Strategic Workforce Planning Manager in Manchester

This role sits in our People and Workplace directorate which brings together our HR, Property and Security functions as part of the wider Corporate Services Group.

We are a friendly team responsible for enabling Organisational Effectiveness through the delivery of our DCMS People Strategy. We help DCMS leaders understand their ‘current state’, and work towards a desired ‘future state’, identifying issues and opportunities, and effectively supporting and facilitating people, teams and the organisation through change. We are a team of 10 HR professionals with a range of experience and skills in delivering and embedding successful change; from being the custodian of our People Strategy, to setting and delivering changes to the size, shape and profile of our workforce, enabling our people to thrive and able to deliver our organisational priorities.

Our team culture is rooted in living the DCMS values every day. We are passionate about delivering our very best to support the organisation’s success, and we recognise that each of us plays an important role in making that happen. By “Working as One,” we bring together our diverse knowledge, skills, and professional expertise, collaborating openly and respectfully to achieve shared goals.

Our Strategic Workforce Planning Manager supports the delivery of our Workforce Strategy by taking a medium and longer-term look to anticipate the future size, shape and skill requirements of our workforce. We examine the current workforce to identify gaps, and develop interventions to ensure DCMS can achieve its long-term strategic goals. You will report into the Strategic Workforce Planning Lead to specifically lead on:

• Strategic Workforce Modeling: Collaborate with process owners to design, build, and maintain sophisticated workforce models that forecast workforce requirements and support long-term resourcing strategies.
• Reporting: Lead workforce reporting by confidently analysing, designing and delivering insights to Senior Leaders to drive informed decision-making and ensuring high accuracy across all reporting commissions.
• Continuous Improvement: Spearhead the development of in-year workforce management capabilities, including the creation of bespoke tools and guidance to ensure the size of our workforce is managed effectively.
• Trend Analysis: Take a lead to proactively identify emerging workforce trends and potential risks, providing the data-driven foundation for strategic planning and mitigation.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Cultivate strong alliances with Finance and Strategy teams to ensure a unified approach to workforce and organisational strategy.

Strategic Workforce Planning forms part of the Civil Service HR career framework.

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience, please note that desirable skills will only be used in the event of tied candidates:

• Data handling: Confident using Excel and other digital tools (e.g. Power BI) to create tools for modelling, forecasting, and analysis.
• Collaboration: Able to build strong relationships and work effectively with colleagues and partners to understand complex workforce models/processes, and translate into key tools and templates and link with other people processes.
• Data Insight: Skilled at interpreting data to spot trends, able to present data in a range of ways, and provide advice to support decision-making. Able to link a range of workforce data to inform workforce planning.
• Planning and Problem-Solving: Organised, proactive, and able to find solutions when working with different stakeholders.
• Experience supporting and leading elements of workforce planning inc. forecasting.
• CIPD Qualified at level 3, 5 or 7 and/or relevant qualification in Strategic Workforce Planning. If not, a willingness towards achieving CIPD qualification at level 5 would be required.
• Experience of using Power BI or similar tools.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Ryan Lacey, and will take place on:

14:00 on Monday 9th March 2026

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form by 8th March at 4pm and you will be sent an invitation. Invites will only be sent after this deadline has passed.

Please note that the session will not be recorded and will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to resourcing.team@dcms.gov.uk

We will assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form.