HR Culture Business Partner

We have an opportunity for a suitably qualified individual to join us at Essex Wildlife Trust as our culture lead within our People and Culture team.

At Essex Wildlife Trust, we believe that a strong, positive culture is the foundation of success. We pride ourselves on having passionate staff and volunteers who are dedicated to conserving and protecting the natural environment for wildlife and the people of Essex. We foster an inclusive and wellbeing focussed work environment where staff can thrive and work collaboratively towards achieving our vision of “a county rich in wildlife with people connected to nature”. Our relaxed and professional work environment is conducive to creativity and innovation, and staff are encouraged to proactively share their ideas and work together to achieve our strategic aims and objectives. Overall, our culture is one that values its people and the planet we are working to protect.

The Business Partner - Culture is responsible for the delivery of The Trust’s culture plan, ensuring that the Trust is a high-performing, high impact, people-centred organisation. Working closely with the Head of People and Culture, the role will partner and engage with staff across all departments and all levels of seniority. This role holds responsibility for contributing to the development of the culture strategy and development and delivery of associated plans, with a focus on the key workstreams of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Wellbeing, Safeguarding/Safety and Sustainability - whilst ensuring the Trust’s values are embedded across a combined workforce of staff and volunteers to develop a healthy, inclusive and safe working environment where everyone is thriving and achieving their potential. 

As an experienced people professional, you will develop initiatives and interventions across the Trust to ensure the Trust is a listening, responsive employer, and develop a variety of methods to demonstrate inclusive practices to ensure all employees and volunteers have a voice at the Trust. You will ensure Employee Voice is at the forefront of the development of culture, and the Trust’s core values are central to the development of all cultural initiatives. You will also play a key role in the development and management of staff forums for the key cultural workstreams, ensuring that forums are representative and drive forward the cultural agenda to meet the Trust’s strategic aims. The People and Culture team is close-knit and collaborative encompassing HR, Volunteering, Culture and Learning and Development. We work hard to ensure everyone at the Trust has a positive experience, with a strong culture, clear expectations, professional processes and procedures to support, and the required training and development to deliver their roles and grow in their career with us.

We are an engaging team of individuals, curious, questioning, explorative; we love to introduce innovations and new ways of working, and seek solutions to improve the working experience – for ourselves in the People and Culture team and for others. We are communicators – we like to talk, to share, to engage and to embrace diversity of thinking. 

We are looking for someone who holds, or is working towards, a CIPD Level 5 qualification with relevant experience. The ideal candidate will be committed to continuous professional development and have proven experience in developing and implementing policies. They should have strong knowledge of organisational culture, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Sustainability, and Safeguarding. A full job description can be within the 'role information pack'.

This role is a maternity cover position working 30 hours per week (we can be flexible on hours and days). We are proud of the flexible working practices at Essex Wildlife Trust and would be happy to consider requests to work flexibly. The starting salary for this post is £23,100 per annum (FTE £28,875) and based at our Head Office location at the beautiful Abbotts Hall in Great Wigborough. Essex Wildlife Trust offers flexible homeworking arrangements. Further details of the hybrid-working arrangements will be shared at interview.