Head of Strategic Workforce Planning
| Posting date: | 11 September 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £75,026 to £80,267 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 29 September 2025 |
| Location: | Sheffield |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 422758/5 |
Summary
People are at the very heart of what we do. We provide services and support to more than 20 million people every year, ensuring disabled people can live more independent lives; help tackle poverty and homelessness; provide a financial foundation for a secure old age; and support families ensuring children can fulfil their potential.
In DWP we are proud of the services we provide and are already transforming our operations to implement the largest welfare reform programme in a generation and to provide better services for the public. And we’re learning and adapting all the time.
The Department’s position in driving economic outcomes is unique and will only be delivered through our people; enabled by a strong, employee-centric HR function.
The People and Capability Group lead across DWP on all aspects of HR. We do this in support of an organisation that has c85k colleagues working across 980 sites. Our strong focus on team working, strategic influencing and developing professional capability ensures that people working in this function have plenty of opportunities to develop their own networks and career whilst making a real difference in delivering business strategy.
People and Capability have 5 strategic priorities supporting the wider business strategy. One of those priorities is resourcing and rightsizing the organisation; ensuring we are delivering the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time.
The Strategic Workforce Planning Team is one of the teams in Resourcing, Workforce Strategy and Reform and is central to the delivery of both our People and Resourcing Strategy. This high profile role leads the team bringing together cross-cutting functions in areas of resourcing such as long term Strategic Workforce planning and short term Workforce Planning (including tracking, monitoring, reporting and briefing of supply/demand levels and recruitment across the Department); Centre of Expertise and policy/procedure lead for wider workforce resourcing including Contingent labour and Exit Schemes. We use our strategic resourcing expertise and insights drawn from across People and Capability, wider Civil Service and external organisations to innovate, share best practice and make evidence-based continuous improvement in strategic resourcing.
The Head of Strategic Workforce Planning is responsible for working across and through a wide range of stakeholders to ensure DWP has cutting edge frameworks and approaches to our strategic resourcing policies and procedures which are innovative, align with best practice and meet our legal and Civil Service Commission requirements.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading on strategy and approach to Strategic Workforce Plan development for DWP. Maintaining a rolling 5-year Strategic Workforce Plan, you will work proactively interpreting emerging departmental strategy, workforce transformation and operating models and articulate what those changes will mean for the workforce including developing and holding the strategic narrative in relation to the current and future workforce
- Leading on strategy and approach to in year short term Workforce Planning for DWP. Maintaining a 15-month rolling WFP process to ensure that each business area across DWP has in place an approved and affordable WFP
- Leading on exit strategy and providing a centre of expertise on exit governance and scheme development to support the organisation and ensure DWP operates within wider Civil Service Compensation Scheme protocols
- Leading on developing and maintaining a Contingent Labour strategy and providing a centre of expertise on Contingent Labour policy and procedures
- Work collaboratively across the departmental system to take a lead workforce role in key fiscal events (including Spending Review) working with others around the workforce narrative and reviewing other aspects in relation to people impacts
- Work collaboratively with colleagues across DWP in developing options and addressing people issues that support the deployment of other departmental strategies that impact on strategic resourcing e.g. estates strategy to ensure that plans take account of this and wider Civil Service Places for Growth and Plan for London initiatives
- Ensuring DWP’s strategic resourcing policies and procedures are in line with current legislation, are fit for purpose and meet business requirements, with strategic oversight for the development, maintenance and appropriate interpretation and application of policy
- Coordinating key strategic resourcing governance and assurance activity including oversight of departmental supply/demand levels and regular reporting to the departments People and Capacity Board and the Cabinet Office with responsibility for promoting a culture of compliance, keeping the organisation safe and challenging non-compliance at all levels where appropriate
- Building networks and using expertise and insights drawn from across People and Capability, wider Civil Service and external organisations to identify best practice, champion innovation through testing and evaluating new approaches, making evidence-based decisions to continuously improve DWP’s strategic resourcing practices
- Take a lead on building a high performing and highly capable workforce planning community across the department ensuring business embedded and wider People and Capability roles (HRBP’s/Resource Account Managers) have the necessary understanding and capability to lead local workforce and strategic workforce planning activity
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme