Director of People and Place

From healthcare to artificial intelligence, energy to national security, we provide legal advice to government departments on nation-changing subjects.

At Government Legal Department we have a vital, single-minded purpose: to help the Government govern well within the rule of law. This is complemented by our exciting vision to be an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfil our potential.

Our work touches almost every aspect of public life. We are the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters.

Our respected professionals are involved in everything from regulation and litigation to advice on drafting legislation. They provide expertise to the full range of government departments. We are at the heart of delivering the governments priorities and our success depends on our people.

GLD is a non-ministerial government department headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary, and employs nearly 4000 people, including nearly 3000 legal professionals. We have offices nationwide, in Bristol, Leeds, inner and outer London and Manchester. Our lawyers can also be located within other departments and overseas.

GLD also depends on a range of cross-functional professionals to provide our corporate services. There are nearly 1000 colleagues playing an essential part in helping GLD to achieve its purpose and truly deliver much more than law.

This is an exciting time to join 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 you can view our introductory film . On our website you can hear from team members, find out how to apply and learn about the benefits of working for GLD.

You can also read more about the future vision for GLD in our GLD Strategy 2024 2027 .

The Director of People and Place will provide strategic leadership for a portfolio encompassing HR, estates and security during a period of significant departmental evolution.

The role reports into the DG COO, will be a regular attendee at the Executive Committee and will lead the People and Place (P&P) directorate of over 125 colleagues providing a full spectrum HR and Estate services to a workforce that is currently 3,600 and will grow to 4,000. This includes over 2,500 members of the legal profession as well as a range of other corporate professions including Finance, Commercial, Digital and Data and Project Delivery.

This is a pivotal moment for GLD as it drives forward ambitious transformation and reform plans. The post holder will be expected to play a leading role in enabling these plans by developing and delivering the People strategies to achieve them. They will also be responsible for delivering our National GLD model, strengthening our representation and presence in our workplaces outside of London.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of high-quality, professional HR, security and property services, ensuring senior leaders and managers receive expert, insight-driven support to lead effectively.
• Act as a key member of the senior leadership, advising the Board, NEDs, Treasury Solicitor and Directors General on complex people, culture and property matters, with scope to support Ministers across the Law Officers Departments.
• Provide visible, inspiring leadership of the People and Place function across a dispersed organisation of 3,600+ colleagues, shaping culture and ensuring GLDs voice is influential across the Civil Service.
• Set the strategic direction for HR, driving continuous improvement, digital transformation and the transition to shared services in line with wider government reform and ERP programmes.
• Lead the departments workforce strategy, including organisational design, capability building and regional growth, supporting Places for Growth ambitions and the transition to new London offices in 2028. Operate as a trusted advisor on organisational transformation, leadership and culture, helping to shape a high-performing, future-ready GLD.
• Oversee a c.30m resource People and Place budget, maximising value from commercial contracts supporting HR and Estates delivery.
• Lead the design and delivery of HR, security and information management policies and services, including pay, performance, reward, wellbeing and workforce operations across GLD and its partner bodies.
• Ensure the delivery of high-quality learning, development and talent programmes, including oversight of a market-leading Legal Fellowship offer and senior talent management for the Government Legal Profession.
• Represent GLD at a senior level across cross-government HR and Estates networks, including deputising at key boards and contributing to Civil Service-wide priorities.
• Act as Head of Profession for HR, strengthening capability, developing talent pipelines and enhancing the overall career offer within the function.

It is important through your CV and Personal Statement that you provide evidence and examples of proven experience of these selection criteria. Below are details of the essential criteria from the Civil Service Success Profiles that make up this role. Further guidance can be found at Success Profiles.

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

Key Skills and Experience (all points assessed at application and interview)

• Chartered Fellow FCIPD: or work towards it within 6 months of taking up post.
• Leadership: an authentic and visible leader with a proven track record of building, inspiring, and developing diverse, high-performing teams. You must demonstrate the ability to lead through ambiguity and foster a cohesive, values-led culture across a geographically dispersed workforce. You should demonstrate the acumen to add value to the organisations senior management boards.
• Communicating and Influencing: outstanding interpersonal and political acumen, with the ability to establish immediate credibility and build trusting relationships at the highest levels. You must be able to navigate a complex landscape to facilitate senior decision-making and deliver successful outcomes.
• Seeing the Big Picture: translating overarching business strategies and departmental priorities into clear, deliverable people plans. You should have a track record of aligning people strategies to organisational goals using business insight, data analytics, and financial acumen.
• Changing and Improving: proven ability to lead organisational transformation by critically reviewing and reshaping organisational design and workforce planning, implementing innovative solutions that improve capability and prepare the department for the future. The capacity to lead large-scale transformational change across workplace systems, processes, and culture.
• Managing a Quality Service: a proven track record of delivering excellent HR, workforce, or OD services within an organisation of comparable scale and complexity. This includes a deep understanding of current best practices, managing organisational risk, and ensuring professional excellence in service delivery to meet customer demands.

Desirable

Desirable criteria will be used when there is a need to distinguish between candidates who are closely tied or the same after the initial consideration of essential criteria, at sift and interview.

• Experience or understanding of managing physical workplace functions, including facilities, security governance, or health and safety, particularly across multiple sites and a clear understanding and experience of the Places for Growth strategy and the implementation opportunities for organisational change.

Candidate Information Session

We will be holding a candidate information session for these roles on Microsoft Teams from 11:00am 12:00pm on Thursday ...