Director of Human Resources

Join the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) as our new HR Director and play a pivotal role in creating a compassionate, inclusive, and dynamic workplace.

The role is to meet the needs of the organisation by developing, promoting, implementing and embedding best practice in people leadership and management, enabling people to develop and grow and fulfil their potential at work and by ensuring that the organisation is successful. HR Director supports the organisation to deliver its priorities.

This is an exceptional opportunity to lead and shape the HR function of an organisation dedicated to addressing the injustices faced by those affected by the infected blood scandal.

With a workforce of around 1000 people, you will be instrumental in developing an impactful compensation scheme and ensuring that our staff are motivated and engaged.

As IBCA is still in the stages of being created as a standalone authority, the HR directorate will be key to leading the scaling up and transfer of staff whilst continuing critical business delivery.

The HR Director is pivotal in aligning human resources strategies with the IBCAs goals. This role oversees workforce planning, employee engagement, and talent management, directly impacting our ability to deliver the service effectively and efficiently.

Job description

About Infected Blood Compensation Authority

In recognition of the hurt caused by the infected blood scandal and highlighted by the Infected Blood Inquiry (IBI), the government has accepted the moral case for a compensation scheme to pay compensation to those infected and affected.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority will ensure payment is made in recognition of the wrongs experienced by those who have been infected by HIV, Hepatitis B or C, as well as those who love and care for them. They have been frustrated and distressed by the delays in achieving proper recognition, and we must help put this right.

Opportunities to move to the new Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). At the moment all IBCA roles are hosted by Cabinet Office within the Civil Service. However, once IBCA becomes operational, it is anticipated that most of these roles will transfer to IBCA, which is a new Arms Length Body (ALB) separate from the Cabinet Office. Roles that transfer to IBCA from Cabinet Office will maintain the same or substantially the same terms and conditions of employment that are overall no less favourable. It is anticipated that employees who move from Cabinet Office to IBCA will be able to continue to participate in the Civil Service Pension arrangements with no break in their pensionable service. Roles commencing after IBCA has become operational will be with IBCA itself on similar terms and conditions. All successful candidates will receive full details of the terms and conditions of employment for their role with their formal job offer.

Please note that the mission of IBCA means that it is likely to be fully operational for a period of approximately 5-7 years, after which IBCA will become a smaller residual service. When IBCA's work begins to wind down, IBCA employees will receive support and practical guidance to find a new role, whether in the Civil Service, another Arms Length Body (ALB), or an external employer.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead, coach and set the performance expectations of IBCA's HR team; build the team's reputation and professionalism, and develop and build the function from a basic organisation design to meet future needs and demands at the same time as delivering for the business which requires agility and flexibility, as well as strong strategic thinking and a programmatic approach.
• Attract great talent, representative of the diversity of the communities we serve. This includes developing strategies for attracting, hiring, retaining, and developing talent, as well as managing performance and career progression. Key to this will be the successful Cabinet Office Statement of Practice (COSOP), transfer of people from the sponsor department into the authority and the strategies and management for effectively delivering the end phase of IBCA's life cycle.
• Ensure that IBCA has an inclusive, engaged, skilled and motivated workforce, working with the CEO and other Directors to develop and deliver effective HR strategies, policies and initiatives to enable the business to deliver.
• Provide the highest standards of strategic HR advice, support and challenge to the Chief Executive, the IBCA Board and other senior leaders and the Remuneration Committee as the named senior responsible officer.
• Champion, promote and lead change to support continuous improvement and innovation within HR and across IBCA.
• Ensuring that staff are offered psychological safety and excellent working Conditions.

Person specification

It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, that you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.

Essential Criteria:

• Proven track record in senior HR roles, with strong experience of building strategic capability in HR functions.
• Significant corporate leadership experience with the ability to lead and develop HR teams, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and high performance.
• Experience of leading organisational change initiatives, with a focus on employee engagement and talent management.
• Ability to align HR strategies with business priorities, using data-driven insights to inform decisions.
• Demonstrated proficiency in building relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior management, department officials, and community organisations.
• A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, ensuring equal opportunities for all employees.

Qualifications

Must be a Chartered Fellow or fully qualified member (Level 7) of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) or equivalent.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £98,000, Cabinet Office contributes £28,390 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Benefits

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career within the Department and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you'll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you'll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

This includes:

• 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years' service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays.
• This will be complimented by one further day paid privilege entitlement to mark the King's Birthday;
• A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire;
• Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers;
• Childcare benefits (policy for new employees as of 5 April 2018): The government has introduced the Tax- Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. Working parents can open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2000 a year for each child or £4000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare. Existing employees may be able to continue to claim childcare vouchers, so please check how the policy would work for you here;
• Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle;
• The opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable); and occupational sick pay.