Head of Strategic Projects

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and London Borough of Wandsworth; City Of London; On-site; GBP 72,000 - 88,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

40 days annual leave

Flexible working

Generous pension plan

Job summary

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and London Borough of Wandsworth is seeking a senior leader to head strategic HR projects. This fixed-term role focuses on pay strategy, equal pay and organisational redesign, engaging a wide range of stakeholders to ensure governance and delivery.

You will report to the Assistant Director of HR and drive high-profile workforce initiatives, delivering sustainable improvements while strengthening HR capability and knowledge transfer across teams.

Qualifications

• Chartered CIPD membership and deep knowledge of public sector pay policy.
• Expertise in HR systems and using data to solve business challenges.
• High proficiency in manipulating large data sets to inform policy and strategy.
• Experience working with senior leaders to resolve complex workforce issues, including at Board level.
• Experience managing relationships with employee representatives in contentious situations.
• Excellent judgement, analysis and problem-solving balancing evidence, risk and fairness.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and delivery of high-profile workforce, organisational redesign, employee experience and HR improvement programmes.
• Develop and implement fair pay strategy aligned with collective bargaining and NJC requirements.
• Design and deliver a proportionate equal pay programme based on audit findings and risk considerations.
• Redesign HR support for Richmond schools in partnership with Achieving for Children.
• Provide strategic leadership and governance for HR projects with senior-level stakeholders.
• Promote capability development and ensure knowledge transfer with sustainable arrangements.

Skills

Public sector pay policy

HR systems & data analytics

Data-driven policy development

senior stakeholder engagement

union relationship management

risk assessment & judgement

Education

Chartered CIPD membership

Job description

Head of Strategic Projects
£72,468 – £88,374 per annum
Fixed Term or Secondment (9 months)
Full Time (36 hours)
Office based 3 days per week
Wandsworth, London

Can you provide senior strategic capability for critical strategic HR development work collaborating with a range of stakeholders?

Reporting to the Assistant Director of HR, you will lead the design and delivery of high-profile workforce, organisational redesign, employee experience and HR improvement programmes, ensuring that strategic people initiatives are planned, governed and implemented effectively.

About the role

Fair and sustainable pay strategy: Develop the organisational pay strategy and new pay progression arrangements, ensuring they are affordable, equitable and aligned with collective bargaining, NJC and job evaluation requirements. This will include benchmarking pay across other local authorities and leading consultation with senior leaders and trade unions.

Equal pay:Design and deliver a proportionate programme of work in response to the findings of the equal pay audit, using sound judgement to balance evidence, fairness and organisational risk. You will advise and engage senior stakeholders, including the Chief Executive and Executive Director of Finance, while managing sensitive trade union relationships.

Redesign HR support: Develop a coherent and sustainable model of HR support for Richmond schools in partnership with key stakeholders and Achieving for Children. The model will meet the needs of maintained schools while supporting the Council to fulfil its statutory and regulatory responsibilities.

Strategic leadership and delivery: Independently lead complex, high-profile HR and organisational development projects, proactively defining scope, governance and delivery plans. You will build trusted relationships at the most senior levels and ensure solutions reflect the wider strategic context and organisational priorities.

Capability and legacy: Strengthen capability across HR by sharing specialist knowledge, promoting continuous professional development and embedding high professional standards. You will ensure each project concludes with effective knowledge transfer, robust documentation and sustainable arrangements.

Wider HR leadership agenda: Play an active role in the HR Senior Leadership Team, contributing your expertise to wider divisional priorities and responding flexibly to emerging organisational needs.

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• Chartered CIPD membership with deep knowledge and expertise of public sector pay policy and practice.
• Deep understanding of HR systems and the use of systems and data to solve business challenges.
• High level of expertise in using and manipulating large scale data to provide insight and inform the development of policy and strategy.
• Experience and confidence working with senior leaders (including at Board level) to resolve complex and at times highly sensitive and contentious workforce issues, offering constructive challenge when professionally necessary.
• Experience of operating effectively in a highly unionised environment, with demonstrable expertise in the effective management of relationships with employee representatives in contentious and challenging situations.
• Excellent judgement, analysis and problem-solving skills, with the ability to balance evidence, risk and fairness.

Closing Date : 12pm on 16 November 2026
Shortlisting Date:18 November 2026
Interview Date:30 November 2026 (in-person)

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as

• 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays)
• flexible working
• generous pension plan.

All internal applicants for this secondment must seek permission from their current line manager before applying. Failure to do so may result in the secondment not being authorised.

Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).