Organisation Development Consultant
Permanent, Full Time
£50,768 to £59,726 per annum
Location: Chelmsford*
Working Style:
Closing Date: 27th May 2026
*This position is contractually based in Chelmsford. The role allows for home-working, with a requirement to attend the Chelmsford office 1-2 days per week on average, in line with business need.
The Organisation Development Consultant helps enable the success of organisational strategy by bringing together all parts of the organisation to make sure the organisation’s ‘system’ operates at its best. Looking at both the ‘hard’ elements of the system (structures, processes, policies, and metrics) and ‘soft’ elements of the system (culture, values, behaviours and relationships), making connections to support individual, team and organisational performance.
This role identifies, designs, and executes comprehensive interventions that foster transformative change and enhance the employee experience, ensuring successful implementation and integration. It plays a key role in supporting the execution and delivery of the organisational strategy and underlying plans including the people plan, functional business plans and strategic workforce plans, fostering the development of high-performing teams throughout the organisation.
This role is key in building and enhancing the workforce capacity and ability in relation to critical capabilities, competencies, and behaviours necessary to execute our organisational development strategy which involves crafting creative and innovative interventions that not only engage and motivate but also empower leaders and their teams to take ownership of their development
As an OD consultant, you will be able to employ a well-rounded business change approach that seamlessly blends OD, change management, engagement strategies, and learning and capability development.
This role requires effective collaboration across People and Organisational Development and the entire organisation, working closely with People Business Partners and People Leads to ensure the successful development and delivery of the Organisational Development Strategy and associated people interventions. Taking ownership for implementation of essential workforce initiatives across the Council which benefit our employees, the organisation and positively impact on service users and our residents, showcasing your strong project management expertise and demonstrating professional proficiency through the application of consultancy model at a professional standard.
Accountabilities
1. Influence and drive the design, implementation, and evaluation of organisational development (OD) strategies and initiatives to enhance overall effectiveness and performance, applying the full consultancy cycle and model to provide a service which supports delivery, professionalism, and productivity.
2. Manage highly complex and difficult conversations; Present, explain, motivate, engage and influence, persuade and challenge at all levels.
3. Work with the Organisation Design Consultants, advising on work design choices and approaches to ensure alignment between structure, systems, processes and culture to enhance the employee experience and deliver results.
4. Build organisational capability through effective collaboration with leaders and stakeholders across the council to identify and address organisational challenges, providing expert advice and solutions to influence the delivery of the OD strategy and associated people initiatives.
5. Identify, design and deliver organisation development and behavioural interventions including change management processes, leadership development programs, and leading cultural change programmes and initiatives, aligning them with the business priorities, workforce strategy and councils’ transformation agenda.
6. Undertake organisation diagnostics to analyse organisational needs, applying appropriate methodologies and professional expertise as well as utilising data and insights to inform the development of tailored OD solutions and interventions to support the evolving OD strategy.
7. Partner with People & OD teams to integrate OD practices into leadership, management and talent development, employee experience, wellbeing and EDI agendas, along with other people processes and practice, ensuring alignment with the overall people agenda and workforce strategy.
8. Evaluate the impact of OD initiatives, measuring key performance indicators and providing recommendations for continuous improvement and refinement of organisational processes.
9. Regularly update knowledge and skills to meet the evolving standards set by the CIPD at standards level of Chartered Membership or above. Integrate the CIPD profession map and its framework into all actions, including participation in continuous professional development activities and ensuring that ECC’s HR practices and strategies are in accordance with the CIPD's professional standards and ethical guidelines.
10. Actively participate in the development and continuation of communities of practice and networks to share best practices, ensuring a cohesive approach to OD and employee experience across the organisation.
Skills, Knowledge and Experience
11. Educated to degree level in a relevant professional field such as Organisational Development, Human Resources, Psychology, or equivalent by experience.
12. Professional membership of CIPD at Chartered level or working towards this.
13. Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area.
14. Demonstrable experience of managing complex culture, behavioural or systems issues through professional application of the consultancy model to drive results.
15. Strong understanding of leading-edge organisation development and change theories and methods, with demonstrable experience of practical and successful application of these within a complex matrix environment.
16. Previous experience of planning, designing, delivering, and evaluating OD and change interventions, in a large and complex organisation.
17. Strong communication and influencing skills with the ability to clearly articulate messages to a range of audiences with differing levels of understanding.
18. Strong business acumen with the ability to link initiatives and delivery tangible outcomes through alignment with strategic business priorities.
19. Strong working knowledge of current business technology.
Why Essex? Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us
In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our
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