Location of Role: Chelmsford / Maidstone
Advert Closing Date: 07/07/2026
Starting Salary: £53,451.00 (pro-rata for part-time vacancies)
Part/Full Time: Full Time
Contract Type: Secondment/fixed-term
Working Pattern: Mon-Fri
Weekend/Evening Working: No
Kent Police and Essex Police are seeking an experienced and resilient HR Business Partner to provide high‑impact, strategic HR support within a complex, high‑profile public sector environment. This is a senior advisory role, working closely with Chief Officers, senior leaders and operational managers, where you will influence decision‑making, shape workforce strategies and support organisational change across two Forces. You will operate as a trusted professional adviser, balancing operational urgency, legal compliance and organisational risk in a policing context.
Policing presents a uniquely challenging and rewarding HR environment. You will work with officers and staff delivering essential public services, often under intense scrutiny, where professionalism, discretion and sound HR judgement are critical.
As an HR Business Partner, you will:
- Provide expert HR advice across the full employee lifecycle, managing complex and sensitive employee relations cases including discipline, grievance, capability, absence management and family-related matters.
- Act as a strategic partner to senior leaders, supporting workforce planning, organisational design and change initiatives aligned to Force priorities.
- Interpret and apply employment law, police regulations, terms and conditions and HR policy, ensuring consistency, fairness and legal compliance.
- Support and influence leaders through periods of organisational change and transformation, ensuring people risks are identified and effectively managed.
- Work collaboratively with HR and Learning and Development colleagues to deliver integrated people solutions.
- Build constructive relationships with staff associations and trade unions, contributing to consultation and negotiation processes.
- Use workforce data and management information to identify trends, support evidence‑based decision‑making and shape strategic HR interventions.
What you'll need to succeed:
We’re looking for a strong people professional, with experience of planning and delivering a high-performing HR/ER service, with a background in working in changing operating environments that require the service to adapt and develop. You will have the confidence to play a full role in the Operational HR team and be skilled at driving change, inspiring, empowering and upskilling colleagues. You’ll be confident at managing people-related risks, influencing and providing strategic advice, leading culture change, nurturing employee engagement, and working collaboratively and positively with Trade Unions.
Significant knowledge of employment legislation and best practice, with the proven ability to assess risk and resolve a wide range of issues in creative ways at a similar level with Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD) status. You will be experienced in breadth and depth of volume casework with effective time management and work prioritisation with the ability to work well and positively under pressure.
In application, candidates will need to demonstrate previous experience in HR role at this level including strong technical knowledge of UK employment law, the ability to apply it pragmatically in high‑risk situations, proven experience managing complex employee relations casework, confidence working with senior leaders, coaching and influencing at executive or equivalent level and the ability to work at pace, balancing competing priorities while maintaining professional judgement and accuracy.
It is desirable (but not essential) if candidates have experience within policing, emergency services, public sector or similarly complex operational environments and experience supporting large‑scale organisational change or workforce transformation programmes.
The base location of work for this position will be either at Essex Police Headquarters, Chelmsford or Kent Police Headquarters, Maidstone, however the successful candidate must be able to travel to other locations within Essex and Kent.
Why join Kent Police and Essex Police?
- Opportunity to work at the heart of public service, influencing how policing organisations support and develop their people.
- Exposure to complex, varied and high‑impact HR work that goes well beyond a traditional HR role.
- Supportive HR leadership and a collaborative, professional HR community.
- Flexible and hybrid working options, balancing operational needs with wellbeing.
- Competitive public sector benefits, including pension and leave entitlement.
If you are a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) qualified HR professional looking to apply your expertise in a challenging, meaningful and influential environment, we would welcome your application.
Please note that Kent Police and Essex Police operate on separate salary grading structures.
Your application for this role will be shortlisted on the content you provide within the “reason for application” question, within the application form itself. CV’s, covering letters or attachments are not included in the shortlist. Within your “reason for application” answer, please refer to any experience, skills, and abilities you feel you have that will make you suitable for this role, based on the role criteria stated in the job advert or job description. Please provide as much detail as possible as insufficient content may mean you do not meet the shortlisting criteria, however please note this question is limited to 9000 characters and this system will count spaces and blank lines as characters. This count may differ from the Microsoft Word word count function therefore you may wish to use a different online character counter to check the characters used.
Depending on your current vetting level and security clearances, you may be required to complete additional vetting information during the recruitment process.
Kent Police and Essex Police welcomes applications regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, sex, or employment status.
Please let us know if you require extra support at any stage of the application process, or for further information regarding this position, please email us at [email protected] stating ‘Application Support and Adjustments’ in the title of your email. Alternatively, you can call us on 01245 452833. Where appropriate we will make adjustments to the selection process, working arrangements and/or the working environment provided it is reasonable in all the circumstances to do so.
If you’re not from the UK, you must be a resident in the UK and have lived here continuously for the last three years. You must also be free from restrictions with indefinite leave to remain. If you’re from the UK you must have lived here continuously for the last three years. This doesn’t apply to those serving abroad in the British Armed Forces.
Essex Police is a Disability Confident Leader, we:
- Have subjected our Disability Confident self-assessment to external challenge and validation.
- Are taking an active leadership role in encouraging and helping other employers on their journey to becoming Disability Confident.
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion are central to the values of our organisation. At Essex Police we value and embrace the unique experiences, identities and abilities that each of us bring to our roles. We strive to empower everyone to bring their authentic self openly and safely to work.
Through the dedicated commitment of our support networks, DE&I team and wider HR departments, we are on a journey to embed our DE&I commitments, ensuring Essex Police is an employer of choice; where everyone feels included.
Essex Police and Kent Police are an equal opportunities employer. Communications may be recorded for monitoring purposes.
