Several senior HR posts are up for grabs at the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), the public body created to support training and technology in police forces.
The roles advertised include an HR reward and strategy manager (at £60,000), HR operations manager (£51,000), and a number of HR business partners (£45,000) which coincide with the introduction of a new HR business partner model at the agency.
The NPIA, formed in April, merged two existing policing bodies which provided police training and technology.
An HR insider told Personnel Today the recruitment drive was a cost-cutting measure.
“As the NPIA is a new organisation there are quite a few positions available that are currently filled by contractors. We’re looking to fill the posts with permanent staff as the contractors are being phased out.”
Christine Cecil, head of HR at the agency, said: “We are currently building an HR team that will be able to deal with the challenges of a brand new organisation, which is going through post-merger activities, while at the same time building a new HR structure that supports and strengthens the business activities.”
Cecil said the reward and strategy manager would harmonise pay and grading structures, drawing together the disparate pay packages of staff brought in from previous bodies under staff transfer regulations, who did not move onto NPIA terms and conditions.
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Business partners will be brought in to “communicate persuasively” with staff, she added. There are 38 HR posts and about 2,000 staff at the NPIA.
The agency scrapped 500 jobs earlier this year using recruitment freezes, voluntary redundancies and by awarding fixed-term contracts rather than permanent ones. The body has an annual budget of £700m, but aims to save £30m in its first year. Angela O’Connor, chief people officer, said at the time: “If we see something not delivering value for money, then we will cut it.”
