# Assistant Director of People Services > NHS job listing from Job Clerk for University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust. ## Canonical URLs - **HTML:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/assistant-director-of-people-services/5b4c76d4-62cd-40a3-a414-2da8d3856acc - **Markdown:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/assistant-director-of-people-services/5b4c76d4-62cd-40a3-a414-2da8d3856acc.md ## Summary - **Status:** Live - **Employer:** University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust - **Town:** Derby - **Region:** Midlands - **Country:** England - **Profession:** Manager and corporate - **Grade:** Band 8 - **Salary:** £79,504 - £91,609 per annum - **Contract type:** Permanent - **Employment type:** Full time - 37.5 hours per week - **Closing date:** 2026-06-22T23:59:00.000Z - **Posted:** 2026-06-08T15:31:11.629Z - **Source information URL:** https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Derbyshire/Derby/University_Hospitals_Derby_Burton_NHS_Foundation_Trust/People_Services/People_Services-v8031283 - **Application URL:** https://apps.trac.jobs/job-advert/8031283?ShowJobAdvert=&feedid=9002 - **Employer website:** https://www.uhdb.nhs.uk ## Job Content ### Job overview This is an exciting opportunity to join University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust in a pivotal senior leadership role at the heart of our People Services function. As Assistant Director of People Services, you will help shape the experience of our people across a large, complex and ambitious organisation, leading services that make a real difference to colleagues, culture and ultimately patient care. You will lead the People Business Partnering team and the Employee Relations team, with a real focus on fostering positive working relationships and creating a supportive environment where issues are addressed constructively and fairly. University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust is a Trust with a strong sense of purpose, serving communities across Derbyshire and Staffordshire through our hospital sites and dedicated teams. We are proud of our values of compassion, openness and excellence, and of our commitment to creating an inclusive, supportive environment where people can thrive, develop and do their very best work. For the right candidate, this role offers the chance to influence strategy, lead meaningful change and work alongside passionate colleagues who are committed to continuous improvement. It is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced and values driven leader to join a forward looking Trust and play a key role in shaping how we support, engage and empower our workforce. ### Main duties of the job Lead on the Business Partnering and Employee Relations, providing strategic direction, fostering collaboration, and ensuring high standards of professional practice across both areas. - Contribute to Trust-wide People strategy, proactively identifying and managing people-related risks, legislative requirements, and workforce trends within strategic planning - Engage with key stakeholders to understand workforce demands, anticipate external changes, and developing plans that support Trust objectives and mitigate people risks - Act as the expert on organisational change, offering guidance on complex service reconfigurations, ensuring compliance with employment law, supporting managers with best practice and technical advice - Utilise people analytics and reporting to monitor workforce trends, drive continuous improvement, provide assurance to senior leadership and the Board, whilst maintaining compliance with data protection regulations - Build and sustain strong relationships with senior leaders, staff representatives, and external partners, negotiating and influencing outcomes on complex workforce matters and supporting clear, consistent application of our polices - Provide governance leadership within the Directorate, contributing to Trust-wide governance frameworks, risk registers, and assurance committees to enable effective decision-making. Closing date: 22 June 2026 Interview date: TBC ### Detailed job description and main responsibilities Please see attached Job description and Person Specification. To apply please click APPLY FOR THIS JOB – this link will take you to the TRAC Recruitment Site. You will need to register if you do not already have an account. UHDB is committed to fair and transparent recruitment. We welcome authentic applications that reflect your own skills, experience and motivations for the role. While we understand that candidates may use AI tools for grammar, formatting or accessibility purposes, applications that appear to be substantially AI‑generated may be subject to additional review. If this applies to your submission, we will let you know and may ask for clarification. Please ensure your application accurately represents your experience and is written in your own words. Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click on the link to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship Skilled worker: Health and Care Visa | NHS Employers Your application (for shortlisting purposes) is assessed based on the Person Specification in the job advert (below). ## Job Details This is an exciting opportunity to join University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust in a pivotal senior leadership role at the heart of our People Services function. As Assistant Director of People Services, you will help shape the experience of our people across a large, complex and ambitious organisation, leading services that make a real difference to colleagues, culture and ultimately patient care. You will lead the People Business Partnering team and the Employee Relations team, with a real focus on fostering positive working relationships and creating a supportive environment where issues are addressed constructively and fairly. University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust is a Trust with a strong sense of purpose, serving communities across Derbyshire and Staffordshire through our hospital sites and dedicated teams. We are proud of our values of compassion, openness and excellence, and of our commitment to creating an inclusive, supportive environment where people can thrive, develop and do their very best work. For the right candidate, this role offers the chance to influence strategy, lead meaningful change and work alongside passionate colleagues who are committed to continuous improvement. It is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced and values driven leader to join a forward looking Trust and play a key role in shaping how we support, engage and empower our workforce. ## Job Description Lead on the Business Partnering and Employee Relations, providing strategic direction, fostering collaboration, and ensuring high standards of professional practice across both areas. Contribute to Trust-wide People strategy, proactively identifying and managing people-related risks, legislative requirements, and workforce trends within strategic planning Engage with key stakeholders to understand workforce demands, anticipate external changes, and developing plans that support Trust objectives and mitigate people risks Act as the expert on organisational change, offering guidance on complex service reconfigurations, ensuring compliance with employment law, supporting managers with best practice and technical advice Utilise people analytics and reporting to monitor workforce trends, drive continuous improvement, provide assurance to senior leadership and the Board, whilst maintaining compliance with data protection regulations Build and sustain strong relationships with senior leaders, staff representatives, and external partners, negotiating and influencing outcomes on complex workforce matters and supporting clear, consistent application of our polices Provide governance leadership within the Directorate, contributing to Trust-wide governance frameworks, risk registers, and assurance committees to enable effective decision-making. Closing date: 22 June 2026 Interview date: TBC ## Responsibilities Please see attached Job description and Person Specification. To apply please click APPLY FOR THIS JOB – this link will take you to the TRAC Recruitment Site. You will need to register if you do not already have an account. UHDB is committed to fair and transparent recruitment. We welcome authentic applications that reflect your own skills, experience and motivations for the role. While we understand that candidates may use AI tools for grammar, formatting or accessibility purposes, applications that appear to be substantially AI‑generated may be subject to additional review. If this applies to your submission, we will let you know and may ask for clarification. Please ensure your application accurately represents your experience and is written in your own words. Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click on the link to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship Skilled worker: Health and Care Visa | NHS Employers Your application (for shortlisting purposes) is assessed based on the Person Specification in the job advert (below). ## Person Specification ### Skills and Ability **Essential** - Developing, reviewing, consulting on and implementing organisation-wide people policies and procedures - Advising and supporting senior managers in dealing with a range of complex operational and strategic people matters encountered in a large, complex organisation, e.g. matters relating to sickness absence, disciplinary and capability - Knowledge of key employment legislation and experienced in the use of organisational employment policies and procedures. - Managing multiple work strands, priorities and complex and large-scale projects Delivering a complex workload in a fast-moving environment and often to challenging deadlines **Desirable** - Agenda for change job matching, evaluation and ratification ### Experience & Knowledge **Essential** - Significant proven experience of successfully leading an HR function in a large, unionised multi-disciplinary organisation - Significant experience of partnership working with staff side representatives and/or professional bodies at local and regional level - High level leadership skills to motivate staff and develop the strategic vision - Experience of working at a senior level, presenting proposals, developing strategy, representing the organisation externally, presenting and articulating data and writing and presenting quality reports/ presentations - Significant experience of planning and supporting the delivery of transformation and change. Including project management experience. - Experience of developing and delivering customer focused HR services, working in close partnership with HR colleagues and wider stakeholders - Excellent knowledge of Employment Law (current and proposed). - Designing and delivering specialist HR Training Working in a complex fast moving, multi-professional environment **Desirable** - Recent NHS HR experience Knowledge of the NHS and key issues facing all staff - Experience of using ESR Good knowledge of Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions of Service ### Analytical and Judgment skills **Essential** - Analyse and interpret highly complex information in a variety of formats - Analyse situations and use own initiative and judgement in dealing with complex problems to provide and facilitate workable solutions - Gather business intelligence and translate this into effective plans - Identify and implement improvements to systems and service provision - Work with highly complex, often sensitive and contentious information from several different sources and provide clear advice and guidance to managers - Generate and present reports and documents Manage ambiguity and balance competing demands of professional best practice, business needs, individual manager’s requirements and the needs of employees ### Communications and interpersonal skills **Essential** - High level communication with written and verbal skills that can be adapted in accordance with the environment and needs of the audience. - Demonstrable leadership skills with the ability to establish credibility quickly - Significant experience of stakeholder management experience - Proven line management and supervision experience with the ability to coach staff and managers - Ability to develop and maintain relationships across a wide range of managers/ clinicians and staff at all levels - Able to communicate clearly and effectively with all levels of staff internal and external to the Trust. This may include highly sensitive or complex information attracting an element of resistance or challenge - Able to convert policies, procedures and guidance into key messages, online tools and training materials ### Education, Training and Qualifications CPD Requirements **Essential** - Masters level / Level 7 Advanced CIPD HR qualification (or equivalent) plus significant post qualification experience - Active Chartered membership of CIPD (or equivalent) - Evidence of ongoing professional development ## Documents - [jd/ps (pdf, 482.8kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?vdoc=10356225) ## Agent Notes - This Markdown page is generated from the same Job Clerk job record as the HTML job detail page. - Use the canonical HTML URL for user-facing references. - Use the application URL when the user wants to apply on the source NHS site.