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General information

Posting ID
001
Type of employment
Permanent
Organisation
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Salary Banding MIN
£ 39959
Location
London
Salary Banding MAX
£ 48117
Workplace Type
Hybrid

Description & Requirements

NICE – The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

People Relations and Culture Specialist – 6 Month FTC

The closing date is 19 June 2026

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: 6

Salary: £39’959 – £48’117 per annum

Contract: 6 Month FTC

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Job locations: Manchester or London

Job summary

The People Team

We are the heart of our organisation’s culture and people experience- passionate about empowering our colleagues and leaders to thrive, perform and grow. Our team provides expert People (HR) advice, guidance and support that enables confident, values-based leadership and ensures every colleague is treated fairly, consistently, and in line with employment legislation and best practice.

Spanning the full spectrum of People practice, we lead on Organisational Development, Learning and Development, Strategic Business Partnering, People Relations, Policy Innovation, Reward, Resourcing, Change Management, Health and Wellbeing, and People Data and Insights. Together, we shape the conditions for an inclusive, high-performing and future-focused workforce.

Everything we do is grounded in our commitment to helping NICE deliver world-class guidance that is high quality, timely, relevant, and impactful. We are proud to be key drivers in creating a brilliant organisation by enabling its most important asset- its people.

Job Purpose 

To support the People Relations and Culture Team Lead in developing and delivering strategic and operational People Relations and Culture activities. Ensuring delivery of effective People Relations and Culture activity across the organisation. Ensuring compliance with employment law and best practice, fostering positive working relations, and balancing the needs of colleagues and union representatives.

To support the embedding a culture of Just and Restorative learning, aligned to NICE values, they will be a key promoter and influencer across the team and the organisation.

Main duties of the job

  • Coach, advise, challenge and support at all levels across NICE, on a range of complex or sensitive employee relations issues, change management, organisational development and culture change.  This will involve exploring, triage and analysing of issues, providing timely solutions focussed advice, appropriately balancing risks and benefits.
  • Supporting the embedding a positive climate of people relations in line with Restorative and Just Learning principles and NICE values, ensuring the provision of professional, timely and solutions-focused advice.
  • Supporting with People Relations issues escalated by the People Hub as appropriate, including complex sickness absence and supporting directorates with the development of local health and wellbeing plans.
  • Work collaboratively with Staff Networks, Freedom to Speak Up Guardians and Ambassadors and Trade Unions in identifying areas of improvement and triangulating workplace soft intelligence to improve colleague experience.
  • Support the “listening up/Speaking up” agenda including working with Freedom to Speak up Guardians and developing an in-house restorative conversations and internal/external mediation offer.
  • Support with the design and implementation of toolkits and/or frameworks that integrate restorative just learning principles, to ensure colleagues have the required skills, knowledge and understanding re the management of people relations issues, policy and process.   
  • Provide support and guidance to managers in job design relating to management of change, where required, utilising Job Evaluation knowledge skills and experience, including undertaking JE panel activity as required.
  • Measuring a range of appropriate and progressive KPIs that align with Just and Restorative culture principles and analyse, interpret, and present data to highlight issues, risks, and support decision-making.
  • Responsible for ensuring People Relations Casework/databases/trackers are managed and maintained regularly identifying improvements where needed, to enable accurate reporting to the People and Senior Leadership teams and partnership forums.
  • Monitor the type, complexity, and volume of People Relations cases in the organisation and work collaboratively and in partnership with others to propose appropriate solution focussed outcomes as well as any suggested process or policy improvements applying a restorative and just lens.
  • Collaborate with colleagues across the People Services Team and wider NICE to improve and deliver new ways of working aligned to NICE Values, Restorative Just Learning Culture and the People Strategy.
  • Contribute to the review, refresh, development and embedding of directorate People Policies and processes that are aligned to NICE values and a Restorative and Just Learning Culture.
  • Contribute to Team projects, and working collaborative with stakeholders across projects/functions, building in contingency and adjustments as necessary.
  • Ensure joint partnership and collaborative working with internal and external key stakeholders including Trade Unions, third-party suppliers such as Occupational health, other directorate teams and with the wider People Team.
  • Act as cultural ambassador across NICE, embedding and promoting restorative just and learning culture principles alongside NICE values, and Equality Diversity and Inclusion into day-to-day people practices and leadership behaviours.  
  • Support and deliver learning interventions where required to build capability and confidence in application of restorative approaches.
  • Champion psychologically safe environments and informal conflict resolution as first choice mechanisms through influencing, coaching and practice development.
  • Support the delivery of mid- and long-term EDI strategies, organisational and directorate KPIs and contribution to the delivery of action plans aligned to the People Strategy, culture change and transformation agenda.
  • Deputise for and support the People Relations and Culture Team lead in delivery of the People Relations Strategy and service, including Organisational Development, Equality Diversity Inclusion and engagement initiatives, ensuring coherence and alignment with organisational values.

Equality and Diversity

All NICE employees must have respect for every individual, treating everyone with dignity, courtesy, fairness and consideration, and welcoming and accepting differences between people.  It is the responsibility of every employee to work towards the elimination of all discrimination and prejudice.

People Services will be responsible for ensuring NICE takes appropriate steps to identify and monitor areas where improvement is needed regarding workforce EDI and for making improvements in those areas where we have identified gaps and challenges.

Health and Safety

All NICE employees have a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their own acts or omissions.  Employees are required to co-operate with management to enable NICE to meet its own legal duties.

Governance

All NICE employees must adhere to NICE policies and procedures and seek advice on these when in doubt as to their scope and applicability.  Employees are specifically reminded that they must respect the confidentiality of all information they have access to during their employment including personal data.  All staff are expected to respect the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/97 and of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and to seek guidance on these matters when in any doubt.This job description does not purport to cover all aspects of the job holder’s duties but is intended to be indicative of the main areas of responsibility. The post holder may be required to travel to meetings away from their usual office base which may include an overnight stay.

 

Person specification: People Relations and Culture Specialist

Essential criteria 

Qualifications

  • CIPD level 5 or evidence of an equivalent qualification 
  • Degree level education or equivalent demonstrable experience in a similar role  
  • Evidence of commitment to personal and professional development.

Knowledge and Skills

  • Knowledge of specialist areas, acquired through post-graduate diploma or equivalent experience or training 
  • Good knowledge of HR legislation and best practice, stakeholder management, and influencing strategies with a proven ability to turn innovative ideas into working models.
  • Sound understanding of relevant employment legislation and the impact of future legislative changes.
  • Proven knowledge of NHS (including terms and conditions of employment for all employee groups) or a keen willingness to get up to speed with relevant terms and conditions.
  • Ability to communicate complex information both verbally and in writing in a clear, concise, and effective way to colleagues and managers including preparation of papers/reports/letters on People relations matters for committees, hearings, etc.
  • Integrity and credibility that engages and instils confidence of senior leaders, colleagues and stakeholders.
  • Adept at working in ambiguity and working on own initiative
  • Ability to demonstrate emotional intelligence whilst also recognising inefficiencies in current practice and identify where improvements can be made with a Restorative and Just lens. 

Experience

  • Experience of managing multi-stranded and contentious employment cases with an innovative approach to problem solving
  • Good professional judgement-based on analysis of relevant factors and an ability to prioritise
  • Experience of advising managers on formal people relations meeting including appeals, dismissals and Employment Tribunals
  • Detailed understanding of the principles of change management and able to demonstrate a successful track record of major organisational change.
  • Evidenced track record of effective partnership and collaborative working with stakeholders to deliver aims and objectives through a coaching and consultancy approach.
  • Excellent organisational, oral and written skills including influencing, negotiation, and presentation skills.
  • Resilience to cope with conflicting demands and working to tight deadlines with the ability to act on own initiative. 
  • Experience of using information from databases e.g. Case Tracker, to report on and analyse People Relations case activity, outcomes, and trends.
  • Effective team member who can relate to colleagues at all levels with tact and diplomacy.

Other

  • An understanding and commitment to equality diversity and Inclusion as per the Equality Act 2010.
  • An understanding of the legislative and statutory requirements e.g., Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act.
  • Flexible attitude to working environment and ability to work as part of a team.
  • Enthusiasm, flair, and imagination in identifying and developing opportunities.
  • Thorough attention to detail and high standards of accuracy.
  • Discretion in the handling of politically sensitive and confidential information.
  • High standard of advanced keyboard skills with high level of accuracy
  • High levels of concentration and ability to focus for long periods of time whilst managing an unpredictable workload.

 

About us

We are passionate and proud of the work we do and the impact we make. NICE offer:

Generous NHS Pension - Secure your future with one of the most rewarding pension schemes in the UK

Flexible working - Enjoy a healthy work-life balance with options like remote working, compressed hours and flexible start/finish times

Exclusive discounts - Save on shopping, dining and more with a Blue Light CardTime to recharge - Start with 27 days' annual leave plus bank holidays

Inclusive staff networks - Join supportive communities like Women in NICE, Race Equality Network, Disability Advocacy and NICE and Proud - we celebrate diversity

Tailored development - Grow your career with personalised learning and development opportunities

If you feel this is the type of environment you will enjoy working in, apply today!

Job description

To be considered for this role, you should be able to particularly demonstrate the person specification criteria in the job advert in your application. However, applicants should be able to demonstrate all essential criteria through the entirety of the recruitment process to be considered for the job. 

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details:

Employer name

NICE – The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Address

3rd Floor

3 Piccadilly Place

Manchester

M1 3BN

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.nice.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

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