HR Consultant - Wellbeing - OX1ND

About Us

At Oxfordshire County Council (OCC), we believe great services start with people who feel supported, included and able to thrive. Our Human Resources and Cultural Change Service plays a critical role in enabling the organisation to deliver for residents by building high‑performing, engaged and agile teams, and creating an environment where colleagues can bring their whole selves to work.

Working to a centre‑of‑excellence model, we provide strategic leadership, expert advice and evidence‑based frameworks that support services to perform effectively, while fostering a healthy, inclusive and sustainable working environment. Our approach is guided by the Council’s People & Culture Strategy - Attract, Thrive, Grow and Lead - which sets a clear direction for how we support our workforce now and into the future.

Employee wellbeing is a core part of this agenda. As the Council continues to navigate significant organisational change, including service redesign and upcoming Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), we are deliberately moving beyond transactional or reactive approaches to wellbeing. Instead, our focus is on embedding wellbeing into how the organisation operates, leads and makes decisions every day.

This role sits at the heart of that ambition, providing senior professional leadership, shaping organisational culture and supporting leaders to manage wellbeing risk effectively, in an organisation that is genuinely committed to doing things differently.

In this role, you will:

• Lead the creation, implementation and ongoing development of an organisation‑wide wellbeing strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and workforce needs.
• Provide expert advice and challenge to senior leaders, managers and HR colleagues on wellbeing, psychosocial risk and work‑related stress.
• Design, commission and oversee preventative, tailored and evidence‑based wellbeing initiatives, ensuring they are effective, accessible and deliver value.
• Ensure wellbeing support and interventions are clearly communicated, well‑understood and consistently applied across the organisation.
• Work in close partnership with Employee Relations, Public Health, Health & Safety and other key services to embed wellbeing in a joined‑up and coherent way.
• Manage key relationships with wellbeing providers (including Access to Work), ensuring services are fit for purpose, responsive and deliver value for money.
• Use workforce data and insight to identify risk, inform priorities and evaluate impact, supporting informed decision‑making at a senior level.

Could this be you?

What You'll Bring

We’re looking for someone who can operate with confidence from day one, and comfortable working autonomously. If you’re passionate about improving wellbeing at a strategic level and want to shape an organisation‑wide approach that makes a real difference, we’d love to hear from you!

You will have:

• Demonstrable experience of leading strategic wellbeing or mental health initiatives at scale, in a similar role or sector.
• A strong understanding of psychosocial risk management, work‑related stress and preventative wellbeing approaches.
• Proven ability to influence and advise senior leaders and a wide range of stakeholders, balancing appropriate challenge with support. Strong communication skills are essential.
• Experience of using data and evidence to inform strategy, manage risk and demonstrate impact.
• The ability to combine strategy with practical delivery managing ambiguity and exercising sound professional judgement in a complex organisational environment.

Desirable:

• Experience with in local government or the wider public sector.
• Experience supporting organisations through change or reorganisation.
• Strong understanding of Occupational Health models and commissioning.

Before applying, we recommend reviewing the attached job description. It has further information and clear guidance on what we’re looking for.

What You Can Look Forward To

At OCC, you'll be part of a team that’s not only…