Senior HR Policy Adviser

at  Department for Work and Pensions

JOB SUMMARY

As a member of DWP’s Employee Policy Team, you will fulfil a national role in the largest Department in Government. You will be recognised as an expert in the field of HR Policy and related employment law. This is a high-profile role, which will bring you into regular contact with members of DWP’s senior HR team and involve you in some of DWP’s biggest change projects.
In this role you will implement new HR policies and ensure existing HR policies are legally compliant to equip DWP’s 90,000 employees to do their jobs effectively. You will give advice on using HR policies to solve employment problems which have passed through other hands to the team only because they are the most difficult to solve.
Your clients will be HR colleagues, senior leaders and people responsible for implementing big change projects. HR colleagues include those in the wider HR family across Government because you will play a key role in maintaining DWP’s reputation as a leader and active collaborator across Whitehall.
You must have good knowledge of key employment law, e.g. the Equality Act 2010, and be experienced in using HR policies to achieve good employment outcomes. Comfort at working in a national role, first-class analytical ability, excellent communications skills, ability to influence stakeholders and establish your credibility as an expert are critical requirements of success in the role.
The Employee Policy Team is a corporate team in DWP’s HR Services & Resourcing Directorate.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The successful candidate will have responsibility for the following:

• Providing HR policy advice to other HR professionals to resolve out of the norm problems, including very sensitive situations relating to individuals.
• Steering (sometimes nationally) important change and modernisation projects whose implementation could have significant employee impacts, thus requiring
• trust-worthy HR policy input.
• Drafting new HR policies or amendments to existing HR policies and involving others in quality assuring these as easy to use.
• Negotiating with national trade union reps. over disputed discipline or grievance cases which they may refer to the Employee Policy Team for review.
• Negotiating HM Treasury approval for funding to settle certain employment tribunal litigation and negotiating with HM Treasury for the desired outcome.
• Stepping up to give HR policy advice as a national level DWP witness at employment tribunals.
• Being a proactive member of the HR Policy network across Government, having a Whitehall profile, reaching out to Whitehall counterparts and working collaboratively with them.
• Drafting briefing for senior colleagues or responses to Parliamentary Questions (PQs) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests potentially across dozens HR policies.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

KEY CRITERIA FOR THE ROLE, WHICH WILL BE USED TO ASSESS YOUR APPLICATION, ALONGSIDE SUCCESS PROFILES.

The successful candidate will:

• Demonstrate their good knowledge of key employment law and proven ability to use HR policies to solve complex problems and help deliver project outcomes – this will be a lead criterion for sifting.
• Have good critical faculties and exercise sound judgement, using policy and other evidence to assess risk and develop solutions that deliver successful outcomes.
• Possess strong interpersonal, communication and influencing skills as an acknowledged expert, able to explain complicated things clearly and persuasively to non-experts.
• Have the resilience and sensitivity to deal with confidential and frequently contentious issues, plus the self-confidence and professionalism to back your judgement in being the ultimate, quotable source of HR policy advice.
• Able to work to tight deadlines, including working on complex work at pace whilst demonstrating a good level of attention to detail when providing HR support and guidance.