SEO Associate HR Business Partner

The Government Legal Department is the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters that are frequently scrutinised in Parliament and the media. Our work includes:
+ Developing and drafting legislation
+ Providing legal advice on policies
+ Securing our economic and trade relationships
+ Ensuring value from commercial contracts worth billions of pounds
+ Providing the Civil Service’s employment law advice
We are at the heart of delivering the Government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.
GLD is a non-ministerial government department, sponsored by the Attorney General. We are headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary and employ nearly 3000 people, including over 2000 legal professionals. Our offices include London, Leeds, Bristol, Croydon and Manchester as well as overseas. We provide specialist legal services including Litigation, Employment and Commercial Law as well as advising most Government Departments on the policies and services they deliver.
GLD also depends on a range of vital corporate services. These are essential to the smooth and efficient running of the Department and provide the foundation to enable GLD to deliver outstanding legal services. Our corporate functions include Strategy, HR, Finance, Digital, Data and Technology, Communications, Security, Commercial and Project delivery.
Our vision is to be an outstanding legal organisation and a brilliant place to work where everyone can thrive and fulfil their potential. This is an exciting time for GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.
To find out more about what we do visit the Government Legal Department’s webpage or have a look at this short film which showcases the breadth of work government lawyers and legal trainees are involved in., The Associate HR Business Partner (AHRBP) role sits within the Strategy, People and Culture (SPC) Directorate, part of the Chief Operating Officer (COO) Group within GLD. There are five principal teams within the Directorate: Human Resources (HR), Project Delivery & Transformation, Communications, Business Management and Strategy & Governance. The Directorate advises, supports and enables GLD lawyers to help the government to govern well, within the rule of law. Our purpose is to enable GLD’s business and people strategies and support the department to be the best employer for our people.
GLD’s HR team’s ambition is to build on our commitment, professionalism and expertise so that we can provide first class, customer focused HR services. We want to support all GLD staff by promoting a diverse and inclusive culture, developing inspiring and confident leaders and managers and so providing a strong foundation underpinning the delivery of legal services to HM Government.
We have an exciting and rare opportunity for an enthusiastic, committed and resilient AHBRP to join GLD HR at a time when the department has recently adopted a new Strategy and is refreshing its People Strategy for 2025. After 2 years, the incumbent is moving on a lateral development move within the team. The hard working, well-respected and fun HRBP Team consists of four Grade 7 HRBPs each of whom line manages one Senior Executive Officer (SEO) Associate HRBP. Each pair works in partnership giving people advice and support to one of our four Directors General (DGs), their Legal Directors and their Senior Leadership Teams. The relevant Grade 7 HR Business Partner role has also recently been advertised owing to the incumbent moving on promotion to a public sector Senior HRBP role.
About the Role
The Role and Key Responsibilities
The role offers the opportunity for exposure across many Civil Service government departments as you will be supporting a range of our client based legal teams.
Working in partnership with the HR Business Partner you will be providing HR related advice, leading on complex casework and aiming to build capability in management.
Working in close partnership with HR colleagues ensuring policies and procedures such as flexible working, capability management or performance management are delivered in a people-focused way and aligned with business needs.
Assisting HR Business Partners in delivering key strategic HR projects that are instrumental to improving HR services to customers.
Supporting culture change, supporting teams to engage with and through their people, for example, managing workloads and supporting staff in response to client demands or gathering recruitment information to feed into workforce planning and resourcing.
Engaging with colleagues across GLD and the wider Civil Service, to encourage partnership and collaboration in sharing best practice.
Supporting managers to build a strong culture of inclusivity.
Gathering and analysing HR data and using data-driven insights to support HR projects such as workforce planning and in support of employee life-cycle activity.
Assisting in the delivery of HR focussed L&D relating to performance management, sickness absence, dispute resolution and management skills.
The successful candidate will be working with the HRBP for the Litigation with Justice and Security Group and will mainly be supporting the SCS in the Litigation Directorate.

Person specification
Behaviours
Below are details of the Success Profiles that make up this role.
You will be expected to provide evidence to show how you meet the criteria at interview and/or selection stage.
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Communicating and Influencing (Lead Behaviour)
+ Seeing the Bigger Picture
+ Working Together
+ Developing Self and Others, The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of you and other civil servants. These are based on the core values which are set out in legislation. As a civil servant, you are expected to carry out your role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values of:
+ ‘integrity’ is putting the obligations of public service above your own personal interests
+ ‘honesty’ is being truthful and open
+ ‘objectivity’ is basing your advice and decisions on rigorous analysis of the evidence
+ ‘impartiality’ is acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving equally well governments of different political persuasions
These core values support good government and ensures the achievement of the highest possible standards in all that the Civil Service does.
For further information about Civil Service recruitment processes and Success profiles, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles

Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Communicating and Influencing
+ Seeing the Big Picture
+ Working Together
+ Developing Self and Others

+ Experience of working in a HR role
+ Sound knowledge of UK employment law
+ HR Casework experience
Technical
+ CIPD qualification or willingness to work towards gaining qualification within 2 years of employment.

Alongside your salary of £39,728, Government Legal Department contributes £11,509 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
+ Learning and development tailored to your role
+ An environment with flexible working options
+ A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
+ A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%, During the application stage you will be assessed against the skills and experience outlined below:
1. A statement of suitability of no more than 500 words, outlining how you meet Experience and Technical skills, listed on page 6 under person specification/criteria.
2. Please provide a statement for the following behaviours listed below in no more than 250 words each.
+ Communicating and Influencing (Lead Behaviour)
+ Seeing the Bigger Picture
+ Working Together
+ Developing Self and Others
Selection Process
After the closing date, the appointing panel shall assess candidates’ suitability for the role based on evidence provided in their application against the behaviours and experience outlined in the person specification. Please note, if a high number of applications are received, we will sift on the Lead Behaviour, Communicating and Influencing, alone.
Interview
Should you be successful in being invited to interview, you will be assessed on your performance in all essential criteria as listed in the Person Specification, alongside strength-based questions.
+ Communicating and Influencing (Lead Behaviour)
+ Seeing the Bigger Picture
+ Working Together
+ Developing Self and Others
+ Experience / Technical
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview. Interviews will probably take place remotely via video conference, full details of the interview format will be provided to shortlisted candidates prior to interview. The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which decisions are expected to be made, and all shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.
Offer
We appoint in strict order of merit. If you meet the minimum criteria for this position but are not successful for a post, you will be placed on the reserve list for up to 6 months. We then may contact you to see if you are interested in a post at the same, or a lower grade, in GLD should one arise.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
+ UK nationals
+ nationals of the Republic of Ireland
+ nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
+ individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
+ Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.