Head of Workforce Investigations Unit

This is an exciting and challenging post that plays a critical role in delivering our ambition to make OUH one of the best Trusts to work for in the country. We are committed to continuing our transformation of our workforce investigations service and this role leads our dedicated Workforce Investigations Unit within our Employee Relations team. As our Head of Workforce Investigations Unit, you will report to the Assistant Director of Workforce (Employee Relations) and lead a small team of investigators overseeing complex and sensitive workforce investigations, in addition to your own caseload. You will need experience of undertaking workforce investigations within an NHS or other healthcare setting. You may be an HR professional with extensive employee relations and investigations experience, or an experienced investigator with formal training and experience of working with NHS/healthcare organisations. You will champion an employee-centred approach by ensuring confidential, impartial and thorough investigations are completed into employee concerns, bringing a swift and professional conclusion to investigations. This is an exciting opportunity to join a leading healthcare provider and manage a high-quality professional team. There is significant scope for impact in this role, both in terms of the continuing development of the Unit and more widely on improving the experience of our patients and employees.Main duties of the job Your key responsibilities will include: · Providing a high quality, proactive and timely investigations service for employee relations cases. · Managing, developing, and supporting the Investigations team with a particular emphasis on case allocation, quality assurance and professional development. · Maintaining an excellent working knowledge of employment legislation, case law and best practice in the field of investigations and ensuring that this knowledge is shared to support best practice across the Trust. · Developing and implementing the Workforce Investigations Standard Operating Procedure and producing a portfolio of tools and guidance documents for use within the team and wider organisation · Acting as the Trust in-house investigations expert for Maintaining High Professional Standards (MHPS) cases., 1. To lead the Workforce Investigations Team within the Trust, monitoring caseload and investigation quality and analysing trends in investigations. 2. To provide a high quality, pro-active and timely investigations service for employee relations cases; allocating investigations within the Team and supporting and advising Investigating Officers on complex cases. 3. Lead and manage investigations with managers and staff in the Trust, providing expert support on a range of highly complex and sensitive ER investigations. 4. To manage, develop and support the Investigations team with a particular emphasis on case allocation, performance management and professional development. 5. Responsible for maintaining an excellent working knowledge of UK and EU employment legislation and case law and best practice in the field of investigations; ensuring that this knowledge is proactively utilised and shared to support best practice across the Trust. 6. Provide specialist ER investigations advice and lead investigations to enable resolutions in a timely manner; proactively identifying opportunities for early resolution where possible. 7. Responsible for developing and implementing the Workforce Investigations Standard Operating Procedure; producing a portfolio of tools and guidance documents for use within the team as well as within the wider organisation to support other managers carrying out investigations; ensuring the sustainability and consistency of high-quality investigations throughout the Trust. 8. To identify and escalate employee relations issues as appropriate to ensure consistency and best practice across the Trust. 9. Promote good management practice and ensuring continuous improvement of practice to maintain high investigation standards. 10. To contribute to the overall service and direction of the Workforce Directorate including communication, teamwork, working professionally, reviewing systems and overseeing change and developing staff to provide a credible, comprehensive and quality Human Resource service. 11. To carry out and deliver on a full range of complex investigations for the Trust; including scoping the investigation, collecting and collating evidence, interviewing all relevant parties, producing high quality comprehensive investigation reports. 12. To act as the Trust in-house investigations expert for Maintaining High Professional Standards (MHPS) cases. 13. Responsible for ensuring that all investigation interviews undertaken by the Investigations Team are conducted in an objective and non-judgemental manner to gather the relevant facts. 14. Responsible for communicating highly complex and at times, highly sensitive, information while at the same time sensitively handling issues of conflict that may arise during the investigation process. 15. Responsible for receiving, analysing and interpreting highly complex information and evidence; using persuasive, negotiating, empathic and re-assurance skills as required to navigate the investigation process. 16. To present investigation findings at hearings and Employment Tribunals as appropriate; ensuring clear and accurate presentation of facts in what may be highly emotive and/or distressing situations. 17. To keep accurate and timely records of investigation activities, and produce management information as required, always ensuing the timeliness and quality of investigations. 18. To ensure that equality and diversity issues are recognised and addressed in accordance with legislation, policies and procedures. 19. Responsible for considering investigation strategy and making continual improvements to any investigator toolkits and related guidance documents. 20. To design and present training sessions on employee relations investigations for staff to ensure best practice is shared. 21. To identify training and development needs within services and opportunities for managers and staff, taking an active role in developing relevant training programmes and the delivery of training and in monitoring individual competency. 22. To develop staff to provide a comprehensive and quality investigations service by facilitating or providing training. 23. Support the Trust's cultural change programme by promoting and embedding strategies related to Trust's People Strategy and Trust Values and Behaviours. 24. To take a lead in identifying own development needs. 25. Responsible for working collaboratively with Workforce colleagues to review and assess current employee investigation practices, improving them to ensure we promote fairness while mitigating risk to the organisation. 26. To manage effective relationships with managers across the Trust; ensuring that complaints are kept to a minimum, dealing with any that arise and taking appropriate actions. 27. To work collaboratively with the wider Workforce team to ensure effective communication and integration, sharing knowledge and information to deliver a seamless service to the organisation.

• Educated to Masters Level or equivalent by experience
• MCIPD qualified or equivalent by experience
• Formal investigation training
• Significant employee relations experience in a large complex NHS organisation
• Extensive track record of supporting and advising on complex employee relations investigations
• Excellent and up to date knowledge of HR best practice, employment legislation and current thinking and developments in HR
• Excellent knowledge of NHS Terms and Conditions of Service with demonstrable experience of the application of this knowledge in the workplace
Desirable criteria
• Experience of managing and/or supporting MHPS investigations
  
  Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research.
The Trust comprises of four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel., Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. For more information on OUH please view OUH At a Glance by OUHospitals - Issuu Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.