Overview

Closing date: 26 October 2025

Do you believe great organisations start with great people? Join us in leading a modern, customer-focused HR service that puts people at the heart of everything we do. You’ll refresh our People Strategy, strengthen workforce resilience, and embed a culture of inclusion and wellbeing, ensuring our teams feel supported, valued, and empowered to deliver outstanding services for Derbyshire’s communities.

About The Role

As Assistant Director of HR, you will:

• Lead and continually improve a council wide HR function that is consistent, responsive and aligned to strategic priorities.
• Refresh and deliver the People Strategy, aligning to our future vision, outcomes and target operating model.
• Drive strategic workforce planning and organisation wide change to secure future workforce resilience and capability.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex people matters, advising Executive Directors and Elected Members.
• Champion a performance culture across HR, streamlining processes, assuring quality, and delivering value for money.
• Build positive employee relations, engaging effectively with Trade Unions and employee representatives.
• Identify and deliver efficiency savings within HR without compromising service quality.

About You

You will bring:

• Extensive senior HR leadership experience in a large, complex organisation.
• A strong track record in organisational change, workforce strategy and service redesign.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills (including with Elected Members and Trade Unions).
• Deep knowledge of HR service models, employment legislation and best practice.
• Qualifications: CIPD Level 7 (or equivalent). Leadership qualification desirable.

Our Benefits & Values

At Derbyshire County Council, we’re committed to making this a great place to work.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Generous annual leave - 34 days.
• Local Government Pension Scheme - secure, defined benefits with employer contributions.
• Flexible & hybrid working - supporting work-life balance.
• Family-friendly policies - including maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave.
• Employee discounts & rewards - through Our Derbyshire Rewards platform, including savings on shopping, travel, leisure and more.
• Health & wellbeing support - including Employee Assistance Programme, occupational health and mental health resources.
• Learning & development opportunities - to support your professional growth.
• Salary sacrifice schemes - including childcare vouchers, shared cost AVCs, Cycle to Work & Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice scheme.
• A chance to shape the future of public service delivery in Derbyshire
• A supportive and forward-thinking leadership environment

Application details:

Application Deadline: Sunday 26th October 2025

How to Apply: Please register and upload your CV & Supporting Statement (Two A4 Pages).

Provisional Interview Date: Week Commencing 3rd November 2025

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Julie Etheridge Julie.Etheridge@derbyshire.gov.uk

We really look forward to hearing from you!

Total Reward Package Includes:

• Competitive Salary: £71,202 - £77,495 per annum
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS): Employer contribution of 20.8%—worth between £14,812 and £16,121 annually
• ️ Annual Leave: 34 days paid leave (including bank holidays), valued at £9,311 - £10,101
• Total Package Value: Combined salary, pension, and leave worth £95,325 - £103,717 per annum, reflecting our commitment to rewarding leadership and public service excellence