Director, HR Business Partner

About the company

The People and Organisation Division (POD) partners GovTech’s leaders to build the workforce and organisational capability needed to deliver its mission. As Director, HR Business Partnering, you will lead the people strategy and HR business partnering delivery for an assigned portfolio of business divisions.

Your tasks

You will advise senior leaders on the workforce, organisation and leadership decisions that shape delivery. This requires understanding business priorities, challenging assumptions and making clear recommendations on competing needs and trade-offs.

You will lead and develop a team of HR Business Partners (HRBPs), working with POD’s specialist and operations teams to deliver integrated people solutions. You will be accountable for the quality of HR advice, the effectiveness of portfolio interventions and the capability of your team.

People strategy and senior leadership partnership

• Translate business priorities into a focused people agenda, with clear outcomes, ownership and measures. Anticipate workforce and organisational risks, and bring recommendations to leadership decisions early.
• Act as a trusted adviser and constructive challenger to senior leaders. Balance portfolio needs with GovTech’s wider priorities, and hold leaders to their responsibilities for people management.

Workforce planning and organisation design

• Lead workforce reviews and scenario planning with business and practice leaders. Shape workforce size, capability mix, deployment and cost in line with delivery priorities and resource constraints.
• Advise on organisation structures, role clarity and decision rights. Assess how technology, including AI, changes work and skills, and recommend where to build, hire, redeploy or redesign capability.

Organisation effectiveness and change

• Diagnose issues affecting organisational performance using workforce data, employee insights and business evidence. Distinguish gaps in structure, capability, leadership and ways of working before recommending interventions.
• Lead the people dimensions of transformation and restructuring. Partner leaders on implementation, communication and workforce transitions, and assess whether changes improve delivery and organisational effectiveness.

Performance, talent and leadership

• Lead robust performance, talent and succession discussions across the portfolio. Challenge weak evidence and inconsistent calibration, identify critical talent risks, and drive follow-through on development and succession actions.
• Coach senior leaders through difficult people decisions and strengthen manager accountability. Work with relevant POD teams to address recurring leadership and management capability gaps.

People judgement and governance

• Provide senior counsel on complex and sensitive employee matters, including performance, conduct, grievances and workforce transitions. Ensure recommendations are evidence-based, fair, documented and consistent with applicable policies and requirements.
• Exercise sound judgement on risk and escalation, drawing on specialist advice where needed. Identify recurring issues and address the underlying management or process gaps.

HRBP team leadership and capability

• Set priorities, allocate capacity and establish clear standards for advice, responsiveness and delivery. Coach HRBPs to diagnose business needs, influence stakeholders and exercise independent judgement.
• Manage team performance and development. Build shared portfolio knowledge, consistent practices and effective cover so delivery remains reliable through changes in personnel.

Integrated HR delivery and improvement

• Work with POD centres of expertise to deliver portfolio priorities. Establish clear ownership and effective handoffs, resolve delivery gaps and simplify recurring workflows.
• Use a focused set of workforce and service measures to assess outcomes and guide intervention. Bring portfolio insights into organisation-wide policy and programme design, and lead cross-POD improvements where common issues emerge.

Requirements

What we are looking for

• At least 15 years of progressive HR experience, including substantial experience partnering senior leaders in a complex organisation and a demonstrated record of leading and developing HRBP teams.
• Evidence of translating business strategy into workforce and organisation decisions, with measurable improvements in organisational performance or people outcomes.
• Depth in workforce planning, organisation design, change management, performance and talent management, supported by sound generalist HR judgement.
• Credibility to influence and constructively challenge senior leaders, make clear recommendations under ambiguity, and sustain effective working relationships through difficult decisions.
• Experience managing complex employee matters with discretion, sound risk judgement and strong governance discipline.
• Ability to interpret workforce data, test assumptions and make practical recommendations. A record of delivering through teams and across specialist functions, with clear ownership and follow-through.
• Ability to understand technology delivery models and specialist talent needs. Experience in a technology organisation or a significant organisational transformation would be an advantage.