People Consultant - Working for Essex

About the role

People Consultant

Temporary, Full Time

£300 - £400 per day (umbrella)

Location: Chelmsford

Closing Date: Friday 27th June 2025

Essex County Council (ECC) is one of the largest and most dynamic local authorities in the UK, serving a population of 2 million residents, and has a very successful track record of delivering transformational change. ECC anticipated change was needed in the public sector and has worked to deliver better quality at lower cost. We have an ambitious transformation agenda – one with the scope to reach every part of the council. We are changing the way we think, the way we work, and the ways in which we deliver our services. We are committed to becoming a place where individuals, partners and communities feel proud to play their role and genuinely want to belong. We’re immensely proud of our flexible working options.

The Opportunity

Essex County Council are looking for experienced HR professionals to join them on an initial 6-month basis to work as a People Consultant supporting the council through an exciting period of change. You will be supporting Senior Leadership in shaping the future of local government and service delivery for Essex residents; as such you must be able to work at pace and be able to implement change and strategic initiatives within the organisation.

Accountabilities

Influence the design, implementation and evaluation of people strategies, policies and initiatives to enhance overall effectiveness and performance, applying the full consultancy cycle to provide a service which supports delivery, professionalism and productivity

Build organisational capability through effective collaboration with leaders and stakeholders across the council to effectively identify and address organisational challenges, providing expert advice and solutions

Coach leaders and managers in dealing with business change project implementation (including redesign, redundancy, TUPE) and moderate to high complexity cases, individual performance and employee relations issues, providing high quality advice

Lead the delivery of projects to meet defined outcomes within agreed timescales, working collaboratively across the business functions and with the People Business Partner

Partner with People & OD teams to integrate people practices into leadership, management and talent development, employee experience, wellbeing and EDI agendas, ensuring alignment between structure, systems, processes and culture

The Experience You Will Bring

Educated to degree level in a relevant professional field, such as Human Resources, Organisational Development or equivalent by experience

Professional membership of CIPD at Chartered level or working towards this

Demonstrable experience of managing complex people, process and systems issues through professional application of the consultancy model to drive results

Understanding of change management techniques and experience of engaging leaders and managers in taking ownership of change

Ability to analyse people and business metrics, develop insight, write effective reports and policies and implement solutions, using these to influence decision making in the context of the business and to shape and influence others

To read more about us please visit: Corporate Services

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.

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.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to hear from you. Please apply via the Working for Essex website.

Please note that Essex County Council has determined that the off payroll working rules will apply to this assignment and where a worker elects to provide their services through an intermediary (such as a personal services company) then income tax and primary national insurance contributions will be deducted at source from any payments made to the intermediary.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

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.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community.

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email essexsharedservices@essex.gov.uk

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