Overview
A fantastic opportunity has arisen to lead our new Business Partnering and Employee Relations teams. As our Deputy Associate Director of People / Head of Business Partnering & Employee Relations, you will play a pivotal role in providing high-quality strategic and operational workforce support, ensuring people management across the Trust reflects best practice and our commitment to an exceptional staff experience.
You will lead and shape a best-in-class HR service, bringing a values-driven approach rooted in compassion, fairness and continuous improvement. With a strong focus on staff engagement and wellbeing, you will champion initiatives that help colleagues feel supported, heard and able to thrive. Working closely with the Senior People Team, you will help drive key workforce priorities that support our shared ambition of being the Best Place to Work. You will model our Oxleas values - We\'re Kind, We\'re Fair, We Listen and We Care - ensuring they are felt throughout the organisation and embedded in everyday interactions.
You will help strengthen a culture where every member of staff feels a genuine sense of belonging within the Oxleas family. We are proud to have received two Sunday Times Best Place to Work awards, and we continue to strive for improvement. Your leadership will be central to helping all colleagues feel that Oxleas is the best place to work, even in the most challenging times. You will ensure our people practices provide the highest-quality support to managers and staff across the Trust, enabling excellent care while meeting legal and statutory requirements.
We understand how challenging it can be for colleagues involved in formal HR processes. Working alongside staff who have been through these procedures, you will help reshape our approach, ensuring this is fair and supportive for everyone involved, focusing on early intervention and resolution. Your leadership will support staff and managers to address issues constructively and at the earliest opportunity.
You will drive organisational improvement, working closely with the Senior People Team to strengthen our culture, team relationships, retention and equality work. By nurturing meaningful engagement, you will contribute to a workplace where wellbeing, psychological safety, inclusion and staff experience are always prioritised.
As an authentic and compassionate leader, you will champion our Trust\'s vision and values, ensuring that the advice and support offered by the People teams is values-based and role-modelled in daily practice.
You will take a proactive and supportive approach to developing and investing in your team, enabling them to deliver a high-performing, responsive and engaging service. You will also provide specialist advice to managers on all aspects of People matters, ensuring a strong focus on data-driven decisions, consistency and clarity of approach.
Responsibilities
* Provide high-quality strategic and operational workforce support across the Trust.
* Lead and shape a best-in-class HR service with a values-driven, compassionate, fair and continuously improving approach.
* Champion staff engagement, wellbeing initiatives and an exceptional staff experience.
* Model and embed Oxleas values in everyday interactions.
* Strengthen culture, staff belonging, inclusion and equality work in collaboration with the Senior People Team.
* Deliver data-driven People guidance to managers with consistency and clarity of approach.
* Support managers and staff through formal HR processes with early intervention and constructive resolution.
Qualifications & Experience
* Experience in both strategic and operational HR with a broad portfolio spanning employee relations, performance, organisational development, equality, diversity and inclusion.
* Ability to work collaboratively to drive meaningful, continuous improvement.
* Comfort working in a values-based, compassionate leadership style and developing resilient, high-performing teams.
Working & Diversity
We welcome applications from all people, including those from a global majority background, those who live with a disability (visible or not) and those who identify as LGBTQ+. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace and offer interview adjustments under the Disability Confident Scheme. Any information provided regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence.
Accessibility & Interview Process
If you require adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know when scheduling your interview. You may contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs. If you have declared you are part of the armed forces community, you may be asked to provide evidence during recruitment. AI use: you are encouraged to personalise any AI-assisted writing; AI-generated applications are not endorsed and may impact your chances. AI is prohibited during the interview process.
About Oxleas
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings, including district nursing, speech and language therapy, and care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care. We work with other NHS parts, local councils and the voluntary sector, with over 4,300 staff across 125+ sites in the South of England. Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. Our values are: We\'re Kind, We\'re Fair, We Listen, We Care.
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