Head of Business Change

Job overview

The government has committed to a multi-billion-pound investment in UKHSA’s new laboratory facilities – the most significant investment the UK has made in biosecurity infrastructure in a generation. These state-of-the-art laboratories, to be built at a new site in Harlow, will replace UKHSA’s existing facilities at Porton Down and Colindale and will be critical to the UK’s public health resilience and national security for decades to come.

This decision marks a pivotal moment for UKHSA and the wider government science landscape. The new facility will bring together world-class capability under one roof, enabling cutting-edge research, pandemic preparedness, and the protection of the UK from major biological threats.

We are looking for a Head of Business Change, particularly those with experience of delivering complex transformation and/or Government operational reform, to support the Programme Director For Corporate Transition Delivery, to lead the business change activity across Health Security Campus.

The role is offered as a 6 month fixed term appointment with potential for the extension or conversion to permanent.

Main duties of the job

As Head of Business Change you will lead the strategic design and delivery of business change, proactively preparing the organisation for the impacts of complex and high-risk change initiatives. You will provide a critical bridge between project delivery and the business, ensuring that change is fully integrated into delivery plans, successfully adopted, and that measurable benefits are realised and sustained.

This role is a government project delivery profession role and part of UKHSA’s project delivery resource model. It is aligned to the Project Delivery Capability Framework career pathway Change Manager G6.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The main responsibilities for this role are as follows:

• Lead the development and direction of business change strategy, working with the project manager to deliver the business case benefits and outcomes.
• Develop clear vision and standards, championing the use of best practice business change management standards, tools, and processes.
• Lead change impact assessments and readiness planning, ensuring organisational preparedness for implementation.
• Lead senior stakeholder engagement, building alignment and strong cross-organisational networks. Act as primary point of contact for senior and strategic stakeholders both internally and externally.
• Provide leadership, oversight and coaching to Business Change Managers, ensuring high-quality delivery and integration across projects and programmes.
• Set direction for change communications and engagement strategies, ensuring messaging is clear, consistent and aligned to organisational priorities
• Lead on the design and assurance of the required business change products for the project.
• Own and integrate the business change plan within the overall project/programme plan, ensuring alignment with governance, controls and delivery milestones.
• Lead the creation and management of the business readiness criteria across the project, playing a key role in governance decisions to ‘approve/refuse’ go-live.
• Own and drive benefits realisation across the project, ensuring change activities are explicitly linked to outcomes, with clear measures of adoption and success
• Use data and digital tools to drive insight-led change, ensuring effective tracking of impacts, risks and adoption of new ways of working.
• Provide assurance on the effectiveness of change approaches, ensuring alignment with governance standards and contributing to programme and portfolio reporting.
• Be an active member of the UKHSA Project Delivery Profession Community.

The job holder will be supported to work towards achieving Government Project Delivery Accreditation where they do not already hold this.

This is not an exhaustive list.

Essential criteria

• An expert in business change and implementation with extensive experience leading business change in complex project or programme environments.
• Strong expertise in benefits management, with the ability to define, measure and drive realisation of outcomes.
• A visible leader experienced in engaging, influencing and challenging effectively at a senior level.
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills, with experience of managing complex stakeholder environments and working across organisational boundaries.
• Good understanding and experience of the planning and the scheduling of projects, governance, assurance and risk and issue management.
• Working knowledge and experience of business case development, requirements management and change control.
• Ability to use digital tools and data analytics to inform and drive change, and to communicate clearly, persuasively and appropriately to diverse audiences.

Selection Process

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your behaviours, experience and technical skills.

Stage 1: Application & Sift

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 7 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of:

• an application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
• a 1000 word supporting statement.

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria. You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your C.V –please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible). Please do not email us your CV.

Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist into 3 piles of:

• Meets all essential criteria
• Meets some essential criteria
• Meets no essential criteria

Only those meeting all essential criteria will be taken through to shortlisting. Shortlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will shortlist on:

• An expert in business change and implementation with extensive experience leading business change in complex project or programme environments

Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your supporting statement must be no more than 1000 words. We will not consider any words over1000 words.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview and assessment.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview

You will be invited to a remote via MS Teams.

Behaviours, Project Delivery Technical Knowledge and experience will be tested at interview.

Behaviours:

• Leadership (Lead)
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical and Experience:

• Project Delivery technical knowledge and experience will be assessed through technical questioning.

Interview dates are to be confirmed.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Location (Hybrid)

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQs in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool or London (Canary Wharf).

We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, averaged over a month) on-site.

Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).

Security clearance level requirement

Part 1

Successful candidates must pass a basic Disclosure and Barring Security (DBS) check before they can be appointed.

Part 2

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Security Check clearance.

For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years to obtain Security Check (SC) clearance. UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting at this higher level and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

Salary information

If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.

Please be aware that the salary is based on the office location.

Grade 6

• £70,797-£81,450 (National)
• £72,950- £83,443 (Outer London)
• £75,104- £85,436 (Inner London