Strategic Workforce Planning & Performance Lead

STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLANNING AND PERFORMANCE LEAD

Salary: £58,000 - £60,000 per annum

Reports to: Head of Organisational Effectiveness

Directorate: Chief Operating Office

Working hours: 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London w/ high-flex (1 - 2 days per week in the office)

Closing date: 23:59 7th December
 

Please note: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.
 

Summary of Role's Main Purpose:

Leads Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) and owns planning & performance for the People Plan. Enables consistent SWP cycles with HRBPs, turns scenarios into prioritised actions and trade-offs, and maintains a clear, timely view of progress, risks and impact. Embeds simple routines and measures across HR so delivery stays on track and decisions happen at the right time. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) to guide HR teams in running consistent planning cycles and identifying future workforce needs. 

• Translate workforce scenarios into clear risks, gaps and options to support long-term decision-making and prioritisation. 

• Define and monitor critical roles and skills to inform build-buy-move strategies and shape People Plan actions. 

• Own the People Plan roadmap to track progress, manage dependencies and provide clear recommendations to senior stakeholders. 

• Embed planning and performance routines across HR to ensure consistent ways of working and build capability in teams. 

• Prepare governance updates to present People Plan progress, support decision-making and ensure actions are followed through. 

• Work with Data & Insight colleagues to shape the questions, indicators and narrative that drive meaningful analysis and reporting. 

• Work with HR People Analytics Manager to manage dashboard development priorities to ensure reporting tools meet planning needs without duplicating effort. 

• Support HR leaders and workstream owners to interpret insights and take action that improves delivery and impact. 

• Use resources effectively including time, data and external support, to maximise value and ensure alignment with CRUK's goals. 

• Ethical, inclusive practice: Safeguard fairness, accessibility and confidentiality throughout assessments, decisions and opportunities. 

• Committed to Cancer Research UK's vision to bring forward the day all cancers are cured. 

• Undertake other tasks as necessary to contribute to the team objectives and those of Cancer Research UK. 

Key Technical Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours:

Minimum Criteria:

• Brings proven Strategic Workforce Planning expertise, modelling demand/supply and scenarios with clear assumptions and ranges and applying disciplined methods that HRBPs can use consistently. 

• Uses skills-based planning literacy (role-skill mapping, proficiency definitions, criticality signals) to identify gaps and shape practical build-buy-move options. 

• Works in Partnership with HR People Analytics Manager to iInterprets workforce trends confidently, blending internal patterns (attrition, movement, productivity) with external labour-market signals to inform long-term choices. 

• Manages the People Plan roadmap with strong portfolio skills-tracking progress, dependencies, risks and benefits-and surfacing decision points at the right time. 

• Converts insight into decision-ready storytelling, defining a small set of meaningful indicators and producing concise options and trade-offs for senior audiences. 

Additional Criteria:

• Partners effectively with data teams, shaping questions, measures and definitions, and reading dashboards/forecasts without duplicating analytical build. 

• Lifts planning & performance capability across HR by creating simple tools and running short clinics that make routines stick and improve delivery. 

• Change adoption & enablement: evidenced ability to establish new planning/performance ways of working and show uptake and outcomes. 

• Stakeholder influence & communication: credibility with senior leaders; clear framing of trade-offs; succinct, decision-oriented papers. 

• Inclusive practice & accessibility: confidence designing planning approaches that are fair, accessible and mindful of equity impacts on different groups.