Senior Change & Comms Manager (12 months fixed-term)

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Change & Comms Manager to lead our Global Shared Business Services Change Management & Comms team. This is a pivotal role for someone who thrives on leading change delivery across multiple programmes, building capability and fostering a high-performing team that drives real business impact.

The ideal candidate will be a hands-on leader with a strong background in organisational change, internal communications, and operational excellence. They will bring a deep understanding of the delivery lifecycle, be comfortable working across complex global environments, and be passionate about embedding lasting cultural change.

This is a hybrid working role with on-site working as per project needs.

What you’ll be doing:

Strategic Execution & Change Leadership

• Lead the strategic execution of complex change initiatives across the function, ensuring alignment with GSBS goals and priorities.
• Lead and manage a team of Change Managers, overseeing workflow, priorities, and resource allocation across initiatives.
• Build change management capability across the team, providing coaching, mentoring, and structured peer review processes.
• Develop and maintain best-practice frameworks, templates, and governance processes to support consistent, and a deliver a positive change experience for our people.

Change Delivery

• Design and lead change strategies for complex, multi-stream transformation programmes.
• Work closely with programme and project managers to integrate change planning into delivery lifecycles.
• Lead stakeholder impact assessments, change readiness, and benefits realisation activities.
• Act as a senior escalation point for change-related risks and issues.

Internal Communications

• Guide the communications manager to ensure clear, engaging, and well-aligned messaging through channels such as newsletters, leadership briefings, townhalls, and digital platforms.
• Support narrative development and communications planning to build awareness, alignment, and engagement across all levels of the organisation.

Stakeholder Engagement & Global Leadership

• Influence and build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders and sponsors across functions and regions.
• Lead change in a globally distributed environment, balancing cultural differences and tailoring approaches where needed.
• Act as a strategic advisor to business leaders on how to lead their teams through change effectively.

Culture & Operational Excellence

• Promote a culture of continuous improvement and agility, modelling behaviours that support an inclusive, open, and empowered environment.
• Bring an OpEx mindset to change delivery—simplifying, streamlining, and optimising as you go.
• Embed change in ways that support long-term cultural shifts and measurable business outcomes.

Skills & experience we will be looking for:

• Change Management Certification (e.g. Prosci, APMG
• Proven experience as a Senior Change Manager or similar leadership role in complex, matrixed organisations.
• Proven experience in building and leading high-performing change teams, creating a culture of collaboration, best-practice change experience, adaptability, and continuous improvement.
• Strong understanding of change methodologies (e.g. Prosci, Kotter, ADKAR) and how to tailor them pragmatically to the project you’re working on / audience.
• Skilled in managing the end-to-end delivery lifecycle, from early scoping and readiness through to sustainability and benefits realisation.
• Deep understanding of internal communications strategy and execution.
• Expertise in coaching, influencing, and supporting leadership teams through leading complex change with confidence and clarity.
• Experienced in working with diverse, global teams and navigating complex stakeholder environments.
• Multi-skilled individual with great communication, facilitation, inter-personal and analytical skills.
• Flexible, adaptable, and pragmatic—able to pivot as needs evolve while staying grounded in purpose.
• Demonstrated experience in operational excellence, continuous improvement, and cultural transformation.

Desirable experience we will be looking for:

• Project or Programme Management Certification (e.g. PRINCE2, MSP, PMP).
• Experience in Agile and/or Lean methodologies.
• Experienced in Culture Change.
• Experienced in Operational Excellence.
• Experience of Shared Business Services.
• Multi-lingual (English speaking & writing + either Spanish, Chinese, Latvian).

We are RS Group.

At RS we’ve been solving engineering problems for over 80 years: big ones, small ones, easy and difficult ones. We turn the ‘what ifs’ into the ‘why nots’, the impossible into the possible.

Our purpose? Making amazing happen for a better world. We offer service and product solutions. We send out a parcel every 2 seconds, to over 130 countries. We provide over 800,000 in-stock and over 3 million unstocked products to more than 1.2 million customers. We want people like you, as you are curious about things, you like doing things differently and also in a human way with empathy. Because that’s exactly how we partner with people – our customers, suppliers, colleagues and communities – to solve problems. We’ll also invest in your development and wellbeing – because building a more diverse and inclusive culture, being ethical, responsible and committed to our Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) action plan is at the heart of everything we do. Come and join us and over 9000 employees worldwide – and we’ll help you to think big, do more and unleash your brilliance, so you do amazing things too.

Rewards

At RS, as well as the usual employee benefits you’d expect from a FTSE listed company (Annual Bonus, Private Medical Cover, Life Assurance, Generous Pension) we’ve just introduced several new Family Friendly Policies including:

• Help for people to take control of ongoing Health conditions such as diabetes or asthma.
• Support for Neurodiverse colleagues and families with neurodiverse members.
• Support for Women at different life stages from streamlined fertility support through to diagnosis and monitoring of both endometriosis and menopause.
• Helping our LGBTQ+ community through enhanced coverage for trans colleagues.