Senior HR Business Partner

Go back East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Senior HR Business Partner

The closing date is 25 May 2026

Are you are a strategic, results focused HR professional who is passionate about making a difference through people?

We have a fantastic opportunity to join us as a Senior HR Business Partner, playing a pivotal role in shaping a compassionate, inclusive and high-performing culture across our organisation. You will be a trusted adviser to the Cancer and Diagnostics divisional leadership teams playing a key role in providing strategic and operational advice on people related matters, leading complex workforce initiatives and driving cultural change across the Trust.

As a key member of the divisional management team, you will take full accountability for the people agenda within the Cancer & Diagnostics division providing autonomous proactive, high quality HR advice and challenge at senior leadership level.

You will play a crucial role in the development and delivery of the people element of your divisional business plan, ensuring that our Trust People Strategy is achieved through people initiatives. You will use workforce data and insight to inform decision making and influence senior leaders.

You should have substantial experience at senior HR level including strong experience of organisational change and complex employee relations casework. You will have excellent influencing and coaching skills, along with strong analytical skills and confidence using workforce metrics to inform strategy.

Main duties of the job

• Lead on complex organisational change programmes and people initiatives driven by our Trust priorities including service reconfiguration, restructuring and TUPE.
• Working with our Employee Relations team provide expert guidance and advice on complex employee relations matters, ensuring risks are appropriately managed.
• Contribute to the development and delivery of the Trust's Organisational Development programme.
• Coaching managers and advising senior stakeholders on a range of areas across the employee lifecycle.
• Support stakeholders to analyse data and identify workforce trends and projected future requirements.
• Champion equality, diversity and inclusion, health and wellbeing and compassionate leadership.

For an informal discussion please contact Harpreet Brar, Deputy Head of Recruitment -

About us

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Person Specification Experience

• Significant experience of working in an HR function at a senior level in a large complex organisation.
• Experience in developing, implementing and monitoring clear measures of success.
• Extensive experience demonstrating competence across complex employee relations matters, including performance management and direct involvement in highly complex employee relations cases.
• Experience of working in an HR function in the NHS.
• Experience of working in a unionised environment.

Knowledge

• Deep understanding of NHS People Plan priorities and workforce implications, alongside advanced knowledge of trust-wide governance frameworks.
• Sound knowledge, understanding and direct experience of best practice in people management issues.
• Specialist and expert knowledge of agenda for change terms and conditions.

Qualifications

• MCIPD qualified or equivalent demonstrable HR skills and experience.

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.

Employer name

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust