The Senior ER and Change Specialist helps people with sight loss to live the life they choose by providing a business-focussed Employee Relations (ER) service and person-centred wellbeing focus to managers and staff, enabling employees to be their best selves and contribute fully to the organisation. This role will play a senior role within the ER team, addressing employee concerns, resolving conflicts, and managing organisational change initiatives.

We’re committed to enabling our staff to work where best suits the needs of the individual, their team, and the organisation. We want our staff to flourish and work in environments which maximises their potential and best serves our stakeholders.

For this role you’ll be working 35 hours per week, worked 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.  We are looking for you to attend the office at least 2 days per week, the remainder of your week may be spent working from home. For this role your Guide Dogs nominated office will be based either in Reading or our National Centre in Leamington Spa.

We offer a generous pension scheme, annual leave, life assurance and enhanced pay for parenting and sickness leave. In addition, we provide an Employee Assistance Programme, flexible benefits package and discounts and cashback scheme to care for our people.

More details can be found in the attached candidate pack and job description.

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.

Diversity
Guide Dogs welcomes applications from all sections of the community and actively encourages diversity to maximise achievements, creativity, and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or nationality.

We encourage applications from people with disabilities as they are currently under-represented in the organisation and guarantee an invitation to interview for all applicants with disabilities who demonstrate, within their application form, sufficient evidence to meet the essential criteria for the job.

Safeguarding
Guide Dogs is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk of harm with whom we work. We expect all our employees and volunteers to fully share this commitment.

At Guide Dogs, we believe in fair and equitable hiring practices. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify an applicant from consideration for a position. Each case will be evaluated individually, taking into account the nature of the offense, its relevance to the role, and the time that has passed since the incident. We encourage all candidates to disclose relevant information, and we assure you that it will be handled confidentially and fairly.

To be able to fulfil this role, the skills and experience we are looking for in a potential candidate include;

Essential

• CIPD Level 5 or equivalent experience
• The ideal candidate will be adept at handling complex employee relations issues and have 2 + years’ experience in complex ER case management and leading or supporting change management initiatives. They will demonstrate strong interpersonal skills, empathy, and the ability to work in a fast-paced and ever-evolving environment
• Excellent communication, conflict resolution, and mediation skills
• Strong understanding of employment law and HR and Change best practices
• Experience providing expert advice on employment and change related issues including consultation and change to a range of stakeholders
• Strong employee relations and change experience, entailing resolution of complex issues up to and including dismissal and employment tribunals
• Demonstrable coaching / meditation or facilitation skills
• Proven ability to build highly effective and collaborative working relationships with line managers and senior leadership

Desirable

• Experience of delivering a proactive ER and Change service in a variety of different sectors would be an advantage
• Experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives
• Strong data analysis skills to track trends in employee relations and wellbeing
• The ability to identify and imbed workplace culture within day-to-day HR activity

For the complete list of essential and desirable criteria necessary to be successful in this role please see the Person Specification within the Job Description below. The candidate pack contains more information about this role & the recruitment process at Guide Dogs.

If you are successful you will need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK. We cannot provide sponsorship for this role.

How to apply
If you have any accessibility needs, please contact our Recruitment Team on 0118 3540345 or TATeam@guidedogs.org.uk

Applications need to be made using the online application form, accessed using the ‘apply’ button above.

As part of your application ensure you provide evidence and examples of how your skills & experience meet the criteria as set out in the attached job description.

The system has a one-hour time limit. We would advise you to prepare your answers separately and then copy and paste into the online form once finalised.

Guide Dogs follow Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding the vulnerable people we work with. As part of this, we require a full work history with any gaps accounted for & a minimum of 2 professional referee details fully covering the past 5 years. If there is not enough space in your application form to provide this information, please ensure you upload additional documentation containing the additional detail.

Please contact our Recruitment Team on 0118 3540345 or TATeam@guidedogs.org.uk if you require any support with your application.