Jobs in Lothianburn, united kingdom

Scottish Water’s People Directorate is focused on delivering an inspiring people experience that helps our employees flourish and creates experiences that are simple, bold, purposeful, and people-centred.

We’re looking for someone to lead a team of People Consultants who support the business with complex employee relations matters and redeployment cases that require experience and expertise.

What You’ll Do

You’ll lead the team that provides advice and supports managers and People Business Partners on case work relating to our employees. That includes Disciplinary, Capability, Grievance and Absence cases, and other complex investigations – as well as supporting employees who are assigned to our Career Transition Programme to help them find a new home at Scottish Water.

The team provide Employee Relations advice and support on a range of topics, including reviewing and drafting documentation, advising on process, and understanding potential employment / legal risks while working with our joint trade unions. You’ll be supporting the team where required and will be a point of escalation for more complex and sensitive matters.

Our Career Transition Programme (CTP) is managed by this team. The CTP is a unique programme that exists to retain and support employees seeking redeployment, with the goal of helping them find a new role within the business. Your team will provide day-to-day line leadership to the employees in the programme, supporting on skills development and identifying internal work placement opportunities.

ER and CTP cases can be emotional and difficult for the people involved – so it is important that you can maintain a high degree of impartiality and ensure that your team approach cases with the “Scottish Water Character” front of mind – Bold, Responsible, Inspiring and Caring.

The role will report directly to our Head of People Services.

What You’ll Need

It’s important that you have a good understanding of employment law as it relates to employee relations and have a history of handling complex cases to conclusion – up to and including tribunal. You will have hands on experience of attending meetings and managing cases to be able to fully support and advise your team. Ideally you will have experience in working with trade unions.

In addition, you’ll also need :

Problem-solving skills : You’ll have the ability to investigate and resolve complex issues quickly and efficiently, with attention to detail.

Collaboration Skills : You’ll need strong interpersonal skills to work effectively with both internal stakeholders and external partners, including our external Employment Law advisors.

Data awareness : You’ll be handling sensitive data, so you’ll need a high degree of discretion, and good understanding of data protection regulations (e.g. GDPR).

A continuous improvement mindset : You’ll always be looking for ways to improve the service, and empowering line leaders to resolve small issues before they develop into bigger problems.

Leadership skills : You’ll have experience in a leadership position to be able to coach and develop a small team of People Consultants, while fostering a positive and productive work environment.

Looking out for you

While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance.

You’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take paid time off to volunteer in your community.

When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working.

For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), as well as life assurance.

As for some nice extras? You can expect an annual company bonus. Not to mention access to SW Splash – handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping.

The not-so-small print

This role will be a Grade 8. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £48,900. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £68,510.

If you’re interested in this role – or know someone who might be – we will be accepting applications until the updated deadline of midnight on 10th March 2025.

A few final things worth knowing…

Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out!

Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We're also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask.

As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you'll need to commit to moving here within your first three months.

Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted.

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