The HR Manager is the strategic lead and operational anchor for our people. Your purpose is to build a high-performing, values-driven culture where every employee and volunteer is empowered to inspire, believe, thrive and serve. You will act as a trusted advisor to the CEO and Board, translating our mission into a robust People Strategy. You are responsible for ensuring the organisation is legally protected, resource efficient, and operationally excellent, fostering a professional HR team that leads by example in everything they do.
Main Duties & Responsibilities
1. Strategy, Culture & Board Leadership
* The Golden Thread: Weave the YMCA mission into every stage of the employee lifecycle. You ensure our People Strategy isn't just a document, but a lived experience across the entire charity that delivers tangible Social Value.
* Strategic Partner & Board Liaison: Act as the primary HR liaison to the CEO and Board. You provide high -evel assurance on workforce planning, organisational design, and people strategy execution, attending Board meetings to present insights that drive decision-making.
* ELT Support: Act as a critical friend to the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), providing the strategic bravery and data-driven modeling needed to lead through growth, mergers, and restructures.
* Remuneration & Retention: Periodically benchmark and design reward packages that balance commercial sustainability with the need to attract and retain high-quality talent in a competitive market.
2. Operational Excellence & Functional Resilience
* Setting the Standard: Provide high-performing line management to the HR team. You set the gold standard for professional conduct, ensuring a highly efficient, sleeves-up shared service.
* Preventing Single Points of Failure: Build departmental resilience through cross-training and documented Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). You ensure the HR function remains 100% operational regardless of individual absences.
* Technical Policy Authority: Act as the technical HR expert for the Policy Working Group (PWG). You hold final sign-off on the legal integrity of all people policies, ensuring they are abreast of legislative changes and effectively embedded into manager behavior.
* People Function Financial Oversight: Manage the delegated HR departmental budget, ensuring all people-related investments (e.g. training, recruitment, benefits) offer a clear ROI. You will provide the ELT with accurate workforce data and benchmarking to support them in managing their respective business unit people budgets effectively.
3. Managerial Capability & Future Talent
* Everyday Leaders Programme: Lead the annual cycle of our in-house leadership programme. You will drive the selection process, enhance the existing curriculum to add ongoing value, and ensure the programme’s impact is measured through tangible improvements in manager performance and cultural alignment.
* Professional Coaching: Provide coaching to Directors and Managers, upskilling them to handle the majority of their people challenges independently and confidently.
* Future Talent Pipeline: Provide strategic oversight and support for our Apprenticeship and Volunteer programmes, including ensuring safe vetting and effective monitoring. You will act as the champion for Apprentices, ensuring they are well supported to learn and grow.
* Internal Communications: Lead the HR communication strategy, ensuring "You Said, We Did" feedback loops are smooth and staff feel heard and informed.
4. High-Risk Governance & Compliance
* The Escalation Point: Act as the senior lead for complex, high-risk Employee Relations (ER). You handle cases that threaten the organisation’s reputation or finances, including TUPE, senior disciplinaries, and tribunal risks.
* Regulatory Accountability: Take ultimate accountability for the Single Central Record (SCR) and Payroll integrity. You act as the final safety check for external auditors (Ofsted/Regulators), providing absolute assurance on regulatory compliance.
* Horizon Scanning: Proactively manage the impact of legislative shifts and sector-specific regulations. You ensure HR processes align with Safeguarding and Health & Safety functions to avoid duplication and maximise organisational safety.
General
It is in the nature of the work at YMCA North Tyneside that tasks and responsibilities are in many circumstances unpredictable and varied, therefore, this job description is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities but is intended to reflect a range of duties the post-holder will perform in line with their remuneration. The job description will be reviewed regularly and may be changed in the light of experience and in consultation with the post-holder.
This role acts as the primary HR liaison to the CEO and the Board of Trustees. You will attend Board Meetings to present the People Strategy, advising the leadership on workforce planningand organisational design. You are responsible for ensuring the Golden Thread of our mission is woven into the strategic plan and for providing the final assurance on all people-related governance.
This post requires proof of right to work in the UK, satisfactory references and a satisfactory enhanced DBS Disclosure (the cost of which will be met by the employer).
YMCA North Tyneside is committed to eliminating discrimination and encouraging diversity in the workforce. We aim to be an equal opportunities employer and we are determined to ensure no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.
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