Job Description

Purpose of the role

To develop, implement, and maintain the employee relations policies and procedures of the business. This includes ensuring that policies are compliant with all applicable laws and regulations, and that they align with the overall business strategy and values.

Accountabilities

Employee relations policies and procedures development, implementation, and maintenance, aligning these to all applicable laws, regulations and the overall business strategy.
Collaboration with other HR departments to ensure that all policies are integrated and consistent.
Guidance for HR teams on interpretation of employee relations policies.
Employee relations training programmes, including, including development, implementation and monitoring.

Vice President Expectations

To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others..
OR for an individual contributor, they will be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.

In this HR Policy Specialist role, you will act as a subject‑matter expert for HR policy and people journeys, supporting a programme focused on enhancing the people leader experience across the employee lifecycle. You will design, review and maintain HR policies and the journeys beneath them, with particular emphasis on supporting, absence and leaving journeys. Working closely with journey experts and programme teams, you will provide additional capacity during a critical project period, contributing to both programme delivery and ongoing support for the HR journey team.

You will interpret and embed UK employment legislation, including ongoing legislative change, ensuring policies and journeys remain legally compliant and well‑controlled. The role includes advising on policy exceptions and complex queries, identifying and managing risks. Operating at pace and to tight timelines, you will collaborate across HR and partner functions to deliver a demanding book of work while balancing legal, governance and business priorities. The ideal candidate will bring HR policy experience, deep UK employment knowledge, CIPD (or equivalent) qualification or experience, and a collaborative mindset.

To be successful as a HR Policy Specialist – 9 Months Full Time Contract, you should have experience with:

Proven experience in HR, policy development or end‑to‑end journey design.
Ability to collaborate effectively across teams and deliver at pace against tight timelines.
Desirable: Knowledge of UK employment law, with experience interpreting and embedding legislative change.
Desirable: CIPD qualification or equivalent practical experience in an HR policy or specialist role.

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role is located within either our Glasgow or Northampton office.