Birmingham, Blackpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield
Job Summary
DWP is looking for a Deputy Director, People Programme, Planning and Performance to join the People and Capability team who are responsible for shaping and driving the people agenda.
This is a key senior leadership role within one of the highest profile operational government departments. The Deputy Director, People Programme, Planning and Performance will, as part of the People Strategy, Delivery and Assurance team, be responsible for leading DWP’s people plan and the delivery of people priorities across the departmental workforce. This appointment is key to translating strategic priorities into deliverable actions, whilst also playing a key role in briefing the Director General and other senior leaders on planning and performance priorities. Working with the HR Business Partners and Business Leaders this role is accountable for workforce planning and resourcing to support the needs of the department, the co-ordination of financial planning and good governance and the strategic leadership of compliance and assurance functions.
Job Description
Strategic Planning and Leadership
- Lead the development and implementation of the Group’s in-year planning, ensuring alignment with the overarching People Strategy and departmental objectives.
- Working collaboratively with HR Directors, translate strategic priorities into deliverable people plans to include a monthly reporting cadence on progress. Provide high-quality strategic advice and briefings to senior leaders, including the Director General on planning and performance matters.
Financial Management Coordination
- Coordinate the Group’s financial planning, working closely with Finance and HR Business Partners to ensure effective budget management, in-year forecasting, and financial governance.
- Support senior leaders in strategic resource prioritisation and evidence-based decision-making.
Workforce Planning and resourcing
- Accountable for strategic workforce planning and resourcing across the Group, ensuring alignment with future capability needs, succession planning, and inclusion objectives.
- Work closely with the HR Business partner and business leaders to address skills gaps, workforce risks, and optimise workforce deployment.
Statutory Compliance and Assurance
- Provide strategic leadership of compliance and assurance functions, including Parliamentary Questions (PQs), Freedom of Information (FOIs), risk management, audit actions, and business continuity planning.
- Ensure the Group operates within a robust internal governance framework and meets statutory and regulatory obligations.
Communications and Engagement
- Oversee the design and delivery of the Group’s internal communication and engagement strategy to build a cohesive, informed, and engaged community.
- Foster a culture of transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the Group.
Strategic Planning and Leadership
- Lead the development and implementation of the Group’s in-year planning, ensuring alignment with the overarching People Strategy and departmental objectives.
- Working collaboratively with HR Directors, translate strategic priorities into deliverable people plans to include a monthly reporting cadence on progress. Provide high-quality strategic advice and briefings to senior leaders, including the Director General on planning and performance matters.
Financial Management Coordination
- Coordinate the Group’s financial planning, working closely with Finance and HR Business Partners to ensure effective budget management, in-year forecasting, and financial governance.
- Support senior leaders in strategic resource prioritisation and evidence-based decision-making.
Workforce Planning and resourcing
- Accountable for strategic workforce planning and resourcing across the Group, ensuring alignment with future capability needs, succession planning, and inclusion objectives.
- Work closely with the HR Business partner and business leaders to address skills gaps, workforce risks, and optimise workforce deployment.
Statutory Compliance and Assurance
- Provide strategic leadership of compliance and assurance functions, including Parliamentary Questions (PQs), Freedom of Information (FOIs), risk management, audit actions, and business continuity planning.
- Ensure the Group operates within a robust internal governance framework and meets statutory and regulatory obligations.
Communications and Engagement
- Oversee the design and delivery of the Group’s internal communication and engagement strategy to build a cohesive, informed, and engaged community.
- Foster a culture of transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the Group.
Person specification
The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their knowledge, experience and skills against the following essential criteria:
- Aligning strategies with organisational goals, monitoring performance, and ensuring adaptability to change.
- Effective governance of strategies with a framework that encompasses clear vision, strategic direction, accountability, transparency, and robust risk management.
- Effective experience managing statutory and regulatory compliance across a complex organisation.
- Proven track record of leading strategic and workforce planning and assurance functions at a senior level.
- Experience in coordinating financial planning and budget management at a senior level.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, including influencing at senior levels.
- Excellent leadership and people management skills, with a track record of building and developing high-performing teams.
- Exceptional communication, influencing, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage and influence effectively at all levels, including at Executive Team level.
- You must have achieved CIPD Chartered Fellow membership or be willing to work towards this upon commencement of your role
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
Alongside your salary of £81,000, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:
- Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
- Generous annual leave – at least 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
- Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
- Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
- Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
- Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
- An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to the Department for Work and Pensions on this appointment. Candidates should apply for this role through Saxton Bampfylde’s website at www.saxbam.com/appointments using code OWPG no later than 23:55pm on Friday 2 January 2026.
Click on the ‘apply’ button and follow the instructions to upload the following:
- A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
- A personal statement (maximum 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities, and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.
Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.
As part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say’. All monitoring data will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be provided to the selection panel. The information you provide when submitting your application will help us monitor our progress towards the Civil Service becoming the most inclusive employer.
Virtual Engagement Session
Date: 15 December 2025 at 13:30pm
This virtual session is an opportunity for you to find out more about the role and what it's like leading the People and Culture Group. You'll get the opportunity to hear directly from the vacancy holder, Debra Lowery, Director of People Strategy, Delivery and Assurance who will provide an overview of the role and hold a Q&A session.
Join Live Engagement Session here
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job Contact
- Name : Maria Dodson
- Email : maria.dodson@saxbam.com
Recruitment team
- Email : maria.dodson@saxbam.com
Further information
The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact: senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response, you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission.
