Business Change Specialist

Health Research Authority; Nottingham; Remote; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading health research organisation is seeking a Business Change Specialist to facilitate changes associated with the Research Systems Programme. The role involves stakeholder engagement, readiness assessments, and developing tailored change plans to support effective implementation of digital services. Ideal candidates will have strong analytical, planning, and interpersonal skills, along with a commitment to inclusivity and diversity.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Commitment to an inclusive workplace

Qualifications

• Experience of planning/managing business change and implementation in a project or non-project environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills; able to engage effectively in conflicting situations.
• Commitment to inclusivity and valuing diversity.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with Business Change Managers to assess stakeholder impacts.
• Engage stakeholders on service changes and support effective planning.
• Contribute to change plans for diverse user groups.

Skills

Collaborative style

Planning skills

Analytical skills

Excellent communication skills

Problem-solving skills

Education

Undergraduate degree or equivalent work experience

Postgraduate diploma/modules in change or organisational development

Job description

The Business Change Specialist is responsible for delivering business change activities that enable internal teams and external stakeholders to adopt and embed changes associated with the Research Systems Programme. The role owns and leads discrete business change deliverables--readiness assessments, stakeholder engagement, adoption interventions, and early-life support--and operates with a high degree of autonomy to ensure the successful transition from legacy systems to new digital services.

This role is part of a fast-paced, iterative programme to build a user-centred digital service and achieve a successful transition from current systems (IRAS, HARP and TOPS). The programme will: connect processes for health and social care research in the UK; make the UK a great place to do research that people can trust; and help people collaborate to plan, approve, set up, manage and complete research.

This post is designed specifically to support and deliver the business change activity required to enable implementation of the new digital service

What you’ll do

We’re after someone who knows how to land change in the real world -- in messy, multi-agency, complex settings. You’ll bring:

A collaborative style that builds trust and engagement across boundaries

Practical skills in planning, readiness assessment, and user-focused change adoption

A structured, methodical approach rooted in recognised change methodologies

Interviews will take place week commencing 15th Dec

Main duties of the job

Work closely with Business Change Managers/Leads and the Chief Business Transformation Officer to review stakeholder impacts through agile development and provide data for readiness assessments.

Engage and advise internal/external stakeholders on upcoming service, system and process changes, supporting effective planning and adoption.

Work with the Communications & Engagement Manager to maintain the business change communications plan, drafting targeted content.

Contribute to the development and agreement of change plans for different user groups, ensuring they are tailored, inclusive and aligned with product/service delivery.

Support the Benefits Manager, Project Manager and stakeholders to identify and leverage benefits.

Develop and/or advise on the creation of required business change products, engaging relevant end users.

Co‑develop support materials with Communications, Learning & Development and Guidance teams to ensure products are accessible and timed to need.

Collate data and reports to support Business Change Leads/Managers in preparing and updating business readiness criteria ahead of implementation.

About us

Working at the HRA, we are reminded daily of how important life is. As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for you, not just us and the work we do.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know from experience that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger, more creative workplace that helps us to deliver the best services. We welcome applications which represent the rich diversity of our community: age, disability, gender identity and expression, ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and other diverse characteristics, and we have policies in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process.

When applying to work here, speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement - if it works for us, we will do our best to make it work for you.

Please note, if applying to our Manchester, Nottingham or Bristol locations, we are only able to offer the role as home based.

Job responsibilities

This role sits within the HRA Approvals Service directorate, which consists of various teams that all work together to provide the appropriate approval for health research in England and, for some applications, across the UK. This directorate is responsible for:-Delivering HRA Approval-Supporting the Confidentiality Advisory Group and advising on the use of confidential patient information without consent-Working to refine the systems and processes researchers need to follow to ensure a swift, robust and simple experience-Providing guidance to applicants-Providing training-Working collaboratively with external partners to improve the research environment To find out more and to understand the full duties of the role, please refer to the job description attached.In submitting your application with us, please note the following:We currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies.We do not hold a sponsorship licence and are unable to offer employment under any sponsorship arrangement.Where applicants fail to demonstrate how they meet any one of the essential criteria of the person specification, the application will not be shortlisted. You will be considered based only on the information in your application form. CVs will not be considered.The HRA reserves the right to close this vacancy early should it receive a sufficient number of applications.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• An undergraduate degree or equivalent work experience.
• Postgraduate diploma or modules in change, organisational development or project delivery, or equivalent depth of specialist experience gained in business change within a digital or service transformation context

Knowledge, Skills and Expertise

• Knowledge of the UK health and care/research environment and governance (HRA, MHRA, RECs, DA partners).

Experience

• Delivery of business change/adoption interventions and readiness activities
• Evidence-based reporting, through papers/briefings tailored to audience
• Collaborative planning/delivery of structured change interventions; user adoption of new services/systems/processes
• Planning/delivery/evaluation of training or engagement activities in the public sector
• Awareness of agile/iterative delivery and integration with product teams

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

• Developed analytical/judgement/interpersonal skills; able to source, interpret and share insights
• Able to synthesise complex information for evidence-based outputs

Interpersonal Skills

• Confident engaging where views conflict; uses diplomacy/negotiation; able to say no appropriately

Knowledge, Skills and Expertise

• Experience of planning/managing business change and implementation in a project or non-project environment.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; able to convey complex information clearly to different audiences
• Excellent organisational skills; able to manage competing priorities

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

• Strong problem-solving and analysis; uses feedback to plan and report

Interpersonal Skills

• High personal drive, initiative and adaptability; strong team ethos and respect for others

Other

• Commitment to inclusivity and valuing diversity

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.