Strategy & Planning Lead

Cabinet Office; Manchester; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury (COHMT) Commercial Team seek a Strategy & Planning Lead to shape the directorate's functional strategy and take responsibility for robust financial and workforce planning. You will ensure resources, plans and activity align with departmental goals and governance standards.

A core focus is leading Business Operations and recruitment, delivering clear internal communications and change readiness to prepare the directorate for new ways of working while supporting

Job description

The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury (COHMT) operate at the strategic centre of the UK Government, managing a portfolio of circa £5bn to deliver critical policy outcomes. The COHMT Commercial Team's vision is to be a top-performing function that sets the standard for excellence across the Civil Service. The COHMT commercial team has recently undergone a strategic evolution, transitioning into a highly specialised Commercial Delivery and Operations model. The directorate comprises of two delivery clusters and a third cluster containing central strategy, performance and all enabling functions as well as non-category delivery and commercial portfolio management. The COHMT Commercial team operates with our core values in mind which are: We are Curious, Collaborative and Kind, we act with Integrity and are Focused on value for money. We're looking for a talented professional to join the team and help to deliver strategic, operational and cultural change, transforming how commercial services are delivered across both departments. This will be a stretching and uniquely rewarding position. This role sits within the central Commercial Portfolio, Enablement & Operations cluster and will play a pivotal part in driving the strategic alignment, operational efficiency and robust governance across the directorate. As Strategy & Planning Lead, you will lead development of functional strategy, take responsibility for robust financial and workforce planning and ultimately ensure that our resource, plans and directorate activity is well planned, strategically aligned and directly support wider departmental goals. A core focus of the role is leading Business Operations, where you will champion effective recruitment and people management practices to build a resilient, high-performing team. You will hold responsibility for managing overall directorate governance as well as ensuring alignment and compliance with Cabinet Office's central standards and assurance. Additionally, you will act as a key change agent, managing internal communications and leading on corporate change readiness to ensure the directorate is well-informed and equipped to adopt new ways of working smoothly. In this role, you will be required to work closely with the Director, wider Commercial Leadership Team and the Chief of Staff to align operational delivery with strategic priorities. You will be expected to maintain strong relationships, act as a trusted adviser and provide strategic guidance and operational oversight across the directorate.

• Translate the Commercial Directors' long-term vision into actionable workstreams, playing a leading role in the development and implementation of the directorate's functional strategy.
• Lead day-to-day business operations across the directorate, ensuring the seamless delivery of central enabling functions and workplace services, including making best use of space and facilities to create the right environment for staff.
• Lead high-priority ad-hoc projects that fall outside the remit of specific functional teams but are critical to the Director's goals.
• Secure, monitor and manage the directorate's budget, collaborating closely with Finance colleagues to ensure spending remains on track and aligned with strategic priorities.
• Champion continuous process improvement to optimise our ways of working, ensuring robust compliance with CO central standards and assurance, while managing corporate reporting, the directorate Risk Register and business continuity planning.
• Lead on workforce planning, maintaining a forward-looking view of capacity and succession, and championing effective recruitment to build a resilient and high-performing team.
• Act as a key change agent across the directorate, leading on corporate change readiness and delivering clear, fit-for-purpose internal communications to ensure smooth transitions to new ways of working and informed teams.
• Oversee directorate governance, including setting agendas, tracking action items and unblocking internal bottlenecks.
• Design and deliver clear, fit-for-purpose internal communications to ensure the directorate is well-informed of strategic changes, policies and operational updates.