About the job

Job summary

Are you an HR Business Partner looking for an opportunity where you can operate as a trusted and strategic partner to add value to an organisation that’s a leader in its sector?

Are you interested in joining an organisation committed to being inclusive, entrepreneurial, and disruptive?

Could you help us navigate the people opportunities and challenges both in the short and long term to ensure we remain a special place to work?

You will be joining an organisation steeped in history that is also constantly evolving to meet the challenges of the modern world. As a non-ministerial department, and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales, we are the guardians of over 1,000 years of iconic documents from the Domesday Book and Shakespeare’s will, to Government tweets and everything in between

Job description

About The Role
For us to remain this special place to work, we are seeking a highly credible HR Business Partner to join our friendly and supportive team, operating as a strategic partner to support the delivery of positive business outcomes.

In this role you will provide specialist HR expertise, supporting and challenging business leaders to achieve our strategic goals. Using your strong relationship-building skills, you’ll coach and advise managers in order to raise capability and engender a culture of high performance.

You’ll drive consistency of approach in workforce planning, managing and developing talent to support current and future needs, in line with our strategic goals and strategic workforce plan.

You will design and deliver high impact people solutions which align with our values, using management information to inform business decisions and anticipate trends. Working collaboratively across our wider People, Inclusion and Change team, you will proactively share best practice, raise capability and continually improve the level of service we provide.

Full Job Description attached - see below

Person specification

About You
We are looking for someone who can demonstrate the following: -
• Qualified to MCIPD, or equivalent practical experience

• Significant HR experience operating in a strategic business partner model in complex organisation(s) with multiple stakeholders

• Demonstrable experience of using communication skills to explain HR concepts clearly to deliver business impact

• Extensive experience of handling complex employee relations cases and applying relevant legislation to achieve positive outcomes

• In-depth experience of managing the HR technical aspects of change across organisations.

• Strong relationship builder – ability to work in collaboration with team and across other functions to fully understand the needs of the business

• Ability to use data to offer strategic insights and inform decision-making

• Innovative thinker with the ability to offer solutions to the organisation which reflect current thinking in HR trends

This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department. A combination of onsite and home working is available.

We would particularly like to encourage applicants from backgrounds currently underrepresented in archives, including those who identify as Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT+), from Black, Asian and minority ethnic cultural backgrounds, those who are neurodivergent, and those with hidden or visible disabilities.

How to apply:

If you are an internal applicant: please do not use the link on this page. Please apply via your employee Workday account.

If you are an external applicant: to submit your application please click the 'Apply at advertiser's site' button on this page.

You will be asked to provide details of your work experience and write a personal statement. In your personal statement please explain, using examples, how you meet each of the essential criteria given above. You may draw on knowledge, skills, abilities, experience gained from paid work, domestic responsibilities, education, leisure interests and voluntary activities. Please note selection for interview will largely be based on the information you provide in this section. Ideally your personal statement will be approximately 1000 words.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £49,000, The National Archives contributes £13,230 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Reasonable adjustments:

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact The National Archives via careers@nationalarchives.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.