Job summary Are you interested in how we create and curate the places that surround us? The Office for Place is a newly established non-departmental public body that will develop and share evidence, advice, tools and learning to support the creation and stewardship of places that are beautiful, sustainable, popular, and healthy. It has its origins in the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission Report ‘Living with Beauty’ which has influenced national planning policy and, through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, the requirement for all local authorities to produce a design code for their area, developed through local community involvement and engagement. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of an organisation whose objectives are to: Catalyse a fundamental change within and across all levels of government, communities, and the development, planning and design industries, to support the creation and stewardship of popular, healthy, beautiful, and sustainable places. Help neighbourhoods, communities and public servants working on their behalf, to ask for and deliver new places, and manage existing places, to be popular, healthy, beautiful, and sustainable. Support public sector planners and the British design and development industries to be the best place makers in the world aided by improving UK and international data on happiness, health, popularity, and sustainability. Are you willing to help us meet this challenge? You will be joining a new organisation chaired by Nicholas Boys Smith MBE and a board of non-executive directors. You will be able to help shape its programme of work from an early stage. The Office for Place will be subject to the standard review of public bodies which will take place after 3-5 years to ensure continuing delivery for government and the taxpayer. You can find out more about our work here: Office for Place - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work. We are currently working in a start-up phase and will be recruiting to several roles across different disciplines, we expect all appointed candidates to work flexibility across the organisation and to recognise that job roles may be adjusted as the organisation grows to full capacity over the coming year. Job description The successful applicant will initially be recruited into the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and will be subject to a TUPE transfer in the second half of 2025. Terms and conditions for the new organisation are to be confirmed but will be no less favourable than MHCLG. To help us achieve our aims we are looking for an experienced HR professional to lead the HR function of a new government arm's length body. This role offers a broad spectrum of responsibilities, covering the full range of human resources and payroll processes, ensuring compliance with UK employment law, and the creation of a positive workplace culture. You will be a key adviser to the Chief Executive, Executive management team and board and will play an important leadership role in establishing the processes and people culture for the Office for Place from the outset. This is a rare and exciting opportunity for an HR professional to lead the work of a new government organisation with aspirations to be high performing and provide specialist and technical advice services, across England. You will report to the Assistant Director for Corporate Services and Chief Finance Officer, and work in a team of 5 alongside the Head of Finance. You will line manage the Governance Manager and Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive and Board. Key Responsibilities: Development of HR policies in line with government standards and UK employment laws, including pay and reward, performance, talent, annual leave, and sickness absence. Communication of HR policies and procedures through development of advice, processes and content for the Office for Place, internally and via the intranet and acting as the main contact point for employee queries and Trade Union liaison. Liaison with the civil service performance casework and whistleblowing service when more specialist HR or legal advice is required. Oversight and effective implementation of the HR and payroll service, including liaison with the procurement manager who will monitor and maintain the Service Level Agreement. To manage all HR and payroll related contracts, working with procurement specialist to ensure the Office for Place achieves value for money and high levels of service in its contracting. Support any audits to ensure internal and external compliance and provide any returns to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as required. Oversee end-to-end payroll processing, ensuring accuracy, tax compliance, pension provision and resolution of any payroll queries working closely with the Head of Finance. Maintain accurate employee records ensuing GDPR compliance. Support onboarding and offboarding processes, including advertising and recruitment to new roles and retention of existing employees. Support the development of an organisational learning and development approach including corporate professional development for planners and architects. Support the development of a high-performance people culture, including establishment of an internal People Committee, and other employee engagement strategies. We are holding an online information session with Suzanne Kochanowski on the 23/08/2024 at 12:15 please use this link to register your intertest: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/13f65336-1ab8-4139-b8e6-e37c7dd69c18bf346810-9c7d-43de-a872-24a2ef3995a8 Person specification You should be a qualified HR professional with, desirably, or willing to work towards, a degree in HR Management or a business-related subject; or a level 7 accreditation from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and a similar level of demonstrable experience working within a HR Function. You will have excellent prioritisation, planning and organisational skills to manage the demands of a new organisation and competing priorities. You will also be able to set the strategic direction of the HR function, developing policies that are compliant with national standards, and identify system improvements that may be needed. You will need strong interpersonal skills, able to build effective relationships across the organisation, advise the Board and Executive management team. and provide a friendly and empathetic service to support the work of a small organisation. Most importantly, you will be a self-starter with an ability to solve problems, overcome barriers and demonstrate a positive ‘can do’ attitude. As this is a new small organisation, flexibility will be key as you manage priorities and resources. You will be expected to demonstrate an affinity with the work of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission and an understanding of, and willingness to deliver, the Office for Place aims and objectives.