Head of Employee Relations: Sponsorship Available

University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust

Job summary

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Job Title: Head of Employee RelationsContract Type: Permanent

Please be advised that this vacancy may close earlier than stated if we receive a large number of applications.

Main duties of the job

Passionate about Employee Relations? Commercially astute, with an excellent grasp of employment law, and the ability to manage complex medical ER cases? Shrewd negotiator who can translate complex information into digestible papers? If this sounds like you then our Head of Employee Relations role may be just the opportunity you are looking for.

Our ten-strong ER team provides a proactive and compassionate service to c.13000 staff at UHS. It also delivers advice to our Subsidiary companies (e.g. UHS Estates Limited, UHS Hospital Pharmacy) and hosted services (e.g. Wessex Cancer Alliance, Health Innovation Wessex), who mainly work under NHS terms and conditions. We’re seeking a leader to continue to develop the service, building on excellent foundations, focusing on providing fair, consistent and constructive ER, linked to strong partnership working with our Union colleagues.

Person Specification

Qualifications, Training and Memberships

Essential

  • Degree-level education or equivalent demonstrable knowledge and experience.
  • Chartered Membership of the CIPD
  • Masters-level specialist HR knowledge, acquired through postgraduate study or equivalent advanced training and substantial relevant experience.

Desirable

  • Chartered Fellow of the CIPD
  • Formal management or leadership qualification
  • Training or accreditation in psychometric or development tools
  • Employment law qualification
  • Qualified Agenda for Change job evaluator

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

  • Substantial senior HR leadership experience in a large, complex organisation, including leadership of an employee relations service or function
  • Expert current knowledge of UK employment law and its application to complex employee relations matters
  • Significant experience of managing highly complex, sensitive and contentious employee relations cases, including cases with no clear precedent
  • Experience of employment tribunal case management and working with legal advisers
  • Significant experience of formal consultation and negotiation with recognised trade unions.
  • Experience of developing and implementing organisation-wide employment policy and leading major organisational change
  • Experience of analysing complex workforce information, identifying trends and risks, and presenting recommendations to senior governance forums
  • Experience of managing teams, service performance and delegated budgets

Desirable

  • Qualified Agenda for Change job evaluator
  • NHS senior People/HR experience
  • Experience leading complex medical employee relations cases in line with Maintaining High Professional Standards
  • Experience of recruitment and selection assessment methods

Trust Values

Essential

  • Patients First
  • Always Improving
  • Working Together

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).

Closing Date: 1 November 2026

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.