About the Role
This role sits at the heart of a complex higher-education environment, partnering closely with academic departments and professional services to navigate sector-specific people challenges. The successful candidate will bring a strong working knowledge of higher-education policies, frameworks, and governance, along with demonstrable experience leading to redundancy and organisational change processes, including managing settlement agreements.
The focus of the position will centre around workforce planning, supporting senior leaders to shape future capability, optimise organisational design, and ensure people strategies align with long-term institutional priorities.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner with senior leaders to deliver proactive, strategic workforce planning across designated faculties and departments.
- Provide trusted HR advice on organisational design, resourcing models, talent planning and capability frameworks.
- Support change initiatives, including restructures and service redesign, ensuring effective consultation and communication.
- Analyse workforce data and trends to inform decision-making and future workforce requirements.
- Build strong, influential relationships with stakeholders, including managers, trade unions and internal HR teams.
- Coach and support managers on complex employee relations matters, performance management and people development.
- Contribute to wider People & Culture projects as needed to support institutional priorities.
About You
- Proven experience as an HR Business Partner within Higher Education.
- Strong background in leading redundancy processes, including settlement agreements
- Strong background in workforce planning, organisational change, or strategic transformation work.
- Confident working with senior stakeholders and able to influence at all levels.
- Sound understanding of employee relations and UK employment legislation.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with the ability to hit the ground running.
- CIPD qualified (or equivalent experience).
Why Join?
This is an excellent opportunity to play a key role within a respected university, shaping how the organisation supports its people now and in the future. You'll work alongside a collaborative HR leadership team with the autonomy to make a meaningful impact.
If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV.
Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at hays.co.uk
Volunteer People Manager
Reports to: Head of People & Culture
Salary: £40,000- £42,000
Location: Hybrid (Tues-Thurs based in High Wycombe Buckinghamshire)
Direction Reports: None
About Us
With a heritage of 100 years, our patron is the Duchess of Gloucester, we are a membership-owned organisation for all civil service and public sector employees in the UK, supported by 1,200 volunteers.
We provide opportunities for over 100,000 members, that inspires wellbeing, builds community, and fosters a genuine sense of belonging, earning lifelong loyalty through trust and meaningful connection. We are currently undergoing our 3 year transformation agenda and it’s an exciting time to be part of building our next chapter.
Job Purpose
To lead and embed a consistent, high-quality people experience for the organisation’s volunteer workforce across the full lifecycle.
This role is responsible for ensuring volunteers are recruited, inducted, supported through change, and managed in line with organisational policies, values and strategy, while enabling operational teams to lead volunteers day-to-day within their departments.
The postholder will act as the organisational expert on volunteer lifecycle, ensuring a unified people approach that strengthens capability, retention and culture.
Key Accountabilities
Volunteer Lifecycle
· Own and manage the end-to-end volunteer lifecycle framework.
· Design, maintain and continuously improve volunteer policies, procedures and guidance.
· Ensure volunteer processes mirror staff approaches where appropriate.
· Act as the subject matter expert for volunteer people matters.
Recruitment, Onboarding & Induction
· Support the volunteer recruitment processes.
· Develop recruitment pipelines and partnerships.
· Design and deliver a robust volunteer induction model.
· Support managers through tools, templates and guidance.
Volunteer Training and Development
· Design and oversee a structured volunteer training framework aligned to organisational values, policies and role requirements.
· Work with departments to identify core and role-specific training needs.
· Ensure volunteers have access to appropriate learning resources to enable confidence and effectiveness.
· Embed ongoing development opportunities to support engagement, retention and succession.
· Enable managers to deliver training locally through guidance and best practice.
Cross-Team Collaboration
· Lead people aspects of change impacting volunteers working closely with the Head of Change.
· Collaborate with departments on role design and expectations.
· Upskill managers through guidance and training.
About You — Skills & Experience
- Experience in a People or Volunteer Management with responsibility for volunteer or workforce lifecycle activity
- Strong knowledge of recruitment, onboarding and development processes and how to create consistent people experiences
- Ability to design and implement policies, frameworks and practical guidance that support managers day-to-day
- Confident working across teams, building relationships and influencing without direct line management responsibility
- Experience supporting organisational change
- Skilled in developing learning and training approaches that build capability and engagement
- Organised and able to manage multiple priorities while maintaining attention to detail
- Clear communicator with a collaborative, coaching style
- Experience working with volunteers or within the charity / not-for-profit sector desirable
CSSC is an Equal Opportunities Employer The above is intended to describe the general content of the role, and the requirements for satisfactory performance in this position. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of the duties, responsibilities, or role requirements. We value diversity at CSSC, and do not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, religion, race, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. Interviews at CSSC take place in person and virtually as part of our recruitment process. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. If you are selected to move forward in our application process and you have a medical condition or an individual need for adjustment to our process, and you believe it may affect your ability to be at your best, please let the recruitment partner know, so we can consider how best we can support you and make any adjustments that may reasonably be needed.
If this job sounds like it would be of interest to you, please get in touch, we'd love to hear from you!
We are a not-for-profit, membership, organisation for over 124,000 colleagues from the civil service and public sector.