Assistant Director of People and Inclusion

Assistant Director of People and Inclusion

Location: Bury

Salary: £88,712 - £96,251

Closing Date: 29th September 2025 23.59pm

Bury Council is on a bold and ambitious journey. Halfway through our 10-year "Let's Do It!" strategy, we're transforming how public services are delivered and how communities engage with them. We're reshaping our corporate core to increase the pace for delivery of this vision, and now we're looking for a strategic and operational leader to join us as Assistant Director of People and Inclusion - who will be the most senior HR/People Professional in the council.

The Role

This is a pivotal leadership role reporting to the Executive Director of Strategy & Transformation. You'll lead a multidisciplinary HR function including HR Operations, Business Partnering, Payroll & Pensions, Health & Safety, Organisational Development, and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion.

You'll be responsible for:

• Driving workforce transformation and cultural change across the Council.
• Leading the development and delivery of our Inclusion Strategy and internal OD programmes.
• Overseeing complex employee relations and workforce planning in a dynamic, multi-site, unionised environment.
• Supporting the Council's improvement journey in key services such as Children's and Housing Services.
• Ensuring statutory compliance and delivering high-quality HR services that enable our strategic ambitions.

This is a hands-on role requiring both strategic vision and operational delivery. You'll be instrumental in shaping the future of our workforce and embedding inclusive, strengths-based approaches across the organisation - driving our People Strategy.

About You

You're a calm, pragmatic and resilient leader with significant senior HR experience in large, complex organisations - ideally within the public sector. You bring:

• Strong track record in workforce transformation, employee relations, and organisational development, with the ability to lead through complexity and change.
• Deep understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion, and proven success embedding inclusive practices across diverse teams.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills at all levels, to work with trade unions, Elected Members and senior leaders on sensitive, high-impact workforce issues.
• The ability to manage competing priorities, lead teams through complex organisational change, and apply sound planning and delivery skills to achieve both immediate impact and sustainable transformation.
• Commitment to continuous professional development - Chartered CIPD membership is preferred.

Why Bury?

We're proud of our progress on our "Let's Do It!" strategy and we know there's more to share and more to do. This role offers the chance to make a real impact on our workforce, our culture, and our communities.

This is a permanent position paying £88,712 - £96,251 depending on experience. You'll be based at our Bury campus with agile working arrangements , and you'll be part of a passionate team committed to making Bury a place where everyone can thrive.

How to Apply

Bury Council is working in partnership with Hays Executive HR Practice to recruit for this role. To apply, please visit https://webmicrosites.hays.co.uk/web/bury-council to submit a CV and cover letter, or contact Laura Bennallack - 0333 010 5299 for an informal discussion.

Closing date for applications: 29th September 2025 23.59pm

Technical Interviews: w/c 6th October

Shortlisting: Thursday 16th October

Manager/Stakeholder Interviews: w/c 20th October

Final Interviews: Thursday 23rd October and Friday 24th October