Head of Capability and Talent
| Posting date: | 30 July 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £72,664 to £77,740 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 13 August 2025 |
| Location: | Manchester, Greater Manchester, M2 3LR |
| Company: | DWP Digital |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 416430_1753877858 |
Summary
Pay up to £77,740, plus 28.97% employer pension contributions, hybrid working, flexible hours, and great work life balance.
DWP. Digital with Purpose.
We are seeking a strategic and driven individual to lead our Capability and Talent function within one of the UK's largest government departments.
As Head of Capability and Talent, you will play a pivotal role in delivering DWP Digital's people strategy-ensuring we attract, develop, and retain the digital talent needed now and in the future. You will lead initiatives that align digital capability priorities with wider departmental objectives, contributing directly to our long-term success.
The Capability and Spaces Team is central to building a high-performing, inclusive culture. We support professional communities and create exceptional working environments that enable our people to thrive.
This role requires strong leadership, excellent stakeholder engagement, and proven experience in managing complex projects. You will work collaboratively across DWP, the wider Civil Service, and external partners to ensure our approach to talent and capability is coherent, future-focused, and impactful.
Delivering with People.
In this strategic leadership role, you'll shape and deliver the digital talent and capability agenda, ensuring our workforce is equipped for both current and future challenges. Leading a multi-disciplinary team, you'll drive the implementation of the Digital People Strategy, aligning it with departmental and cross-government priorities.
Your remit will include overseeing the Digital Academy and a range of talent development programmes, from apprenticeships to Fast Stream placements, while managing key capability tools and ensuring effective use of the learning and development budget. You'll work closely with senior leaders to provide expert advice, build strong partnerships, and ensure our approach to talent is coherent, inclusive, and impactful. This role also involves managing supplier performance and ensuring external services meet the evolving needs of the organisation.
What skills, knowledge and experience will you need? How will this be assessed? How will this be assessed?
Our application process includes both a technical statement and a personal statement. This is your opportunity to showcase clear examples and evidence of how you meet the following:
Behavioural Statement:
- Substantial experience of developing and delivering against a capability and people strategy within a large and complex organisation, including shaping strategic direction, aligning initiatives with organisational goals, and driving sustainable change.
Personal Statement:
- Proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams in a dynamic, fast-paced environment, fostering a culture of inclusion, innovation, and high performance. Skilled in setting strategic direction and motivating teams to deliver complex capability and talent initiatives aligned to organisational goals.
- Strong track record of building and maintaining collaborative relationships with senior leaders, cross-functional teams, and external partners, acting as a strategic liaison for capability and talent matters.
- Demonstrated expertise in using capability and talent data to inform decision-making, track progress against strategic objectives, and drive continuous improvement.
- Substantial experience in leading and delivering complex, cross-cutting projects using recognised project management methodologies, skilled in managing risk, dependencies, and change, with a focus on delivering outcomes that support long-term capability and talent development.
The sift panel will use the information in your employment history, personal statement, and behavioural statement to assess your experience, skills and knowledge, with an initial sift conducted against the behavioural statement.
Details. Wages. Perks.
Location: You'll join us in one of our brilliant digital hubs in Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle or Sheffield, whichever is most convenient for you.
Hybrid Working: We work a hybrid model - you'll spend some time working at home and some time collaborating face to face in a hub.
Pay: We offer competitive pay of up to £77,740.
Pension: You'll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions worth 28.97%.
Holidays: A generous leave package starting at 26 days rising to 31 days over time.
You can also take up to 3 extra days off a month on flexi-time. You'll also get all the usual public holidays.
We have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:
- An award-winning environment and culture: Employer of the Year 2023 (Women In IT Awards), Founders Award for Outstanding Digital Leadership 2023 (Digital 100)
- Flexible working including flexible hours and flex-friendly policies
- Time off volunteering and charitable giving
- Bring your authentic self to work with 'I Can Be Me in DWP'
- Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more
- Interest-free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket, so it's even easier for you to get to work and start making a difference
- Sports and social activities
- Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.
Process:
We know your time is valuable so our application and selection process is just two stages:
- Apply: complete your application on Civil Service Jobs. There'll be full instructions when you click through.
- Interview: a single stage interview online.
CLICK APPLY for more information and to start your application.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme