Business Change Manager

About UCAS

UCAS is at the heart of connecting people to higher education. UCAS is the world’s leading shared admissions service for higher education. We provide application services for UK universities and colleges as well as delivering a wide range of research, consultancy and advisory services to schools, colleges, careers services, professional bodies and employers. We’re a successful and fast-growing organisation, which helps hundreds of thousands of people every year. We’re committed to delivering a first-class service to all of our customers — they’re at the heart of everything we do.

The purpose of our People and Change team is to motivate and mobilise our people to deliver organisational change, enabling us to stay ahead of customer expectations and provide exceptional service. We aim to create an environment which brings together diverse thinking, passion and expertise to work together in delivering our mission and strategy. We shape the culture and ways of working, identify and hire the right capabilities and talent, help people use their strengths and potential to learn and grow, and measure and monitor success so we know our work is having a positive impact. We want UCAS to be a great employer where colleagues are enabled to reach their fullest potential and our team is at the heart of this ambition.

About the role

To lead and deliver change management activities for assigned programmes and projects, ensuring impacted stakeholders are ready, willing, and able to adopt new processes, systems, and ways of working. The role focuses on embedding change effectively to realise intended business benefits and minimise disruption.

• Develop and implement tailored change management plans for specific programmes and projects, including stakeholder engagement, communications, training, and adoption strategies.
• Conduct change impact assessments and readiness evaluations to identify risks and mitigation strategies.
• Work closely with project managers, business analysts, and internal communications to ensure alignment between project delivery and change adoption activities.
• Design and deliver effective communication plans to keep stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the change lifecycle.
• Facilitate workshops and engagement sessions to build understanding and commitment to change.
• Support business areas in preparing for and transitioning to new processes or systems, ensuring smooth handover to BAU teams post-implementation.
• Monitor and report on change adoption, benefits realisation, and stakeholder feedback, proactively supporting the business on change ownership and adoption, escalating issues where necessary.
• Capture lessons learned and contribute to continuous improvement of change management practices across the organisation.

Skills, qualifications, and experience

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience in a business or business psychology-related discipline.
• Professional change management certification (e.g., PROSCI, ADKAR) or equivalent experience.
• Proven experience in delivering change management activities within programmes or projects, ideally involving technology and business process change.
• Strong understanding of change management principles, methodologies, and tools.
• Ability to take a forward-looking, proactive approach, actively scanning for risks, opportunities, and emerging needs.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and build relationships at all levels.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work under pressure to meet deadlines.
• Skilled in presenting complex information clearly and engagingly to diverse audiences.

Package

• 30 days annual leave (plus 3 concessionary days over Christmas and your bank holidays!)
• Flexibility – UCAS positively supports Hybrid working for its employees, meaning you can work between home and the office in a way that suits you and the business and also has a comprehensive Flexible Working Policy.
• Hundreds of high street discounts and offers with Perkbox.
• Internal training and development.
• Subsidised gym and café.
• Be rewarded for going above and beyond with our ex-gratia bonus scheme and Celebrating U, our quarterly employee recognition scheme.
• Dedicated volunteer employee networks promoting wellbeing, awareness and inclusion.

Studies have shown that some groups of people are less likely to apply to a role unless they tick every box. At UCAS we recognise that talent comes in various forms and we are committed to delivering a fair and equitable recruitment process where applicants have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills. So, if you think you have what it takes, but don’t necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still apply.

If you have any questions and would like to find out more about the role before applying please email the Talent Acquisition team via careers@ucas.ac.uk and one of us will be in touch.