People & Culture Director - Belfast Met

Director of People and Culture - Belfast Met

MCS Group is delighted to be partnering exclusively with Belfast Met, as they seek to appoint a Director of People and Culture on a full-time permanent basis, a newly created opportunity for the College. This pivotal role is essential in cultivating and nurturing their organisational culture, ultimately delivering their 'Employer of Choice' strategic objective and overseeing all facets of human resources management, aligning people initiatives, and coordinating cross-college projects.

Belfast Met

Belfast Metropolitan College is the largest and longest established further and higher education college in Northern Ireland, attracting over 20,000 enrolments per year, with student satisfaction rates of 95%. The College employs approximately 840 staff. BMC's annual turnover is in excess of £75m.

The College's vision, mission, aims and values are unique to its history and current economic context. Belfast Met has a dual mandate to promote economic growth and social inclusion. The College's provision is fully aligned with key Government policies and projects which set the policy and delivery context for Belfast Met.

The College is committed to ensuring that every learner, irrespective of background gains the skills to get a job, keep a job or get a better job; that every business is supported to grow and innovate; and, that those with barriers to learning can learn and grow to achieve their potential. This is the Belfast Met ethos.

About the Role

Belfast Met has reached a pivotal stage in its development, with the College seeking a Director of People and Culture, an executive leadership role within the College on the next stage of its journey to excellence and to build upon its dynamic leadership.

This role presents an exceptional opportunity to make an invaluable contribution to the future success of Belfast Met and the prosperity of the city of Belfast and beyond. The post is critical to the successful delivery of the College's overall strategy, requiring exceptional leadership skills to inspire, support and develop their people in the realisation of its goals, in particular their Employer of Choice strategic objective and the ongoing organisational transformation and culture shift.

The Director of People and Culture will provide senior leadership for the College's HR function and co-ordinate all activities to ensure the smooth and efficient delivery of the College's approach to HR, workforce planning and culture development.

The postholder will have responsibility for the strategic objective to make Belfast Met an Employer of Choice by:

• Leading the creation of a values-led culture.
• Leading engagement with employees so they feel connected to and valued.
• Providing effective leadership through the intelligent use of data to inform, develop and deliver on a People and Culture strategy.
• Developing key strategies to improve organisational capability and leadership strengths throughout the whole College.
• Collaborating across the FE sector to develop an improved framework for remuneration, benefits, sector HR policies and industrial relations.

In addition, this role will be responsible for:

• Leadership & Transformation Change - Lead the strategic development and implementation of a comprehensive range of people and culture development strategies aligned with the College's strategic objectives.
• Resource Management and Financial Accountability - Develop and lead a high performing team to ensure the efficient realisation of the College people and culture strategy and operational policies and objectives.
• Governance - Assist the Principal & Chief Executive in supporting the functions and responsibilities of the Governing Body and its committees, deputising as required in absence of the Chief Executive.
• Workforce Planning and Organisational Development - Lead, implement and evaluate the delivery of the College's Workforce Planning Programme to drive the College's strategic objectives and meet its vision.
• People and Organisational Excellence - Work in collaboration to promote co-operation to deliver a values-based organisation.

Personnel Specification

To be considered for the role, candidates must be able to demonstrate, by the closing date for applications, experience in the following essential criteria.

You must demonstrate this experience through specific examples.

1. A degree or equivalent with a demonstrated commitment to continuous professional development.
2. 5 Years Post Qualification Membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
3. Has operated at a senior management level* (for a minimum of 5 years) in a large and complex** organisation, with responsibility for people and culture strategy.
4. Strong record of effective leadership and management, including evidence of operational delivery/ hands-on approach when required.
5. Demonstrable experience of strategic human resource management including employee engagement.
6. Experience of developing effective people strategies and supporting delivery of organisational change projects.
7. Understanding and demonstrable knowledge of employment legislation, together with extensive recruitment and employee relations experience.
8. Experience of managing multidisciplinary teams, including performance management, coaching and mentoring and objective setting to optimise performance.
9. Experience of collaborating formally and informally with trade union representatives.
10. Demonstrates the ability to lead others with energy and enthusiasm, to command respect and to provide an environment where others feel motivated to achieve outstanding results
11. Demonstrates a successful track-record of practicing and implementing a culture of continuous improvement

*Defined as reporting to "Director" level or to a "Head Of" level if the experience has been gained in a large and complex organisation

**Multi-tiered/multifunctional organisational structure is defined as having a head count of a minimum of 200 staff, has a turnover / gross revenue of £15m and working and engaging constructively with professional organisation representatives

Benefits of working at Belfast Met

This incredible opportunity offers a highly attractive package, much more than just an attractive base salary:

• Salary - The salary range for this opportunity will range between £93,651 - £98,598
• Holidays - The College offer a generous holiday allowance of 35 days annual, plus 12 statutory days
• Pension - Teacher' Superannuation Scheme, with an employer contribution rate of 17.7% and an employee contribution rate of 11.7%
• Healthcare - Benenden Healthcare
• Various other benefits

Select 'Apply Now' to request a Candidate Pack for this Director or People & Culture opportunity, or email belfastmet@mcsgroup.jobs

Applications will close on Monday 9^th December at 12pm. Please allow enough time to complete the cover letter, along with an up-to-date CV if you meet the essential criteria for this Director of People and Culture opportunity.