People Partner

Reporting to: Director of People & Organisation

Scope of Responsibility: To deliver on the People strategy in support of the organisation strategy.  This is a broad role with management responsibility for HR activities in NI.  This will involve partnering with Services to ensure the delivery of best practice solutions to relevant stakeholders on all people related matters.  The post holder will be expected to deliver excellent advice and support across all day to day aspects of the management of staff.

Hours: 35 hours per week (Monday to Friday) Hybrid Working arrangements

Key areas of Responsibility:

Partnering

• Develop successful, long term, and collaborative relationships with all relevant stakeholders
• Contribute to workforce planning meetings with Senior Services management and seek out areas for improvement and make recommendations
• Represent the People & Organisation function at meetings
• Provide support and guidance on legislative requirements and policies and procedures for employees
• Provide ongoing input into development of our people and contribute to learning and development initiatives

Management

• Provide supervision, guidance, support and development to all line reports
• Be the point of escalation for the team on matters relating to employee relations
• Share best practice solutions with the rest of the team at regular intervals
• Ensure that all administration is carried out within agreed timeframes, SLA's and within GDPR guidelines
• Oversee payroll checks on a monthly basis before submission to Finance
• Manage preparation for the annual People & Organisation audits and provide follow up on any subsequent action plans
• Oversee employee engagement surveys

Change Management

• Provide ongoing support to the Director of People & Organisation to manage any changes that need to be implemented

Recruitment & Onboarding

• Ensure that all recruitment and onboarding activities are in line with legislative requirements, best practice and policies and procedures
• Design and deliver induction to new joiners and new managers on People & Organisation alongside the People Partner in ROI.

Learning & Development

• Promote awareness of learning and development activities and assist in the identification of learning needs
• Facilitate the various programmes of learning where required
• Support the L&D team in the coordination of mandatory health and safety training and report on same

Employee Relations

• Provide coaching, expertise and guidance on employee relations issues, including: absence management, performance management, dignity and respect at work and grievances and disciplinary matters
• Seek advice from external employment advisors where necessary
• Liaise with recognised trade unions where necessary

Policies & Procedures

• Involved in developing, implementing, administering coordinating and evaluating people policies and procedures
• Develop procedures, processes and guidelines to support the implementation of all our people policies
• Ensure compliance with people policies and procedures

Enabling technologies

• Active participation in the introduction of new systems or improvements to existing systems
• Oversee the maximum system usage benefit
• Provide regular reporting on key People metrics

The above list is not exhaustive; additional areas of responsibility may be added over time and flexibility to cover for other staff roles is required from time to time.

Person Requirements

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• 5+ years' experience gained in a Human Resources Department
• Third level qualification in business, HR or employment law is desirable
• Member of the CIPD or willingness towards same is desirable
• Good IT skills is essential
• Experience with digital transformation programmes is desirable
• Experience with BambooHR and Softworks is an advantage
• Good working knowledge of employment legislation and application in practice
• Team management experience would be considered to be an advantage
• Experience in planning and supporting on change management initiatives would be ideal
• Ability to balance multiple tasks priorities and projects, working within agreed deadlines
• Demonstrable track record of being able to manage effectively in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to use own initiative
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal
• Ability to influence and act as an advisor to senior managers
• Being able to hold a position of trust and confidentiality
• Highly accurate and detail focused
• Experience in the charity sector is desirable but not essential

Applications for this post will close on 28th November 2025

Access NI

This Post is subject to an Basic Access NI check. Having a criminal record will not necessarily debar you from working with Depaul. This will depend on the nature of the position, together with the circumstances and background of your offences or other information contained on a disclosure certificate.