Head of Digital & Transformation Capacity & Capability? - Department for Work and Pensions - SCS1

Location

Blackpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Sheffield.

Please note that for candidates requesting to work in Newcastle, this role will be based at Benton Park View and then at 1 Pilgrim Place in Newcastle city centre by the end of 2027.

About the job

Job summary

“If you are an experienced leader who is passionate about being part of the Digital Community then we want to hear from you”

DWP Digital and Transformation Group is looking to fill the role of Head of Digital & Transformation Capacity & Capability.

DWP is one of the largest UK government departments, serving 22 million people annually and managing £300bn in benefits. 

Sitting within the Chief Operating Office, the Head of Digital and Transformation Capacity and Capability is an essential leadership role within DWP Digital and Transformation Group and the wider Civil Service. 

The role is fundamental in building the Group’s capability and culture to empower our people and provide an environment where everyone can thrive.

This includes: 

Building internal capability by "growing our own"
Increasing capacity through smarter sourcing and partnering
Driving strategic workforce planning and talent development. 

The role must balance scaling capability with value-for-money, managing 9,000 resources (7,300 civil servants, 1,700 external), amid competitive market conditions and pay challenges. 

Why Join DWP?

Job description

The Digital and Transformation Group is a unified group which brings together Digital, Change Portfolio and Working Age Services, combining our talents to propel digital innovation and drive transformational change across DWP. 

The Chief Operating Office, where this role sits, plays an essential part in driving Digital and Transformation Group forwards, providing an enterprise level view of all our delivery and ensuring we have the right people, processes and planning in place to support our ambitions and those of the wider DWP department.

The role-holder will be specifically accountable for:

Strategic Leadership of Digital and Transformation Capability & Capacity 

Lead the development of the long-term blueprint for how Digital and Transformation will build and deploy capability, ensuring the organisation has the skills, structures and culture needed to deliver its strategic mission over the next decade. 

Workforce planning and talent

Oversee the end-to-end processes that enable Digital and Transformation Group to grow, mobilise and optimise its 9,000-strong workforce, balancing cost, capability and resilience in a complex labour market. Curate and champion an ecosystem of career pathways, development programmes, and skills to develop digital practitioners and talent across the Department

Risk, Governance & Compliance

Ensure robust governance and efficiency of external resources, commercial decisions and contractual arrangements, maintaining directorate-wide compliance with Civil Service recruitment principles and workforce strategies. Provide strategic assurance to the Executive Team and Director Generals through transparent, data-driven oversight of resourcing patterns and risks. 

Budget Management

Manage significant budgets, including a £14m recruitment spend, ensuring efficiency and value for money.

It’s an exciting time to be part of DWP! Please see the candidate pack attached to the advert for more about this role and the Directorate priorities. 

Person specification

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their knowledge, experience and skills against the following essential criteria: 

Evidence of leading enterprise-level workforce planning, capability forecasting and resource modelling in a large, complex organisation, using data and insight to shape future workforce requirements and investment decisions.
Proven ability to build trusted relationships and influence stakeholders at the most senior level in your organisation, providing authoritative advice and securing commitment to complex workforce and capability decisions in ambiguous environments.
Experience working within or alongside technical, digital or transformation functions with the ability to translate emerging skills needs and technical capability gaps into actionable workforce and capability strategies.
Proven ability and experience overseeing significant commercial arrangements, such as external resourcing, supplier contracts or contingent labour, ensuring value for money, compliance, and alignment with strategic workforce needs.
Strong evidence of leading senior staff across multiple locations and disciplines, embedding continuous improvement, driving measurable performance, and influencing senior stakeholders to support complex capability and workforce interventions.