Senior People Development Partner

at  University of Bristol

YOU SHOULD APPLY IF

You have proven experience of leading projects that have significantly impacted organisational culture and the working environment and would relish the opportunity to contribute to important change initiatives as part of the People Development team. You will be confident in partnering with a wide range of people, across academic and professional services communities. Your ability to engage, influence and collaborate with others will be evidenced through successfully leading a variety of transformational people and organisational development projects.
You have extensive experience of facilitating groups and be able to demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills.
You have experience of working in a Higher Education or similar environment. It would be beneficial if you have previous knowledge of career and skills development, and its application to a diverse range of roles and career stages.
You have gained your experience ideally in HR, Learning & Development, Organisation Development, Change Management or another relevant professional specialism.
You have a demonstrable track record of analysing organisational strategic needs and the ability to manage and deliver to stretching goals within a set budget. Experience of reviewing and evaluating the outcomes of the intervention will be crucial.
You can demonstrate independent thinking and evidence experience of being adaptive and making decisions, especially when dealing with ambiguity.

THE ROLE

This role is for you if you want to be part of the senior team overseeing an impactful programme of people development activity, supporting the University to develop the skills and talent it needs to deliver its ambitious strategy.
The People Development team is aligned to three strategic themes: Research, Leadership & Management, and Career & Skills Development. In addition, we have a small internal coaching team, and a range of mentoring schemes targeted at specific staff communities.
You will work alongside other Senior People Development Partners, each leading on a core thematic area. This role will be the strategic lead of the Career and Skills workstream.
You will be responsible for refining a strategic direction for Career and Skills from a People Development perspective, in collaboration with key partners in HR and beyond to ensure alignment with university priorities. This will involve overseeing and integrating initiatives within the Career and Skills development portfolio, ensuring that they meet the needs of our diverse staff population, across all academic and professional services pathways.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?

Taking a proactive partnering approach, you will be engaging with key stakeholders across the University, leading and overseeing a range of initiatives and interventions relating to Career and Skills development.
In your role, you will collaborate closely with Senior Partners leading on the other strategic themes, as well as aligning with funded projects being led or supported by the People Development team. You will provide leadership and support to the People Development partnering team, with potential line management responsibilities.
You will build on progress to consolidate the range of career development support and resources, raising awareness and facilitating access for all our staff communities. You will ensure a blended approach, maximising the Develop platform (our Learning Management System) to enhance accessibility, flexibility and learner experience. You will monitor and drive engagement and evaluate the impact of these initiatives.
You will work with partners across the university to understand career development needs and barriers, using this data to iterate and enhance the existing provision. This may include proposing targeted interventions to address specific needs or challenges.
You will look beyond a traditional learning and development approach, working strategically with partners across the university to establish what meaningful careers should look like at University of Bristol, and how these can be facilitated from an organisational development perspective. You will act as a consultant to multiple partners, providing expertise and guidance on effective career and skills development.
You will be the People Development lead on a strategic project to define and present core skills needs for Professional Services, linking these to practical upskilling opportunities. This will involve working closely with various university strategic programmes, building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders at all levels of seniority.
Design, delivery and procurement of tailored development interventions will be core to your role, in conjunction with the rest of the team.