Description internal. Please note this vacancy is only available to Birmingham City Council employees. Head of Employee Relations Permanent Grade 7 - £64,561 - £83,183 Consultation grade - subject to formal evaluation under the Pay Equity Review Working 36.5 hours per week Overview We are at the heart of Birmingham City Council’s most essential asset – it’s People. Playing a vital role in shaping the future of the city and ensuring that key services reach those who need them most. With a focus on aligning workforce needs with organisational goals, our team supports, engages, and motivates the workforce to deliver exceptional services to Birmingham's citizens. Whether it’s managing accurate payroll, ensuring safe recruitment, fostering positive employee relations, or driving inclusive policies, every decision we make has a direct impact on both employees and the community. We’re committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive, guided by our core principles of being helpful, open-minded, and delivering positive outcomes. By working collaboratively across service areas, we provide expert guidance and support to colleagues, empowering them to focus on delivering vital front-line services. If you're passionate about making a difference, this role gives you the opportunity to contribute to a forward-thinking, diverse, and vibrant city, creating lasting impact for both our employees and citizens. Role Overview This is a high-impact leadership role at the heart of HR, OD and Payroll. As Head of Employee Relations, you’ll lead and shape strategic employee relations across the organisation, playing a pivotal role in building a high-performing, inclusive, and engaged workforce. You will drive forward people policies and practices that not only ensure legal compliance and fairness but also actively support organisational change, and workforce wellbeing. With a strong focus on collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement, this role is instrumental in creating a modern, customer-focused HR service that makes a real difference to the lives of our employees and the citizens we serve. Key Responsibilities Provide strategic leadership of the Employee Relations function, delivering expert guidance and shaping forward-thinking policies that support a high-performance and inclusive culture Case Management Manage and resolve complex employee relations cases, including disciplinary, grievance, and performance issues, ensuring fair and consistent application of policies and legal compliance throughout the process Build strong, collaborative relationships with senior leaders and Trade Unions, ensuring fair and transparent people practices and fulfilling all statutory obligations. Lead the development and continuous improvement of ER strategies, using data and insight to inform decision-making and drive organisational change. Manage and develop a high-performing ER team, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, About You A highly credible HR professional with extensive experience in employee relations within large, complex organisations. Bringing advanced knowledge of employment law, case law, and people strategy, with a strong track record of developing and implementing effective policies and solutions. Demonstrable strategic insight, sound judgement, and the ability to influence at a senior level in unionised and politically sensitive environments. Proven ability to manage complex caseloads, lead high-performing teams, and collaborate with key stakeholders to deliver people-focused outcomes. Skilled in interpreting data and business intelligence to inform decision-making, drive continuous improvement, and shape proactive people interventions. Committed to innovation, continuous development, and upholding the values of equality, inclusion, and public service. Please upload an up-to-date CV and Personal Statement via the attachments part of your application. The Personal Statement should outline how you meet the essential criteria for the role through your personal qualities, skills and experience and include your motivation for applying to the post. Unfortunately, we cannot consider any applications without a CV and Personal Statement attached We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities we serve. Our data tells us that for this level of role, ethnic minorities are underrepresented and therefore we will use positive action to support us to achieve diverse shortlists. This may mean that recruitment times are a little longer, but we think this is worth it to achieve our aim. Birmingham City Council is an accredited Disability Confident Leader employer, and we are committed to employing, retaining and developing all of our people. We want to ensure your recruitment journey with us is a positive and equitable one, so please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments, additional support, accessibility needs, or if there is any way in which we can support you through your application. For any informal enquires please contact: Martin.GoudieBirmingham.gov.uk We welcome applications from people with caring responsibilities and flexible working options will be considered. Proof of Right to work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance with UK Home Office requirements, before any employment offer can be confirmed. Job Description and Person Specification: RM-00044792-Head of Employee Relations-Job Description.pdf