Strategy & Planning Lead

Government Recruitment Service; Manchester; On-site; GBP 59,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Disability Confident employer scheme

Job summary

Government Recruitment Service is seeking a Strategy & Planning Lead in Manchester to shape functional strategy, oversee budget, and drive governance across the COHMT Commercial directorate. You will lead business operations, recruitment, and internal communications to ensure delivery aligns with departmental priorities.

This permanent, full-time role requires strategic planning expertise, strong stakeholder engagement, and a track record of improving processes within a government context.

Qualifications

• Experience in strategy and planning within large, complex organisations.
• Strong governance and financial planning capabilities.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Translate the Commercial Director's long-term vision into actionable workstreams and drive the directorate’s strategic objectives.
• Oversee day-to-day business operations, including central enabling functions and facilities management.
• Lead high-priority ad-hoc projects critical to the Director’s goals.
• Manage the directorate budget in partnership with Finance to ensure alignment with priorities.
• Champion process improvements and ensure compliance with central standards and assurance.
• Lead workforce planning, succession, and recruitment to build a resilient team.
• Act as a change agent, delivering internal communications and change readiness.
• Govern directorate governance—set agendas, track actions, and unblock bottlenecks.
• Design clear internal communications to keep the directorate informed of strategic changes.

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.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Strategy & Planning Lead

Company: Government Recruitment Service Salary: £59,207 to £66,192 a year Hours: Full-time Location: Manchester Job type: Permanent Posting date: 20 Oct 2026 Closing date: 28 Oct 2026

About Disability Confident Disability Confident is a government scheme. It encourages employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term health conditions.