Job summary
- Main area
- Human Resources
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 9
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 409-S7261327
- Employer
- Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Whiston Hospital
- Town
- Prescot
- Salary
- £105,385 - £121,271 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 25/06/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 07/07/2025
Employer heading
Deputy Director of HR
NHS AfC: Band 9
After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Deputy Director of HR to join the Human Resources Team
As the Deputy Director of Human Resources, you will support the Chief People Officer in delivering the Trust’s People Strategy, ensuring alignment with the NHS People Plan and People Promise to achieve our Trust vision of five-star patient care.
This role requires a strategic mindset, strong leadership, and the ability to build credibility across the organisation. You will foster a culture of inclusion, continuous improvement, and staff engagement while leading workforce initiatives to enhance recruitment, retention, and employee well-being.
Please note, this recruitment process will involve an assessment centre which will be held on Monday 7th July 2025.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will develop and lead the HR Directorate reporting through to the Chief People Officer. The post holder will also deputise for the Chief People Officer as required.
The post holder will be expected to act independently, taking timely and at times, significant decisions to drive change and improvement by supporting and influencing across the Trust.
Services directly managed by this role include;
- HR Business Partnering
- Medical HR including Revalidation and Appraisal
- Learning and Organisational Development
- Resourcing
- Temporary Workforce
- HR systems ie ESR/ Rostering/ TRAC
- Occupational Health and Wellbeing
- Workforce Planning and Development
- Volunteers
- Equality Diversity & Inclusion
- Medical and Clinical Education
The post holder will be responsible for co-ordinating the delivery of a range of key national and local performance indicators.
The post holder will manage the senior managers within the directorate, developing succession plans and supporting the development of individuals across the directorate. Generating a culture where empowerment is the norm and decision-making is allocated appropriately, allowing every individual to feel able to make a valuable contribution.
The post holder will participate in the Strategic on-call and will be required to complete with all elements of EPRR (Emergency Preparedness Resilience Response) legislation and training.
Working for our organisation
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our Services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Key Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership & Workforce Development
- Support the Chief People Officer in developing and implementing the Trust’s People Plan Strategy.
- Lead the operational delivery of HR services, ensuring efficiency and alignment with the Trust’s objectives.
- To take responsibility for the provision of a high quality, professional HR and OD People service across the Trust.
- To monitor the performance of the directorate against agreed objectives, taking corrective action when performance is not in accordance with plans.
- Champion a culture of inclusion, continuous improvement, and staff engagement across the Trust
- Work closely with Senior Leaders and the Executive Team to develop workforce strategies and plans that align with service transformation goals.
- Representing the Trust at a senior level across the NHS, ICB and with partner organisations.
- Represent the Trust on local and regional workforce related bodies. This may include leading on or support specific pieces of collaborative work, delivering presentations and reports to external organisations.
Organisational Development & Staff Engagement
- Develop and drive leadership and management development initiatives, ensuring a high-performance culture.
- Develop and lead staff engagement programs to ensure all employees feel included, valued and empowered.
- Oversee the design and implementation of OD interventions to improve organisational performance.
Workforce Planning & Resourcing
- Ensure the Trust has a robust workforce plan, implementing effective recruitment and retention strategies.
- Monitor workforce performance metrics, ensuring HR activities contribute to the Trusts Objectives and strategies.
- Support initiatives to reduce reliance on temporary staffing, improve workforce productivity and quality.
- To provide strategic direction on workforce planning and commissioning of the future workforce, ensuring credible plans are robust, inclusive of all staff groups and integrated with regional workforce planning.
Employee Relations & HR Services
- Provide expert HR advice to managers and senior leaders on workforce-related matters.
- Foster strong relationships with Trade Unions and staff networks to maintain a positive employee relations partnership.
- Oversee the development and monitoring of HR policies and ensure compliance with employment legislation and NHS workforce standards.
- Ensure the Trusts HR policies and procedures are compliant with the relevant employment law and legislation.
Health, Well-being, & Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)
- Drive health and well-being initiatives to support staff and promote work-life balance
- Ensure compliance with all EDI legislation and champion initiatives that promote a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Education, Training & Digital HR Innovation
- Support the Director of HR and relevant SME’s in leading education, training, and professional development programs.
- Drive the adoption of HR technology and digital solutions to improve workforce management and reporting.
- To be responsible for the overall management and maintenance of all workforce information systems including recruitment, training, occupational health e.g. ESR, Patchwork, Allocate, Cohort.
Financial Responsibility
- Take responsibility and accountability for the financial management of budgets across all services within the HR Directorate (pay, non-pay and income).
- To be responsible for identifying and delivering annual CIP targets for the directorate. Research and scope PIDs and submit for approval at necessary control meetings. Support colleagues across broader directorate to deliver their own financial targets.
- Develop and oversee the development of Business Cases as appropriate and ensure that Benefits Realisation reports are submitted to timeframes.
- To manage the HR Directorate establishment, making and agreeing recommendations for skill mix changes and budget forecasting.
- Oversee the allocation of monies from Health Education England, Apprenticeship Levy and other learning and development income, to ensure best value for investment and alignment to the Trust priorities.
Key Working Relationships:
- Director of Human Resources
- Executive Leadership Team
- Operational & Clinical Leaders
- Trade Unions
- Staff Networks
- ICB
- Wider HR networks
- External NHS Partners & Regulatory Bodies eg. NHS Employers, CQC and NHSE
Person specification
Our Values
Essential criteria
- We are Kind
- We are Open
- We are Inclusive
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree level or professional qualification and/or equivalent qualification and experience
- Master’s degree in HR Management or relevant qualification and/ or equivalent experience
- Postgraduate qualification in specialist area e.g leadership/ OD or equivalent experience
- MCPID professional registration
- Evidence of commitment to CPD i.e Elizabeth Garrett Anderson/ employment law qualification
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working in a senior HR/ Workforce role near Board level in an NHS Trust or other relevant organisation
- Experience of a leading a significant organisational change project within a complex organisation
- Extensive experience of strategic HR, OD, resource management in a complex organisation including analysing and using complex data as the basis for strategic and operational decisions.
- Demonstrable track record of successful change management achievements associated with business and service improvements
- Excellent demonstrable knowledge and skills across the breadth of the workforce portfolio; including Occupational Health, ED&I, Education, OD, HR employee relations, Resourcing, Workforce Planning and digital people systems ie. ESR.
- Proven experience of identifying and building successful and positive relationships at all levels both internally and externally
- Experience of complex negotiations with stakeholders particularly trade unions
- Evidence of successfully leading highly skilled senior multi-disciplinary professionals
- Proven experience in managing a large budget, including leading CIP and driving workforce efficiency projects to enhance productivity
Desirable criteria
- Experience in leading digital transformation initiatives within HR, including automation, and digital people systems to enhance workforce efficiency and strategic decision-making.
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to analyse, disseminate and present complex information, using both verbal and written disciplines to inform strategic decision making
- Highly effective communicator, highly developed compassionate leadership style with the ability to engage and motivate individuals
- Outcome focussed demonstrating a passion for 5 Star patient centred care
- Knowledge and understanding of national NHS workforce strategies ie. NHS Long Term Plan / NHS People Plan
- IT literate to high standard
- Understanding of workforce planning, talent management, and retention strategies.
- Ability to articulate a clear sense of direction and develop associated plans to achieve success.
- Ability to influence and lead large and diverse teams in a complex and challenging environment
- Evidence of successful collaborative working across other disciplines including clinical and operational teams
- Excellent organisational and time management skills
Other
Essential criteria
- Commitment to the Trust’s Values of Open, Kindness and Inclusion
- Personal gravitas and credibility that generates trust and confidence in others
- Ability to instil a culture of excellence and inspire people to think and act innovatively
- Self-disciplined with high level of personal integrity
- High personal reliance and tenacity
- Highly developed negotiation and influencing skills
- Ability to demonstrate range of leadership styles appropriate to situations
- Demonstrates a modern and leading edge to the organisation and management of healthcare systems
- The highest degree of honesty, probity and integrity
- Ability to engage positively with all staff groups
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Malise Szpakowska
- Job title
- Chief People Officer
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0151 290 4424
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