Head of Organisation & Workforce Design

Macmillan Cancer Support; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Job summary

Macmillan Cancer Support is seeking a Head of Workforce and Organisation Design to build and lead a dedicated team, shaping how we plan our workforce and design our structures for the future.

You will develop strategic workforce planning frameworks, operating models and capability roadmaps, partnering with senior leaders to translate data into practical decisions that support our strategy and organisational resilience.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading workforce planning and organisation design initiatives.
• Ability to turn data and insights into actionable recommendations for senior leaders.
• Strong influencing and facilitation skills with credibility to engage executives.
• Collaborative, inclusive leadership to implement new approaches in complex organisations.

Responsibilities

• Lead a high‑performing Workforce and Organisation Design team.
• Develop strategic workforce planning and governance extending 3–5 years.
• Shape organisational structures, operating models and capability frameworks.
• Forecast future skills needs and plan for build, buy, borrow or automate.
• Develop talent and career pathways to support resilience and growth.
• Inform business planning and budgets with data-driven insights.
• Equip leaders with tools to make workforce decisions.

Skills

Strategic workforce planning

Organisation design

Leadership

Data-driven recommendations

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Head of Workforce and Organisation Design

Permanent

Full time (34.5 hours) we are open to a conversation about how you work these hours

Hybrid - Split between home and our London Office Our Hybrid model for this role will mean 1 day per week in the office.

About us

Macmillan Cancer Support exists to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer. To deliver on this ambition, we are creating a Macmillan that is fit for the future with the skills and capabilities needed to help more people living with cancer, and the Head of Workforce and Organisation Design is a pivotal role in this. Macmillan currently has no shared way of planning its workforce or designing its structures. You will build that from scratch. We’re looking for an ambitious Head of Workforce and Organisation who, through strong, engaging and inclusive leadership, will help Macmillan build the capability, structures and ways of working needed to deliver its strategy now and in the future. This is an exciting opportunity to shape how Macmillan plans, develops its people and organises itself to deliver its strategy.

Reporting to the Director of Organisational Effectiveness, you’ll lead a specialist team covering workforce insights, skills and job architecture, and talent and career pathways. Working closely with senior leaders across Macmillan, you’ll turn workforce data and insight into practical decisions that strengthen our organisational effectiveness.

What will you do?

• Lead and empower others, building an inclusive, high-performing Workforce and Organisation Design team
• Build our strategic workforce planning approach, establishing frameworks, governance and a three-to-five-year outlook to anticipate future skills, capability and workforce needs,
• Shape our organisational design, developing structures, operating models, roles and ways of working that enable collaboration and effective delivery.
• Plan for the future of work, helping leaders determine when to build, buy, borrow, broker or automate capabilities, including understanding the impact of AI and emerging technologies.
• Develop our talent and skills frameworks, identifying critical roles, capability gaps, succession needs and career pathways to support organisational resilience and colleague growth.
• Influence strategic decisions, using data, insight and workforce modelling to inform business planning, budgets and investment in people and capabilities.
• Lead and empower others, building an inclusive, high-performing team and equipping leaders across Macmillan with the tools and guidance to make effective workforce decisions.

What will you bring?

You’ll be an experienced leader in strategic workforce planning and organisation design, with a track record of building and embedding new approaches in complex organisations.

You’ll bring:

• Expertise in workforce planning, modelling, forecasting and scenario planning.
• Experience designing organisational structures, operating models and capability frameworks.
• The ability to turn workforce data and insight into clear, evidence-based recommendations.
• Strong influencing and facilitation skills, with the credibility to engage and challenge senior leaders.
• A collaborative, inclusive leadership style and the confidence to create new approaches where no established model exists.

Experience in job architecture, workforce cost modelling, and the impact of AI and automation on future workforce needs would be an advantage.

This is your opportunity to build something that will have a lasting impact. You’ll shape how Macmillan plans its workforce, develops future capabilities and adapts to a changing world, working with leaders across the organisation to turn our strategy into action.

By helping us become a more connected, effective and future-ready organisation, you’ll play an important role in enabling Macmillan to support more people living with cancer.

Recruitment Process

To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed.

We are an organisation that is committed to setting candidates up for success, so we can support you to be at your best during the application or selection process, please contact Macmillan TA Team [e-mail] for advice, or a conversation on reasonable adjustments.

We welcome applications from everyone who meet the criteria and strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Macmillan. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee representation body, ‘Our Voice’ and 8 Employee Network groups help us promote fairness and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.

If you would like to discuss your application or anything further in regards to a career at Macmillan Cancer Support please email us at [e-mail].