Strategic Workforce Planning Lead - Schools - Temporary / Fixed Term

Vale of Glamorgan Council; Barry; Hybrid; GBP 43,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Local Government Pension Scheme

Generous annual leave

Learning and development opportunities

Wellbeing support

Staff networks

Job summary

Vale of Glamorgan Council is seeking a strategic workforce planning professional to strengthen workforce planning across its schools. The role focuses on blending workforce data with financial and demographic insights to guide longer-term decisions.

You will work with headteachers and senior education leaders to evolve roles, skills and structures, while promoting Welsh-medium workforce development. The post sits within the HR and Organisational Development service and requires strong judgement,

Qualifications

• Experience in strategic workforce planning and organisation design.
• Ability to build trusted relationships with senior leaders and headteachers.
• Comfort turning complex data into actionable recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Strengthen strategic workforce planning across Vale schools.
• Bring together workforce, financial, demographic, educational and labour-market insight.
• Support succession, talent and career pathways, including Welsh-medium workforce development.

Skills

Workforce planning

Org design

Relationship building

Data insights

Job description

About Us

At the Vale of Glamorgan Council, our people are at the heart of how we deliver for our communities. Through Vale 2030, our vision is to create Strong Communities with a Bright Future, and our schools play a vital part in making that happen. Our schools sit at the heart of communities across the Vale, supporting children and young people to learn, grow and thrive. They are also facing a changing environment: evolving pupil needs, financial pressures, new skills requirements and a workforce that must continue to adapt for the future. You’ll join our HR and Organisational Development service, a team focused on helping the organisation look ahead, not simply respond when challenges have already emerged. We work across the Council to connect people, culture, learning, leadership and workforce planning with the services our communities need. We believe good workforce decisions are evidence-led and human-centred. Data and insight matter, but so do the people behind them. We value strong relationships, thoughtful challenge and practical solutions that work for each school’s context. You’ll work closely with Learning and Skills, headteachers, governing bodies and colleagues across the Council. You’ll be joining an organisation shaped by our values of Open, Together, Proud and Ambitious, and a team committed to helping our schools prepare confidently for what comes next.

About The Role

This is a two-year fixed-term opportunity to strengthen strategic workforce planning across Vale schools and help build approaches that will support better workforce decisions for the longer term. You’ll bring together workforce, financial, demographic, educational and labour-market insight to help schools understand what is changing, where future risks may emerge and what action is needed now. The role goes beyond workforce data. You’ll work with headteachers, governing bodies and senior education leaders to explore how roles, skills and structures may need to evolve, applying the principle of designing work before designing jobs. You’ll help strengthen succession, talent and career pathways, including the development of a sustainable Welsh-medium workforce, and contribute to people and workforce policy across schools and governing bodies. How you work will matter. You won’t be there to tell schools what their workforce should look like. You’ll help leaders ask better questions, understand the evidence, consider different options and make informed decisions. That will sometimes mean challenging established thinking or difficult choices. We’re looking for someone who can combine evidence with empathy, constructive challenge with strong relationships, and organisational need with an understanding of the people affected. Your impact will come through your expertise, judgement, facilitation and influence, helping build workforce planning capability across our schools rather than dependency on one role.

About You

We’re looking for someone who brings together strategic workforce planning expertise, organisation design thinking and strong relationship-building skills. You’ll understand workforce supply and demand, workforce risk, future skills, succession and scenario planning. You’ll be confident using data and insight, and able to turn complex information into clear recommendations and practical action. You’ll be comfortable looking beyond an individual vacancy or structure to understand the wider picture – how people, skills, finance, technology and service needs fit together. You’ll be credible with senior leaders, able to build trusted relationships with headteachers and governing bodies, and confident facilitating complex conversations where there may be different perspectives or no obvious answer. You’ll bring sound professional judgement, be comfortable working with a high degree of autonomy and know when to involve colleagues with specialist expertise. Experience of schools or education would be valuable, but it is not essential. We are equally interested in someone with strong strategic workforce planning and organisation design experience gained in another complex environment who can quickly build credibility and understand the schools context.

Additional Information

This is a Grade 9 role (£43,149–£47,665), offered on a two-year fixed-term contract.

The role is 37 hours per week with flexible working. Your contractual base will be the Civic Offices in Barry, with opportunities for remote working where appropriate. However, this is a role that works across our Vale schools. Building trusted relationships with headteachers, governing bodies and school leaders is central to the role, and we expect the postholder to spend time in schools across the Vale, understanding their different contexts, workforce challenges and future needs. There will also be occasions when you need to attend meetings or work at other Council locations.

You’ll have access to the benefits of working for the Vale of Glamorgan Council, including

• Local Government Pension Scheme
• generous annual leave
• learning and development opportunities
• wellbeing support
• staff networks

Welsh language skills are desirable but not essential. You will, however, need to understand the importance of developing sustainable Welsh-medium workforce capacity and be committed to supporting that work.

Closing date

21 October 2026

Assessment / interview

9 November 2026