Head of Operational Technical Training
Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity to lead HM Land Registry’s nationally recognised Land Registration Academy (LRA) - a multi-award-winning technical training function at the heart of building the skills, confidence and professional capability needed to deliver a world-class land registration service.
Reporting to the Head of Service Delivery for Workforce Planning and the Land Registration Academy, you will shape the next chapter of the Academy’s development - setting the strategic direction for operational technical training, modernising how learning is designed and delivered, and ensuring colleagues across HM Land Registry have the expertise to deliver consistently high-quality outcomes for customers.
You will work with senior leaders, Organisation and Employee Development partners, operational colleagues and expert technicians to connect training directly to organisational priorities, operational demand, professional standards and changing future capability needs.
Building on a strong record of national recognition including Royal recognition through the Princess Royal Training Award 2025, professional accreditation and innovation in learning and development - you will lead a talented & committed, geographically dispersed Academy team to take an already successful function to the next level.
This role calls for a visible, inclusive and ambitious leader who can champion excellence, use evidence and learning technology to drive improvement, and inspire others to build a stronger, more confident and future-ready Service Delivery workforce.
Check out the video below to see what it is like working for our Service Delivery directorate and refer to the job description for further information.
Job description
Leadership and Vision
- Lead the Land Registration Academy as Service Delivery’s national technical training function, setting a clear vision and strategic direction for the design, planning and delivery of high-quality land registration training across HM Land Registry.
- Partner with Organisation and Employee Development to connect Service Delivery technical training with organisational learning strategy, professional standards, learning technology, data and evaluation.
- Act as a senior ambassador for the Academy, championing its vision, standards, people and outcomes, and embedding a culture of learning, professionalism and continuous improvement.
- Inspire, motivate and develop colleagues to deliver high standards within an inclusive, professional and collaborative working environment.
Learning Design and Training
- Modernise training design and maintain delivery so provision meets current and future operational, statutory and departmental requirements, with robust assurance and professional standards
- Lead large-scale training needs analysis, curriculum design and learning prioritisation, ensuring interventions are evidence-led, targeted and aligned to current and future capability requirements.
- Strengthen the Academy team’s resilience, skills and expertise so capacity is focused on frontline delivery demands and improved customer outcomes.
Management and Operations
- Lead and be accountable for the delivery of land registration skills across Service Delivery, using clear measures to balance performance, quality, learner outcomes and organisational impact.
- Lead Technical Development Leads as Service Delivery business partners, providing second-line management for Technical Development Managers and SEO trainers while identifying talent, developing current and future capability.
- Establish the foundations for service-wide skills assessment, using evidence to inform workforce planning, targeted interventions and improved operational performance.
Engagement and communication
- Collaborate with Organisation and Employee Development partners, Service Delivery leaders and senior technicians to deliver shared outcomes and improve learner and service impact.
- Lead senior colleagues through complex discussions, constructively challenge where needed, expose and resolve points of difference, and enable decisions that support progress and delivery.
- Work with the Head of Operational Development to maximise the impact of the Academy’s expertise and support development beyond formal qualification pathways.
- Influence wider workforce strategy by making technical skills requirements clear, transparent and connected to strategic change programmes, supporting effective decision-making
- Develop effective two-way communication with Service Delivery leaders, Academy colleagues, HR and OED, Practice and Trade Union teams to clarify roles, build confidence and optimise its contribution to customer outcomes.
Person specification
To be successful in this role you will have the below experience:
- Experience of setting strategic direction for training or professional capability development, ensuring learning provision meets current and future operational needs
- Experience & understanding of leading learning in an operational or statutory/regulatory environment, with the ability to partner & translate this into effective learning design, learning solutions, guidance, and capability development.
- Able to shape and instil a strong culture of collaboration, learning and continuous improvement, promoting high standards in training and supporting the organisation’s values.
- Experience of exercising judgement and making evidence-based decisions on complex and sensitive people matters relating to learning priorities, capability, service needs and organisational impact.
- Experience of leading and delivering results through others, engaging and influencing senior stakeholders to build capability, secure buy-in for learning priorities, and drive continuous improvement in training.
- Experience of working with and influencing a wide range of stakeholders, including senior leaders, subject matter experts and operational colleagues, to develop and deliver a strategically aligned training offering.
- Ability to analyse performance, learning and service data to make evidence-based and pragmatic decisions, identify capability gaps, and improve the effectiveness and impact of training.
Due to the nature of the role regular travel to other HM Land Registry offices will be required, including some overnight stays.
Please note, due to the nature of the role and the significant leadership duties you will be required to work a minimum of 30 hours per week in this post.
For more information about the role and the full Person Specification, please see the attached Job Description.
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Experience of leading multi-site learning activity, developing high-performing outcomes through training, learning design & capability-focused teams in a complex and changing environment.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £61,923, HM Land Registry contributes £17,939 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).#WeAreHMLR
At HM Land Registry our vision is a world leading property market as part of a thriving economy and a sustainable future. We are unique in terms of the economic and social impacts of our work, our ability to make a positive difference to the lives of our customers, our sense of mission, and our great people. They are the foundation of all we have achieved and all we aspire to in the future. We want our people to feel proud to work for HM Land Registry and able to fulfil their full potential.
We have a strong and positive culture, a commitment to inclusivity, an emphasis on continuous learning and development, and flexible ways of working. We offer competitive pay and annual leave, attractive pension options and a wide range of other benefits.
- We have integrity – we value honesty, trust and doing the right thing in the right way.
- We drive innovation – we are forward-thinking, embrace change and are continually improving our processes.
- We are professional – we value and grow our knowledge and professional expertise.
- We give assurance – we guarantee our services and provide confidence to the property market.
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 vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.To apply, you will need to complete the short application form and copy and paste your CV onto the online application form detailing your qualifications and work history.
Your CV will be assessed against the essential technical and experience criteria detailed in the attached Job Description.
The Technical Criteria section (in no more than 250 words) should be used to demonstrate how you meet the following essential Technical Criteria.
- Experience of leading multi-site learning activity, developing high-performing outcomes through training, learning design & capability-focused teams in a complex and changing environment.
The Personal Statement section (in no more than 500 words) should be used to outline your wider skills and experience for the role and detail how you meet the essential experience criteria listed below:
- Experience of setting strategic direction for training or professional capability development, ensuring learning provision meets current and future operational needs
- Experience & understanding of leading learning in an operational and complex environment, with the ability to partner & translate this into effective learning design, learning solutions, guidance, and capability development.
- Able to shape and instil a strong culture of collaboration, learning and continuous improvement, promoting high standards in training and supporting the organisation’s values.
In the event of a high volume of applications for this vacancy, an initial sift will be conducted on the lead Technical Criteria listed above and a full sift only carried out on those applications that pass the initial sift stage.
Please review your application form before clicking ‘submit’ – once you have submitted, you will not be able to amend your application. Ensure your application form is received by the closing date for receipt of applications – this is 23:55pm on the advertised date.
The sift will take place shortly after the closing date. If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to attend a Face to Face interview which will include a presentation or short exercise, interviews will take place week commencing 3rd August 2026. Further details will be provided on invitation to interview.
The blended interview will assess the essential technical skills and experience listed in the Job Description.
The desirable criteria will be only be assessed in the event of a tie break at the interview stage.
Candidates may refer to notes within their interview, but they should be used as a prompt only.
HMLR is accredited to the Disability Confident Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria at the shortlisting stage may be invited to attend an interview. If you require the panel to consider a reasonable adjustment or there is anything else you would like the panel to take into consideration, you are asked to notify us of this at application stage where possible or during the process as soon as it becomes a requirement.
Visa Sponsorship
Please note that we will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa where a role is in a certain business critical category. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a skilled worker visa.
You must ensure you have the appropriate right to work in the UK before applying.
You can find more information on how we use your personal data on our website.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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
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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : Jeff Saunders
- Email : Jeff.Saunders@landregistry.gov.uk
Recruitment team
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance to the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email hrresourcingteam2@landregistry.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from HM Land Registry then you may take your complaint to the Civil Service Commission: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/making-complaint/Attachments
Head of Technical Training G7 Job Description Opens in new window (pdf, 190kB)Service Delivery Candidate Pack 2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 1669kB)Salary range
- £61,923 per year