Job summary
- Main area
- Operational HR
- Grade
- Band 8a
- Contract
- 12 months (Fixed term end date will be determined after pre-employment checks have been completed)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 371-CS269
- Employer
- Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Operational HR, Upton Hospital
- Town
- Slough
- Salary
- £55,877 - £62,626 per annum ( Incl of HCAS)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 08/06/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 17/06/2025
Employer heading

People Business Partner
Band 8a
Job overview
Are you an experienced HR professional looking for your next challenge in a forward-thinking NHS Trust? We have an exciting opportunity for a skilled and proactive People Business Partner to join our operational HR team on a fixed term contract.
We are seeking a motivated and highly skilled HR professional with a proven track record in operational HR. You will bring strong problem-solving skills, a strategic mindset and a genuine passion for driving organisational success through effective people management. Confident in navigating complex HR issues, you will provide hands on support to senior leaders, helping to build a culture of high performance, staff engagement, and well-being.
As the trusted People Partner for your division, you will provide expert, proactive advice across all areas of people management. This includes employee relations casework, workforce planning, engagement initiatives, and organisational development. You will also be responsible for the day-to-day line management of the HR Advisor within your division offering you the opportunity to coach, mentor and support their development. This role offers a unique opportunity to influence at a senior level, contribute to organisational improvement, and join a supportive and inclusive team committed to making a difference.
You will be based at Upton Hospital, Slough, with travel to other Trust sites across Berkshire as required, although the role is predominantly home-based.
Main duties of the job
HR Expertise: Provide specialist HR advice on all aspects of people management, ensuring consistent, objective, and customer-focused service delivery.
Casework Management: Ensure timely resolution of casework, particularly disciplinary and early resolution cases, and meet Trust performance targets. Act as a point of escalation for complex queries.
Operational Support: Work with service managers to address people issues at the lowest level, facilitating mediation and coaching where needed. Provide guidance on handling sickness absence, monitoring metrics, and ensuring best practice.
Leadership: Supervise the HR Advisor and provide day-to-day guidance, ensuring alignment with Trust policies and procedures.
Data & Reporting: Analyse workforce data on sickness, turnover, and other key metrics, producing reports and identifying actions to address hot spots.
Organisational Development: Assist managers with OD interventions and staff engagement strategies. Work closely with the Learning & Development team to identify training needs and ensure delivery of relevant programs.
Policy & Compliance: Support bi-annual policy reviews, ensuring best practices are embedded and aligned with employment legislation. Help managers apply HR policies in complex business scenarios.
Employee Engagement: Assist in analysing the Staff Survey results, develop action plans for improvement, and work closely with managers to enhance employee engagement across the division.
Working for our organisation
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’re committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we’re committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.
Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:
- Caring for and about you is our top priority
- Committed to providing good quality, safe services
- Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions
Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:
- Flexible working options to support work-life balance
- 27 days’ annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
- Generous NHS pension scheme
- Excellent learning and career development opportunities
- ‘Cycle to Work’ and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
- Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
- Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
- Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
- Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
- Free parking across Trust sites
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The “must haves” for this role:
-
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Level 7 diploma or equivalent HR qualification or experience.
-
Extensive experience in providing HR advice to managers on all aspects of operational case work.
-
Extensive experience of working in a complex unionised environment and demonstrable experience of developing effective relations and partnership working across a diverse range of unions and professional associations.
For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.
We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.
We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.
We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call: Tracey Slegg on 07824 821844 or email: [email protected] who’ll be delighted to help.
Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.
Interview will be held on 17th June 2025 . Secondment option will be considered for the BHFT employees
Person specification
Education/Qualifications/Training
Essential criteria
- First degree, or equivalent knowledge and skills gained through any combination of alternative study or employment
- Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) post-graduate Diploma in Personnel Management or equivalent HR or management qualification (Level 7) or experience
Desirable criteria
- Further knowledge of specialist areas acquired through experience and/or attendance at courses.
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of staff management, either as a line manager or in an HR advisory/management role. Sufficient experience to advise and line managers on dealing with the full range of staffing issues likely to be encountered in a large and complex organisation
- Experience of leading on or providing the HR expertise to organisational change programmes and projects
- Extensive experience of working in a complex unionised environment and demonstrable experience of managing effective relations and partnership working across a diverse range of unions and professional bodies
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- Expert knowledge of current and impending employment law and ability to apply to the working environment
- Competent IT skills and the ability to navigate around various systems and software packages (such as ESR, NHS Jobs, outlook, databases, MS office and the internet). Able to analyse, interpret and manipulate data and information
Desirable criteria
- Able to deliver training to different groups, being able to modify the delivery and content to suit the needs of the audience
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Tracey Slegg
- Job title
- Deputy Director of People
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07824821844
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