About the role Are you passionate about creating a positive workplace culture and driving strategic HR initiatives? As our People Services Strategic Lead, you’ll be delivering a professional, people-focused HR service that adds value across the organisation. You’ll lead the People Services Team both operationally and strategically; working closely with the Head of HR & OD to coach and develop others, foster a culture of positive employee relations, and deliver performance improvements. What we’re looking for: • Proven experience in leading HR teams and managing complex employee relations. • Strong knowledge of employment law and HR best practice. • Strategic thinker with excellent leadership and coaching skills. • Passionate about driving change and fostering inclusive workplaces. • Confident communicator and trusted partner to senior colleagues. If you're ready to make a meaningful impact on organisational effectiveness and support the implementation of our People Strategy, we’d love to hear from you! Main duties of the job The People Services Strategic Lead is responsible for delivering a professional, people-focused, value adding People service with a strong emphasis on fostering a positive Employee Relations culture. This includes managing complex casework and Employment Tribunals, while ensuring compliance with employment legislation and Trust policies. The key responsibilities include: • A proactive and future-focused approach to Employee Relations. • Manage complex casework and Employment Tribunals. • Ensure compliance with employment legislation and Trust policies. • Lead on organisational change, policy development, and continuous service improvement. • Promote and embed equality, diversity, and inclusion across all areas. • Act as a trusted advisor to managers and senior leaders, influencing strategic HR decisions. • Align initiatives with the People Strategy and broader local and national contexts within the NHS. Working for our organisation We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people’s homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust. Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that: 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question. 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region. 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%. This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys. Detailed job description and main responsibilities. The postholder is a senior member of the People directorate and will lead a team of HR professionals to deliver an effective and proactive HR service across the Trust. Reporting to the Head of HR & OD, they will utilise their leadership skills to influence, coach and develop the HR team and managers across the organisation to identify and manage risk, advise on best practice through change management, lead on policy development and lead on Job Evaluation. The post holder will also have responsibilities for the Trusts Medical Staffing team. The postholder will be able to initiate/lead projects and interventions that address defined organisational priorities. These reflect complex challenges where the postholders facilitation and influence at individual, team, service and organisational level is critical to secure improvements in performance and in patient care. The role is dependent on the ability to build collaborative and performance focused relationships that benefit the organisation and can impact behavioural change through an evidence-based approach to employee relations. By its nature, this role has a Trust wide remit which extends across region and system. The postholder is required to interpret and identify developments from national and local policies, strategies and legislation to establish the requirements and options for the Trust. In conducting specific projects and programmes of work the postholder will work independently drawing upon their own knowledge base and experience as well as evidence-based practice. Please refer to the Additional Information attachment before submitting your application. The Trust is required to work in line with the Government’s UK Visa and Immigration Rules and Regulations. For more information about sponsorship for certain roles, please visit - https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas Closing date: Sunday 1st February 2026 Longlisting Date: Monday 2nd February 2026 GHC Shortlisting Date: Tuesday 3rd February 2026 Shortlisted Candidates Notified: Wednesday 4th February 2026 Psychometric Testing for Shortlisted Candidates to be completed online: Thursday 5th February – Friday 6th February 2026 Psychometric Testing Feedback provided to Shortlisted Candidates online: Tuesday 10th February 2026 Assessment Centre for Shortlisted Candidates: Tuesday 17th February 2026 For more information please contact Andrew Barton at Penna on andrew.barton@penna.com or D 44 (0) 7922 386 432