Head of People Analytics, Performance and Insight

About the role

Head of People Analytics, Performance and Insight

Permanent, Full Time – 37 hours per week

Up to £86,131 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker - This means that we come into the office in Chelmsford to undertake activities which benefit from in-person interactions, which tends to average 1-2 days per week

Closing Date: 6th May 2024

The Opportunity

As the Head of People Analytics, Performance and Insight you will drive evidence- based people related business decisions at all levels to inform ECC vision and support the delivery of the organisational strategy, functional business plans and workforce strategy, and will also act as the business planning lead across People and Organisational Development.

In this role, you will lead and develop a team dedicated to evolving a cutting-edge people performance, data, and insight service, working with other performance teams across the council to provide holistic reporting that shapes strategy and interventions, informs decision making and supports teams, functions and the organisation in improving performance, increasing productivity and enabling excellent service delivery.

The Head of People Analytics, Performance and Insight plays a crucial role across People and Organisational Development by ensuring that that external insight is used effectively to inform our people practices and will sponsor/manage key workforce strategy programme boards, ensuring spend is managed and tracked effectively, outcomes and measures are clearly defined, and progress reported on as needed. The role will be owner of the functional business planning process and will extend its impact through acting as the contract owner for cutting-edge people technology, ensuring people technology is invested in, well managed and leveraged effectively to drive efficiency and deliver value with a focus on the user experience which is essential to enable us to fulfil our ambitious workforce strategy and deliver against the Councils ambitions.

This role will also lead a team of Reward consultants and analysts to drive the maturity of data driven practice in this HR specialism and is responsible for ensuring statutory reporting and compliance reporting is completed on time to a high standard, acting as the contract owner for payroll services to ensure effective quality assurance in these areas. To read more about us please visit: People & Transformation

Accountabilities

Lead the people analytics service for ECC including developing and providing relevant workforce planning tools, methodologies, and research for leaders across the business to determine current and future workforce needs (right size, shape, skills, cost, time, risk & location)
Provide thought leadership, professional intelligence, management, and oversight to ensure effective measurement of KPIs to ensure on-track delivery of work programmes across the function, ensuring that activity carried out helps achieve the outcomes set out in the relevant organisational strategies and underlying plans.
Develop a sector leading insight service to help inform people strategies and extend planning cycles, providing impactful reports on time and to a high quality to inform decision making up to and including Corporate and Political leadership level.
Define outcomes for people strategies and measure their short and long-term impact and value, developing organisation capability and systems to evolve evidence-based practice and enable data driven decision making across People and Organisational Development and the wider organisation, with a particular emphasis on driving maturity through the reward team.
Provide effective leadership to the People Analytics, Performance and Insight team, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Facilitate professional development to enhance team capabilities.
Manage highly complex and difficult conversations and communication at a senior level; Present, explain, engage, influence, persuade and challenge corporate and political leadership teams and decision makers, incorporating excellent report writing and presentation skills.
Lead the development and track progress of the functional business plan, reviewing and forecasting spend and calculating return on investment representing the value of people in different ways (eg skills, profit, capability, cost)
Ensure statutory reporting is completed on time and to a high standard, proactively tracking trends to facilitate early intervention to mitigate risks and maximise performance.
Drive the current performance and future direction of HR related technology acting as the client and contract owner to inform the organisational approach to release management, re-procurement, new module implementations, account management, license management and supplier management. Ensuring people technology is leveraged effectively to drive efficiency and maximise value add.
Act as the contract owner for payroll, driving standards and ensuring value for money.

The Experience You Will Bring

Educated to degree level in a relevant professional field such as Data Analytics, Business Management, Human Resources or equivalent by experience.
Professional membership of CIPD or other relevant professional body at Chartered Fellow or equivalent, or working towards this.
Demonstrable experience of working in large, complex matrix, performance focused environments, with the ability to leverage data and analytics for informed decision-making, with a deep understanding of good governance in data management and evidence of producing statutory reports on time and to a high quality.
Proven experience of providing strategic leadership to support, coach and develop professional, technical and leadership ability across teams.
Excellent analytical, report writing and communication skills with the ability to distill and present actionable information from complex research in order to influence and negotiate corporate and political decision makers.
Significant experience of HR analytics, business intelligence or related discipline to shape, define, develop and assess organisational strategies and associated plans.
Demonstrable experience of programme management, strategic planning, budget management and contract management.
Experience of developing relevant Service Level agreements to secure quality of outputs.
Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional areas including performance reporting and data analytics with a broad understanding of all areas of HR.

If you have queries on this role or require a copy of the full role profile, please email faye.robertson@essex.gov.uk.

To submit an application, click apply. Please note successful candidates will be invited to attend an in-person interview at our County Hall offices in Chelmsford. Interviews are expected to take place on Thursday 6th June 2024.

Why Essex?

Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us here.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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