Employee Relations Specialist

On behalf of NICE , we are looking for a Employee Relations Specialist - (Inside IR35) for a 3-month contract working on a hybrid basis and with an expectation of 1 day per month attendance in the Manchester office

About the Organisation

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance and advice on promoting high-quality health, public health and social care.

We improve outcomes for people using the NHS and other public health and social care services by:

Producing evidence-based guidance and advice for health, public health and social care practitioners

Developing quality standards and performance metrics for people providing and commissioning health, public health and social care services

Providing a range of information services for commissioners, practitioners, and managers across the spectrum of health and social care.

The People Team

We are the heart of our organisation’s culture and people experience- passionate about empowering our colleagues and leaders to thrive, perform and grow. Our team provides expert People (HR) advice, guidance and support that enables confident , values-based leadership and ensures every colleague is treated fairly, consistently and in line with employment legislation and best practice.

Spanning the full spectrum of People practice, we lead on Organisational Development, Learning and Development, Strategic Business Partnering, People Relations, Policy Innovation, Reward, Resourcing, Change Management , Health and Wellbeing and People Data and Insights. Together, we shape the conditions for an inclusive, high performing and future focused workforce .

Everything we do is grounded in our commitment to helping NICE deliver world-class guidance that is high quality, timely, relevant, and impactful. We are proud to be key drivers in creating a brilliant organisation by enabling its most important asset - its people.

Job Purpose

To support the People Relations and Organisational Change Team Lead to develop and deliver strategically aligned People Relations and Organisational Change activities, such as managing complex employee relations casework and supporting organisational change processes including restructures. This will ensure the delivery of an effective People Relations service across the organisation, maintaining compliance with employment law and best practice, fostering constructive working relationships, and balancing the needs of colleagues and trade union representatives.

Act as cultural ambassador across NICE, embedding and promoting Restorative Just and Learning Culture principles alongside NICE values and Equality Diversity and Inclusion into day-to-day people practices and leadership behaviours.

As a Employee Relations Specialist - (Inside IR35) , your main responsibilities will be:

- Provide expert coaching, constructive challenge and professional advice to managers on complex or sensitive People Relations matters. This involves autonomously managing a caseload of multiple concurrent cases, applying professional judgement to ensure timely progression in line with organisational policies, employment law and delivering legally compliant, proportionate and outcome-focused resolutions.
- Responsible for maintaining accurate People Relations casework records and databases, while proactively identifying risks within People Relations cases and Organisational Change activity, escalating issues as required and recommending appropriate mitigation actions.
- Regularly analyse people relations issues and provide advice to managers where clear guidance may not exist, requiring the ability to use professional judgement to assess the situation and determine the most appropriate course of action.
- Support the delivery of organisational change programmes and provide expert advice on their people aspects, including restructures, service redesign, TUPE, consultation, redeployment and redundancy processes, ensuring compliance with policy and legislation.
- Work in partnership with Strategic People Partners and Organisational Development (OD) colleagues to support delivery of aligned change and transformation activity.
- Support the management of People Relations queries escalated through the People Hub inbox, including reviewing and responding to queries and providing advice across a full range of People Relations matters, including (but not limited to) complex sickness absence cases.
- Support the design of learning interventions that develop managers capability and confidence in managing People Relations and Organisational Change activity effectively.
- Provide support and guidance to managers in job design relating to management of change, where required, utilising Job Evaluation (JE) knowledge skills and experience, including undertaking JE panel activity as required.
- Contribute to the review, development and implementation of People Relations and Organisational Change policies and frameworks, including drafting and updating policies and guidance as required, ensuring a restorative approach.
- Promote early resolution approaches, including mediation and informal intervention, reducing reliance on formal processes.
- Champion psychologically safe environments and informal conflict resolution as first choice mechanisms through influencing, coaching and practice development.
- Ensure partnership and collaborative working with internal and external stakeholders including Trade Unions, third party suppliers (such as Occupational Health) and other directorate teams.
- Contribute to delivery of People Strategy, Organisational Development and transformation priorities.
- Promote equality, diversity and inclusion through People Relations practice and Organisational Change activity, supporting fair and equitable outcomes.

Essential

- Employee Relations case experience
- CIPD level 5 or evidence of an equivalent qualification
- Sound understanding of relevant employment legislation and the impact of future legislative changes.
- Highly developed communication skills, with the ability to convey complex employee relations and organisational change information clearly in both written and verbal formats, including preparation of formal documentation for hearings, consultation processes and other forums.
- Ability to work autonomously in complex and ambiguous environments, interpreting situations and taking initiative to assess risk and make decisions .
- Significant experience of managing end to end complex and multi-stranded People Relations cases such as grievance, disciplinary capability (performance and sickness absence), alongside supporting organisational change initiatives .

Desirable

- NHS experience / Public Sector experience

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a Disability Confident employer, NICE encourage applications from disabled and neurodivergent candidates . Applications from candidates who identify as having a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be prioritised for review. Where application volumes are high, additional role-specific and desirable criteria may be applied as part of the shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

DE&I Commitment

NICE guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".