Deputy Director of Corporate Strategy & Planning

Job summary

As the Deputy Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning, you will occupy a high-influence leadership position at the intersection of HMRC’s financial strategy and its operational delivery. Sitting within the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Group, you will be the primary architect of the department’s short and long-term business plans.

Your mandate is to ensure that HMRC’s strategic vision is translated into robust, deliverable, and ministerial-approved frameworks. You will serve as a key departmental envoy to HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office, ensuring our five-year rolling plans are expertly coordinated and our performance against strategic objectives is transparently tracked and reported at the highest levels of government.

Job description

Strategic Leadership & Departmental Planning

• Architect of the Business Plan: Lead the end-to-end production of HMRC’s Annual Business Plan. You will ensure the document is a robust, ambitious, and deliverable roadmap that meets the scrutiny of the Executive Committee (ExCom) and the HMRC Board.
• Long-term Strategy & Fiscal Events: Oversee the coordination and maintenance of HMRC’s rolling five-year plan. You will be the primary lead for aligning departmental strategy with HM Treasury (HMT) Spending Reviews and other critical fiscal events.
• CFO Strategic Lead: Act as the Chief Finance Officer’s lead for Strategic Objectives and the Ministerial Remit Letter, ensuring that the department’s financial strategy is inextricably linked to its operational delivery goals.

Directorate Management & Governance

• Senior Leadership Team (SLT) Contribution: As a core member of the FSP SLT, you will provide collective leadership to the directorate, driving a culture of high performance, inclusivity, and continuous improvement.
• Operational Oversight: Lead the FSP Corporate Support function, taking accountability for the directorate’s financial health, recruitment strategy, workforce planning, and sensitive Trade Union liaisons.
• Governance Representation: Deputise for the FSP Director on the HMRC Strategy Committee, providing expert counsel on planning and performance risks.

Stakeholder Engagement & Influencing

• HMT & Cabinet Office Liaison: Serve as the authoritative lead for HMRC’s relationship with central government planning teams, negotiating outcomes that support the department's long-term settlement.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with the Policy and Strategy Group to design the strategic artefacts that inform our plans, ensuring a unified "one-HMRC" approach.
• Strategic Narrative: Work in lockstep with Communications colleagues to translate complex operational data into a compelling narrative for Ministers, the Permanent Secretary, and the public.

Person specification

The successful applicant will need to demonstrate relevant experience and effective delivery of the following essential criteria:

Essential:

Strategic Planning at Scale: Proven experience leading the design and delivery of complex, large-scale corporate plans within a high-profile operational or governmental environment.

Senior Stakeholder Influence: Exceptional ability to navigate multi-disciplinary teams and influence senior leaders (SCS2+) to reach consensus on departmental priorities.

Exemplary Drafting & Communication: Mastery of "Plain English" communication; the ability to distill complex financial and strategic data into high-impact briefings for HMT and Ministerial audiences.

Enterprise Leadership: A collaborative leader who can think beyond their immediate directorate to solve problems and drive delivery across the wider HMRC landscape.

Desirable:

People & Corporate Management: Experience managing diverse teams and corporate functions, including budgets, workforce planning, or industrial relations.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Pension​

Your Civil Service pension is a valuable part of your total reward and is one of your biggest benefits.

When you join the Civil Service, you get access to the alpha pension with a generous employer contribution of 28.97% and some of the lowest member contributions in the public sector.

Please visit https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/memberhub/joining-the-pension-scheme/ for more information.

Annual Leave and Bank Holiday Allowance​

25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service (allowance pro-rata for part-time colleagues).

This is complemented by one days paid privilege leave to mark the King’s Birthday and is in addition to your public holidays.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion ​

The Civil Service values and supports all its employees. At HMRC we want to create great places to work that are welcoming to all – where there is a strong sense of belonging and community.​

We embed inclusion in everything we do. Senior Civil Servants play a crucial role in promoting and maintaining inclusive behaviours, addressing disparities and reporting progress.

Our HMRC equality objectives 2024-2028 describe how we are working to become a more inclusive and representative organisation reflective of our values.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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 see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This campaign is being managed by HMRC’s Executive Resourcing team. All applications should be submitted via Civil Service Jobs no later than 23:55 on Monday 13th April 2026 and must include:

• A CV detailing your career history, key responsibilities and achievements accounting for any employment gaps within the last two years.
• A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 2 pages demonstrating how your experience meets the essential criteria.

Your CV and suitability statement will be assessed against the criteria set out in the person specification. Please include your full name on both documents.

Shortlist

The panel will assess the evidence provided in your CV and statement. Candidates whose applications best meet the essential criteria will be selected for interview.

Assessment

If shortlisted, you will take part in the following assessments:

• Individual Leadership Assessment – a combination of psychometric assessments
• Staff Engagement Exercise – a presentation and Q&A with a representative staff group from across HMRC.

Assessments are designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for further exploration at interview and do not result in a pass or fail decision.

Interview

You will attend a panel interview for a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence. This will include a 5-minute verbal presentation (further information will be issued in advance).

Interviews are expected to take place virtually via Microsoft Teams.

All Criminal Record Checks applications are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Callum Lawn
• Email : scs.resourcing@hmrc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scs.resourcing@hmrc.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

Attachments

SCS1 - Deputy Director of Corporate Strategy & Planning Opens in new window (pdf, 1010kB)