Head of Employment Services – AR

Job Details

Head of Employment Services

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Head of Employment Services to provide strategic leadership across the Council’s HR operations, employee services and resourcing functions.

The successful candidate will lead the Employee Services Centre, ensuring the Council provides a high-quality, customer-focused HR service to managers and employees across the full employee lifecycle. You will also have responsibility for HR systems and data, recruitment and resourcing, workforce information, supplier contracts and HR process improvement.

This is a senior leadership role requiring strong experience within a complex organisation, ideally within local government or the wider public sector.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead and manage the Council’s Employee Services Centre, ensuring an effective and customer-focused HR administration service.
  • Develop and monitor SLAs, KPIs and customer satisfaction measures, identifying opportunities to improve service quality and efficiency.
  • Oversee HR processes across the full employee lifecycle, working closely with Payroll and Pensions.
  • Lead the Council’s employee resourcing and recruitment strategy, covering permanent and fixed-term recruitment from initial job briefing through to offer and pre-employment checks.
  • Lead and manage HR and resourcing teams, providing direction, performance management, coaching and development.
  • Ensure recruitment policies, procedures and information are compliant, accessible and support effective manager and employee self-service.
  • Manage the Council’s Oracle Cloud HR system, ensuring employee data is accurate, complete and maintained to a high standard.
  • Lead the production and analysis of HR management information, reporting and workforce insight, using data to support strategic decision-making.
  • Manage the Council’s agency staffing contract, including supplier performance, quality assurance, reporting and compliance.
  • Oversee temporary and interim staffing arrangements, including IR35 compliance and secondments.
  • Procure and manage contracts for DBS, Occupational Health and Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) services.
  • Monitor supplier performance, budgets, compliance and service quality across HR contracts.
  • Contribute to the development of the Council’s wider HR strategy, policies and workforce planning.
  • Provide senior-level advice and insight to the Executive Management Team and HR Leadership Team.
  • Build effective relationships with senior managers, elected Members, employees, partners and external suppliers.
  • Ensure HR records and recruitment documentation are managed appropriately, including GDPR and data protection compliance.
  • Support equality, diversity and inclusion across the organisation and ensure HR practices are fair, consistent and accessible.
  • Act as a DBS Counter Signatory for the Council.

About You

You will be an experienced senior HR professional with a successful track record of leading HR services within a complex organisation.

You should have:

  • Significant experience in HR operations, employee services or a similar senior HR function.
  • Experience leading and managing teams and setting and delivering against KPIs and service standards.
  • Strong knowledge of operational HR, payroll, pensions and HR information systems.
  • Experience of recruitment, resourcing and workforce planning at organisational level.
  • Experience managing HR data, reporting, MI and using insight to inform business decisions.
  • Experience managing external suppliers and HR contracts, ideally including agency staffing, Occupational Health, DBS or EAP services.
  • Experience of procurement and tendering, preferably within local government or the public sector.
  • Understanding of IR35 and interim/temporary staffing arrangements.
  • Strong project and financial management skills.
  • Experience working with senior executives and stakeholders within a complex or politically sensitive environment.
  • A good understanding of the challenges facing local authorities and public-sector organisations.
  • Strong communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
  • The ability to analyse information and turn HR data into clear, practical recommendations.
  • A proactive, customer-focused and collaborative approach with the confidence to make decisions and drive improvement.

Qualifications

CIPD Chartered Membership or equivalent senior-level HR experience is desirable.

Working Arrangements

The role may require attendance at meetings outside normal working hours, including occasional evening meetings, and flexibility to work additional hours where required to meet organisational deadlines.

The successful candidate will also be expected to uphold the Council’s commitments to equality, diversity, confidentiality, health and safety and professional development.