Organisation Development Partner

Closing date: 16 November 2026

Interview dates: 01 and 02 December (in person)

About us

At the Public Service Ombudsman, we make final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved by UK Government departments and the NHS in England. We use what we learn from complaints to help improve public services and complaint handling.

Our culture is open, friendly and supportive. We listen, learn and treat everyone with dignity and respect. Inclusion and wellbeing are important to us, and we want everyone to feel valued, supported and able to thrive.

We work in a flexible way, built on trust and autonomy. You can split your time between home and our Manchester office, spending around 40% of your week in the office to connect and collaborate with colleagues.

Please note that we were formerly known as The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

About the role

Our People team is developing and changing how we deliver our learning, organisational development and workforce capability across the organisation. This role is part of that wider investment in how we support and develop our people and will be part of our people leadership team.

The Organisation Development Partner is a new role, and you will report into the Assistant Director of People to lead the introduction and development of OD capability within the organisation. You will have the opportunity to be creative and put your stamp on how we do things by playing an important role in shaping how we develop our organisation, our people and our culture. The role will help make sure we have the behaviours, skills, leadership and workforce needed to deliver our priorities.

Working closely with the wider people team, senior leaders and colleagues across the organisation, you will turn priorities into practical approaches to workforce planning, organisation design, engagement, culture and talent development. Data and insight will help identify where change is needed and what will make the biggest difference

Building strong relationships will be central to the role. You will work across the People team and with leaders and change teams to support organisational change and strengthen our future capability. This includes helping to shape career pathways, succession planning, leadership, culture and employee engagement.

What we are looking for:

• proven experience of leading organisation development, culture change and/ or organisational effectiveness activities that have driven meaningful impact
• experience of developing and delivering a strategic workforce plan including the ability to advise and influence senior leaders.
• excellent communication skills, including the ability to present information and tell compelling stories to build senior management engagement around a range of people activity.

We recognise the value of lived experience. If you have experience of complaining about any public body, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Our benefits:

• Civil Service Pension scheme
• 32.5 days annual leave (plus bank holidays on top)
• hybrid working, 40% office based
• one day paid volunteering leave per year
• flexible working
• access to a free, confidential Employee Assistance Programme offering 24/7 advice and support from professionals and counsellors
• comprehensive learning and development programme
• employee discount scheme across hundreds of retailers
• bicycle loan scheme
• season ticket loan
• gym membership subsidy in addition to an onsite gym
• paid for professional memberships
• eye test reimbursement.

How to apply (and how to do well)

You will answer three scored questions at application stage. We use these to shortlist and longlist, so your answers matter.

• choose real examples (from professional settings)
• focus on what you did, not what “we” did as a group
• explain your thinking: what you looked at, what you decided, and why
• keep it clear and specific, avoid generic statements

Please do not use AI to write your answers. We need to assess your skills, and applications may be rejected if answers appear AI-generated.

If your examples are very short, mostly opinion-based, or don’t describe a specific situation and outcome, you are unlikely to score well.

Inclusion & Wellbeing

Equality, diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing are vital to the way we work and our culture. We want our colleagues feel included, valued, and supported at work. It is essential that we are representative and accessible for the people who work here and those who use our service.

Actions we take to embed this include:

• an anonymised shortlisting process to make sure it is fair and unbiased
• monitoring the demographic trends in our workforce and making measured, sustained efforts to improve our diversity at all levels
• providing wellbeing support and opportunities for personal and professional development for all colleagues
• creating spaces for connection and engagement through our employee network groups and social clubs
• part of the disability confident scheme
• providing reasonable adjustments
• engaging in regular inclusion learning to enhance the cultural competency of our organisation.

We know the value of having diverse, representative teams across our organisation. Which is why we particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented within the team. These include people who are:

• Asian, Black, Mixed Ethnicity or another ethnic background
• disabled
• LGBTQ.

Contact and important information

If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact Katy Connon, Assistant Director of People, Katy.Connon@ombudsman.org.uk

• Interviews: held onsite
• Feedback: we do not offer feedback at application stage
• Right to work: we can only consider candidates with the right to work in the UK.
• Sponsorship: we are unable to offer sponsorship (we do not have a licence).
• Applications: we do not accept CVs, please apply via the application form (‘apply now’).
• Agencies: no agencies; applications from individuals only.
• Early closure: we may close the advert early if we receive a high volume of applications.
• Salary: non negotiable

Important notice: fraudulent job postings

We have been made aware that some websites are falsely advertising our job vacancies. We only advertise job vacancies through these official channels:

- our website

- LinkedIn

- Civil Service Jobs

- GOV.uk

- Indeed

- Ombudsman association

- BMEjobs.co.uk

- Disabilityjob.co.uk

- Neurodiversityjobs.co.uk

- LGBTjobs.co.uk

Do not share personal details with any other websites claiming to represent us. Contact our recruitment team to report any concerns at recruitment@ombudsman.org.uk