The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) is looking for a dynamic Head of Workforce Planning and HR Operations (G7) to join its HR team. This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious HR professional to develop their career and gain a wide range of experience, with regular exposure to senior stakeholders in a Ministerial Department. Working as part of a small but impactful team of HR professionals, this role is focused on attracting, recruiting and developing the workforce we need for now and the future. You will have responsibility for a breadth of HR functions including Workforce Planning, Recruitment, Pay and Reward, Policy and Performance Management. You will be strategic in approach, ensuring our HR function supports our departmental delivery objectives. You will use business data and insight to inform the design, development and implementation of HR activities in a way that embraces diversity and inclusivity in line with our culture and values. You will use your knowledge and HR expertise to gain credibility, enabling you to support the senior management team in the NIO. You will be solutions-focused, able to deliver at pace and confident to challenge. Reporting to the Senior Head of HR, you will have a key leadership role and be a member of both the HR and wider Corporate Services Senior Management teams. If you are looking for your next challenging HR role, we would like to hear from you. Please reach out to Ceara Bainbridge if you would like to discuss your suitability for the role before submitting an application. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: The main responsibilities of the role include but are not limited to: Leadership and direction of HR Operations portfolio, spanning Performance, Recruitment and Attraction, and Workforce Planning. Acting as subject matter expert on all workforce planning, collaborating with senior leadership to align with business objectives and acting as the Secretariat of the Resources Review Panel. Using data-driven insights to forecast workforce needs, identify gaps and develop solutions. You will be responsible for providing accurate and up to date Management Information to support decision making and policy direction at Board level. Leading recruitment activity, supporting recruiting managers to fill their vacancies and manage the transformation programme to implement our new applicant tracking system. Providing customer-focused support and advice to managers and staff on queries about HR policy, taking responsibility for coaching line managers to resolve. Review ways of working to ensure continuous improvement with HR processes supporting our objective of having a diverse, inclusive and engaged workforce. Manage the relationship with third party providers including SSCL, our recruitment platform and Ministry of Justice, and ensure value for money. Work closely with other corporate services within the NIO to provide a streamlined and joined-up employee experience throughout the employee life-cycle. Coordinating the engagement with the Departmental Trade Union side.