Vale of Glamorgan Council
Operational Manager - HR Business Partner
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About Us
The Vale of Glamorgan Council is an ambitious, values-led organisation where our work makes a difference to people’s lives every day. From schools and social care to neighbourhoods, housing, the environment and corporate services, our colleagues support communities across the Vale in many different ways.
Our vision is Strong Communities with a Bright Future. Through Vale 2030, we are thinking longer term, working across boundaries, involving people earlier and looking for ways to prevent problems rather than simply respond to them. Our People Strategy brings that ambition into the workplace: building a workforce fit for the future, creating a great place to work and developing values-led, emotionally intelligent leadership.
Our values – Open, Together, Ambitious and Proud – shape how we work. We value people who are curious, willing to challenge and listen, and ready to work across professional boundaries.
Within HR and Organisational Development, our three Operational Managers lead HR Business Partnering, Employee Services and Organisational Development and Learning as peer functions, bringing different expertise together to support our schools, services and colleagues.
We have strong foundations, but we are not standing still. You will be joining a People service with a clear direction, an appetite to improve and a genuine opportunity to influence what comes next.
About The Role
As Operational Manager – HR Business Partner, you will lead the HR Business Partner service across Council services and schools, with organisation-wide influence and direct relationships with senior leaders, head teachers, trade unions and elected members.
You will provide senior professional leadership on complex employment law, employee relations, organisational change and workforce matters. We need someone who can give clear, credible advice, exercise sound judgement and help leaders make difficult decisions with confidence.
But this role is about more than responding well when issues arise.
We want to strengthen our HR Business Partner model so that more of our work is strategic, insight-led and preventative. You will help us use workforce data, employee feedback and employee relations trends to understand what sits behind recurring issues, strengthen workforce planning and support services and schools to think ahead about their future capacity, capability, skills, recruitment, retention and succession.
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You will lead and develop the HR Business Partner team, building confidence and professional capability rather than becoming the person who takes over every difficult case. You will also work closely with the Operational Managers for Employee Services and Organisational Development and Learning to provide a more joined-up People service.
Throughout, we want you to keep sight of the person behind every process. Policy, consistency and legal compliance matter, but so do compassion, empathy and understanding. This is a role for someone who can combine professional rigour with humanity and use judgement to find the right way forward.
About You
We are looking for an experienced, values-led HR professional who can combine strong technical expertise with strategic thinking, sound judgement and a genuinely human approach.
You will bring current knowledge of employment law and employee relations, with the confidence to advise senior leaders on complex and sensitive workforce matters. You will also be able to look beyond individual cases, identify patterns and use workforce data and insight to help shape longer-term solutions.
You will have experience of strategic workforce planning and organisational change, and be comfortable working in a large, complex environment with trade unions and a wide range of stakeholders. Experience of local government, the wider public sector or working with schools would be valuable, but we are equally interested in what you can bring from other complex organisations.
Just as importantly, we are looking for someone who leads with emotional intelligence, empathy and integrity. Someone who can challenge constructively, listen properly and understand that policy and process provide an important framework, but that good professional judgement also means recognising individual circumstances.
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You will be someone who develops others rather than needing to hold all the answers yourself. You will enjoy working across professional boundaries, value the expertise of others and be motivated by improving the experience of colleagues, managers and the communities we serve.
If you are curious, collaborative, professionally credible and excited by the opportunity to help shape a more strategic and preventative HR Business Partner service, we would like to hear from you.
Additional information
The role is based at the Civic Offices, Barry, with work across the Vale and opportunities for remote working. You will need to travel between Council locations and work flexibly when required.
Our values will run through the selection process. We are interested not only in what you have achieved, but in how you think, exercise judgement, challenge, collaborate and lead.
Please submit your CV and supporting statement. We would particularly like to understand your experience of complex employment or workforce issues, strategic and preventative HR practice, workforce planning, organisational change, collaboration across professional boundaries and values-led leadership.
Closing date: 21 October 2026
Assessment date: 16 November 2026
Welsh language skills are desirable but not essential. We welcome applications from Welsh speakers and learners, and support is available for colleagues who would like to develop their Welsh.
We welcome applications from people with different backgrounds and experiences. If you need an adjustment to take part in the recruitment process, please tell us and we will work with you to make it accessible.
For an informal conversation, contact Tracy Dickinson, Head of Human Resources at tdickinson@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk or 07770 922003.
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