Our aim is for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

The Human Resources department provides a strategic and operational HR service to the seven National Church Institutions (NCIs) and the 42 Diocesan Bishops’ offices. Our HR Operations team focusses on the entire employee lifecycle providing support, advice and guidance to senior leaders, line managers and staff. The Organisational Development team lead on culture, values, wellbeing, development and our belonging & inclusion strategy. Through our External Service team, we also offer HR support on a consultancy basis to other Church of England organisations including our dioceses and cathedrals.

We are a friendly, diverse, well respected and highly engaged HR team who are committed to actively sharing knowledge and learning across the team and beyond. We encourage flexible working within the team, and meet together online weekly and in-person once a month for collaboration, knowledge-sharing and building relationships within the team.

The NCIs comprises a wide variety of functions and professions to support the mission and ministries of the Church by working with those who serve in parishes, dioceses, schools and other ministries, and with partners at a national and international level.

This is an exciting time for an experienced HR Business Partner to join the NCIs:

• We have made significant progress in our wellbeing, belonging and inclusion strategies and recently launched our new values, helping us to focus not just on what we do but how we do it.
• The National Governance Review has proposed a new structure for the Church of England reducing the number of NCIs from seven to four trustee bodies. Whilst not yet finalised, this will be a significant organisational change programme over the coming months and years.
• We have recently launched a new HR and Payroll system which will give colleagues greater self-service and easier access to HR information, as well as more robust HR data and analytics to inform decision-making.

The interview process is provisionally scheduled for 5 and/or 6 October and will take place remotely via Teams.

The HR Business Partners are responsible for:

• Supporting change initiatives across the customer base by working closely with senior leaders to identify business problems and the solutions needed
• Working with senior leaders and line managers to review their team structures, devise new roles and accompanying job profiles ensuring HR best practice is adopted and followed;
• Undertaking ER casework (absence, disciplinary, capability and grievances etc) including research, investigations, drafting paperwork and advising at hearings;
• Coaching managers on both a 1:1 basis and in group training sessions on a range of HR topics;
• Promoting and modelling the NCI belonging and inclusion work amongst managers;
• Keeping up-to-date with employment legislation and best practice; taking ownership of your continuing professional development;
• Owning a number of HR policy areas depending on personal interest and organisational need, ensuring policies represent good practice and current legislation

Essential

Skills/Aptitudes:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with accuracy and attention to detail including with numerical data. You will need to be able to communicate clearly to stakeholders at all levels within the organisation.

• You will be enthusiastic, have a highly organised approach to work, with the ability to understand and process high volumes of information. You will need to be able to work comfortably with competing priorities and show flexibility in your approach to customers to understand differing expectations.

• The successful candidate will need to be proactive and have strong problem-solving skills in order to deal with complex queries,
• You will be comfortable in negotiating with both internal and external stakeholders.
• The individual will need to take initiative and anticipate how to adapt to and implement change.

Knowledge/Experience:

• This role requires previous experience as an HR Business Partner (or similar role partnering with senior stakeholders). You will need to demonstrate how you have built strong relationships with senior leaders and the ability to quickly gain an understanding of the HR challenges facing the customer base;
• You will need good knowledge of the entire HR lifecycle and specific experience in leading TUPE transfers. Although the HRBP is a generalist role, there may also be the opportunity for you to pursue interest/experience in one or more HR specialisms and specific projects.

• We work in a self-sufficient way and rely heavily on technology to support our customers. You will therefore need to be a confident IT user including Microsoft Office 365 and Teams.

Education:

• CIPD Level 5 or equivalent

Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Requirements:

• Does this role require a DBS check? No

In the National Church Institutions (NCIs), we support the mission and ministries of the Church of England. We work with parishes, dioceses, schools, chaplaincies and other ministries, and with national and international partners including mission agencies, and other denominations and faith groups.-.

Find out more about working for the National Church Institutions at Careers | The Church of England

Our values:

• We strive for excellence
• We collaborate
• We act with integrity
• We show compassion
• We respect others

We welcome everyone and we accept and value people for who they are and what they contribute, treating others in the way we would wish to be treated ourselves. We actively listen to and include others, encouraging and enabling everyone’s voice to be heard in discussions and decisions. When we disagree, we aim to disagree well with respect and kindness.

We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you. If there is anything we can do to support you in your application please get in touch via email to hr.recruitment@churchofengland.org.

• As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.
• We are a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.