Head of Strategic Workforce Planning & Insights

Job summary

The role

• Establish and lead the development and embedding of HMRC’s enterprise‑wide strategic workforce planning and insights capability
• Align workforce capacity, capability and cost with HMRC’s long‑term strategic objectives
• Establish strategic workforce planning as a core business planning discipline, enabling the organisation to anticipate future demand, evolving roles and skills, and workforce risks

Job description

Using data and insight to shape strategy

• Translate business strategy and transformation programmes into clear workforce, capability and capacity implications
• Use internal and external data, insight and scenario modelling to identify workforce risks and opportunities and support organisational resilience
• Inform integrated investment decisions across resourcing, learning, talent management and organisational design
• Provide forward looking intelligence to inform decisions.

Skills, roles and future workforce design

• Develop and implement a strategic workforce capability plan, establishing a robust workforce baseline
• Lead work analysis and job decomposition to inform future role design, capability frameworks and role families
• Embed and monitor HMRC’s workforce location strategy in support of the Government’s Place Agenda

Tools, governance and systems

• Design and implement enterprise‑wide tools, methodologies, processes and governance for strategic workforce planning
• Oversee the production of high‑quality workforce intelligence and ensure insights are translated into clear, actionable recommendations for senior leaders
• Ensure workforce planning requirements are embedded within ERP‑enabled people systems, including job architecture, position management, skills data and workforce reporting
• Establish standards, metrics and reporting frameworks to measure the effectiveness of workforce strategies

Leadership and organisational capability

• Advise senior leaders on workforce decision viability and ability to challenge assumptions based on data. Shape transformation decisions and provide options and trade-offs
• Build and lead a high‑performing, multidisciplinary strategic workforce planning function providing strong team leadership
• Lead on establishing a deep strategic partnership with Finance to align workforce costs and capability investment planning
• Strengthen workforce planning capability across HMRC through collaboration with Finance, HR, Talent, Learning and senior business leaders

Person specification

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

Essential experience

• Senior leadership experience in strategic workforce planning, workforce strategy or large‑scale organisational workforce transformation
• A proven track record of embedding workforce planning as a core business‑planning discipline, not solely an HR or reporting activity
• Demonstrable experience translating organisational strategy into clear workforce, capability, capacity and cost implications
• Strong expertise in workforce analytics, scenario planning, supply and demand modelling and use of workforce insight to inform decision‑making
• Experience influencing and advising at executive level, working across Finance, HR, Talent, Learning and senior business stakeholders
• Experience leading complex, multidisciplinary teams and delivering outcomes in a large, complex organisation

Desirable experience

• Experience of work decomposition, future‑of‑work analysis or workforce impact modelling
• Experience integrating workforce planning with financial planning, transformation portfolios or ERP‑enabled people systems
• A relevant qualification or professional certification in analytics, data science, strategic workforce planning, or a related discipline, or clear evidence of equivalent expertise gained through senior‑level experience.

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 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 18th May 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.

HMRC is a Disability Confident leader and guarantees to interview candidates applying under the Disability Confident Scheme who successfully meet the minimum selection criteria outlined in the person specification.

Assessment

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

• Individual Leadership Assessment – a combination of psychometric assessments

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.recruitment@hmrc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scs.recruitment@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 - Head of Strategic Workforce Planning & Insights Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1135kB)