frameworks and standard operating procedures at organisational level.

Desirable

• Knowledge of NHS Job Evaluation processes and factor-based role design expectations.

Personal attributes

Essential

• Credible and visible leader who models organisational values and behaviours; high integrity, discretion and professionalism.
• Resilient and calm under pressure; proactive, improvement-focused and outcomes-driven with strong personal accountability.