Head of Workforce Strategy and Transformation
The National Archives
- Department
- The National Archives
- Location
- London
- Openings
- 1 post
- Grade
- Grade 6
- Salary
- £64,178
- Closing
- 10 days left
- Profession
- Administration
- Contract
- Fixed term
- Security clearance
- BPSS
- Working pattern
- Full-time
Job summary
About the role
As Head of Workforce Strategy and Transformation, you will help shape the people, skills and capabilities The National Archives needs for the future and turn that vision into action. Reporting to the People Director, you will shape and deliver our future workforce plan, connecting our ambitions with practical plans for our people, in line with our strategy and financial plans.
You will bring together performance, talent, leadership development and learning, leading a small specialist team to help people and the organisation grow. Working across organisational boundaries, you will guide complex change, advise senior leaders and use workforce insight to make better decisions. Throughout, your focus will be on making change work for people, with inclusive practice and employee experience at the heart of what you do.
What they’re looking for
- About you
- This role will suit someone who sees the bigger picture and enjoys making things happen. You are curious about how organisations work, thoughtful about what people need to succeed and motivated by turning complex challenges into a clear way forward. Drawing on your experience of workforce strategy, organisational change and developing people services, you will enjoy connecting long-term ambitions with practical improvements that colleagues can see and feel.
- You enjoy bringing people together, building trust and helping others do their best work. You are comfortable exploring the evidence, asking constructive questions and working with senior leaders to find a way forward — then rolling up your sleeves to help deliver it. If you like combining strategic thinking with hands-on leadership, and want to make people development and inclusive change part of everyday organisational life, this could be the role for you.
- Why apply?
- This is a chance to do more than write a strategy: you will help put it into practice. With a remit spanning workforce planning, organisational change and people development, you can connect decisions about our future with the experience of colleagues today. As part of the People, Inclusion and Change Senior Leadership Team, you will work directly with senior decision-makers and fellow heads of department to shape priorities and deliver change together.
- This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department.
- A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.
- Application process:
- We ask all applicants to supply work history details and a supporting statement, not exceeding 1000 words.
- Selection for interview will be based on the Essential Criteria listed below so please ensure that your application demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements.
- Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please visit the Civil Service Careers website where you can find further information on the use of AI in the application guidance section.
- Interviews will be held on-site, w/c 7th December. Candidates invited to interview will be asked to prepare a presentation, details of which will be provided in the interview invitation.
- Essential criteria:
- Significant experience of developing robust workforce strategies and plans in a complex organisation, distilling complex people issues into clear written advice, priorities and recommendations.
- A proven track record of scoping, planning and delivering leading major organisational design or workforce change projects and programmes, and delivering strategic impact for the business.
- Significant experience of developing and delivering services in performance management, talent management, leadership development or learning and development. Including the ability to continuously improve policies, systems and processes.
- A highly credible leader, with the ability to establish clear priorities and empower multidisciplinary teams to achieve challenging outcomes. Including a willingness to flex between strategic and operational issues.
- Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the credibility to influence senior leaders and challenge constructively.
- Strong analytical capability, including the ability to interpret financial, skills and workforce data and turn insight into strategic action.
- The ability to bridge the gap between HR policies and procedures and strategic priorities, developing practical approaches and plans.
Job description
Full job description attached: see below
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Selection process
Reasonable adjustments:
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
- Contact The National Archives via careers@nationalarchives.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
- Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Practise before you apply
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