Head of Change Management at UK Research & Innovation, Swindon/Remote, to March 2027, £Contract Rate

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK.

UKRI invests £8 billion of taxpayers' money each year into research and innovation and the people who make it happen. They work across a huge range of fields - from biodiversity conservation to quantum computing, and from space telescopes to innovative health care. They give everyone the opportunity to contribute and to benefit, bringing together people and organisations nationally and globally to create, develop and deploy new ideas and technologies.

Job Purpose:

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is delivering Shaping Our Future, a significant organisational transformation portfolio that will modernise services, processes, technology, operating models and ways of working across the organisation.

The Head of Change Management is a senior leadership role responsible for developing and leading the portfolio-wide change management strategy, ensuring that business readiness, stakeholder adoption and benefits realisation are embedded across all transformation initiatives. The role acts as the bridge between portfolio delivery teams and the business, ensuring that UKRI colleagues are prepared, supported and equipped to successfully adopt and sustain change.

Aligned to the Government Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF) Change Manager G6 role, the postholder will provide strategic leadership for change management across the portfolio, establishing standards, methodologies and capability while ensuring change activities contribute directly to successful delivery and realisation of intended benefits. The role will lead a team of change professionals and work closely with senior leaders to create the conditions for successful and lasting organisational change.

As a Head of Change Management, your main responsibilities will be:

• Develop and lead the portfolio-wide change management strategy for the Shaping Our Future Portfolio.
• Provide expert leadership and direction on organisational change, business readiness and adoption activities across multiple programmes and projects.
• Establish and promote change management standards, frameworks, tools and methodologies across the portfolio.
• Act as UKRI 's senior change management specialist within the portfolio, providing expert advice to Programme Directors, Senior Responsible Owners and senior stakeholders.
• Build and maintain strong relationships across UKRI to facilitate successful delivery of change and transformation outcomes.
• Lead the assessment of portfolio-wide impacts arising from transformation initiatives.
• Ensure robust change impact assessments are developed and maintained across all workstreams.
• Oversee the creation and delivery of integrated change plans that align with programme and portfolio delivery schedules.
• Ensure that change interventions are appropriately prioritised, coordinated and sequenced across the portfolio.

Essential:

• Significant experience leading organisational change within large, complex transformation programmes or portfolios.
• Proven experience developing and implementing enterprise-wide change management strategies.
• Experience managing change across multiple concurrent programmes, projects and business functions.
• Demonstrable experience leading business readiness, stakeholder engagement and adoption activities.
• Experience advising and influencing senior leaders, executives and governance boards.
• Proven experience leading and developing multidisciplinary change teams.
• Strong understanding of organisational change management methodologies and frameworks.
• Experience of change impact assessment, stakeholder analysis, communications planning and business readiness management.
• Strong understanding of benefits realisation and outcome-focused change delivery.
• Experience establishing governance, reporting and assurance arrangements for change programmes.
• Ability to interpret qualitative and quantitative data to assess readiness, engagement and adoption outcomes.

Desirable:

• Prosci Change Management Certification, APMG Change Management Practitioner or equivalent professional qualification.
• MSP Practitioner, Managing Successful Programmes, or other recognised programme management qualification.
• Experience working in government, public sector, research or higher education environments.
• Experience supporting large-scale digital, organisational or operating model transformations.
• Knowledge of Government Project Delivery Capability Framework and Government Functional Standards for Project Delivery.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident 

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, UKRI guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different.