Head of Apprenticeship Procurement - Birmingham

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. The Central Apprenticeship Service (CAS), part of HMRC's Resourcing, Capability and Workforce Delivery Directorate, plays a critical role in delivering high-quality, strategically aligned apprenticeship programmes across the organisation.

HMRC is entering a critical phase in the evolution of its apprenticeship offer, underpinned by a c.23m annual Apprenticeship Levy investment and a programme of significant scale and complexity. HMRC currently supports over 1,000 apprentices across 42 standards, delivered through a diverse national market of third-party providers. These programmes span Levels 3-6 and support capability building across multiple professions and business areas, from frontline operations to specialist digital, commercial, data and security roles.

We are seeking an experienced and strategic leader to join CAS as Head of Apprenticeship Procurement. This is a pivotal role at a time of transformation, responsible for shaping and delivering a modern, outcome-focused commercial approach to apprenticeship commissioning. The role will lead the design and implementation of a bespoke procurement framework, strengthening commercial governance and driving improved supplier performance across a complex provider landscape.

You will be accountable for ensuring all procurement activity is aligned to HMRC's long-term workforce and capability priorities, supporting the development of critical talent pipelines while delivering value for money and high-quality provision. Working closely with HR, Commercial, Finance and business areas, you will translate workforce demand and skills insights into effective commissioning decisions that balance immediate operational need with long-term strategic outcomes.

As Head of Apprenticeship Procurement, you will play a pivotal senior leadership role in transforming how this substantial public investment is commissioned, contracted and governed across HMRC. The role is central to ensuring that apprenticeship provision directly supports HMRC's strategic priorities, including workforce transformation, critical capability building, digital modernisation and robust security and data assurance, while delivering strong commercial outcomes and demonstrable value for money.

You will lead the implementation of a new, bespoke apprenticeship procurement framework for HMRC, shifting procurement activity from transactional delivery to a strategic, outcome focused commercial model. This will provide coherent oversight of a complex provider landscape, strengthen performance management and assurance, and ensure that apprenticeship contracts are tightly aligned to workforce planning, regulatory requirements and long term organisational need, while maximising use of the Apprenticeship Levy.

Operating at senior level, you will act as HMRC's subject matter expert for apprenticeship procurement, providing strategic leadership for all related commercial activity. You will work in close partnership across HR, Commercial, Digital, Security, Finance, Professions and business areas, influencing at scale to ensure that apprenticeship commissioning supports both immediate operational priorities and HMRC's future capability requirements.

This is a high impact role with genuine autonomy and accountability, offering a senior commercial professional the opportunity to lead a nationally significant programme, manage complex supplier relationships at scale, and make a significant impact at a critical point of organisational and workforce change.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the redesign and implementation of a new bespoke apprenticeship procurement framework for HMRC utilising the different commercial routes to market.
• Provide strategic oversight of all apprenticeship procurement activities across HMRC, ensuring coherence, consistency and alignment with workforce and capability priorities.
• Act as the single point of accountability for apprenticeship procurement across HMRC.
• Develop and own robust commercial specifications, KPIs and SLAs, using data and insight to improve provider performance and assure outcomes.
• Resolve complex commercial issues and escalations, exercising sound judgement in high risk and high profile scenarios.
• Ensure robust commercial governance, due diligence and assurance across all apprenticeship contracts.
• Ownership and strategic oversight of Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and Business Impact Assessment (BIA) for all apprenticeship procurement activity.
• Lead strategic IT assurance responsibility for apprenticeship providers, including data security, system access and alignment with HMRC Chief Digital Information Office (CDIO) standards.
• Partner with HMRC Professions, workforce planners and business areas to translate capability needs into effective apprenticeship commissioning and future forecasting.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders across HMRC, Commercial and central Cabinet Office functions.
• Represent HMRC at cross government forums and with external providers and stakeholders.
• Lead and develop a high performing, multi disciplinary team, setting clear priorities, building capability and fostering a culture of accountability, professionalism and continuous improvement.
• Maintain delivery at pace in a complex, evolving and highly regulated environment.

Essential Criteria

• Significant experience operating and delivering results in complex commercial or procurement environments, ideally within the public sector.
• Proven experience of leading and delivering complex commercial or procurement transformation, with clear evidence of improved outcomes and value.
• Strong understanding of commissioning skills, learning or development provision, including translating workforce need into effective commercial solutions.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to operate credibly at senior and executive level.
• Proven ability to lead high performing teams in complex, high pressure environments, driving pace, maintaining high standards and embedding a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Strong analytical, problem solving and decision making capability, with the confidence to manage risk and ambiguity.

Desirable Criteria

• Knowledge of the Apprenticeship Levy and ESFA funding rules and regulations.
• Experience of working across cross government or large, complex organisations.
• Familiarity with digital, data security or assurance frameworks in a regulated environment.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues' Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary. Family friendly policies. Personal support. Coaching and development.