Job summary
- Main area
- Administration
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 354-CO-21824
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Portland House
- Town
- Worthing
- Salary
- £55,690 - £62,682 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 04/02/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Workforce Planning and Optimisation Lead
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may choose to use it to help prepare your application. We welcome innovation but ask that anything you submit reflects your own abilities, experience and voice. AI can support how you describe your skills and experience, but it should never replace your own words as we want to get to know you.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
The post holder will lead the delivery of workforce planning, annual planning and optimisation projects within the People and Culture Directorate, supporting the Trust’s ambition to modernise, digitise, and improve the efficiency of People Services. The postholder will have responsibility in providing a comprehensive workforce planning, and intelligence function for the Trust. Specifically designing, developing, and implementing a range of strategic workforce planning interventions to support the delivery of the Trusts strategy, overall objectives and linked to the annual planning process aligned to the NHS Long Term Plan.
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The role will also contribute to continuous improvement across People and Culture systems and processes, supporting SPFT’s goal to be an employer of choice. They will foster collaborative working, maintain clear documentation, and ensure that delivery is traceable, transparent, and responsive to stakeholder needs.
Main duties of the job
- Manages a major workforce optimisation initiative within the People and Culture Directorate, comprising multiple interrelated projects focused on improving working lives, enhancing service delivery, and enabling digital transformation across HR and OD functions.
- Plans, supports, facilitates, and monitors programme delivery across one or more Trust sites, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities, effective stakeholder engagement, and timely resolution of risks and issues.
- Leads on a defined programme area, taking ownership of delivery plans, governance documentation, and benefits tracking. Acts as the primary point of contact for assigned workstreams, coordinating input from multidisciplinary teams and external partners.
- Designs and develops training and engagement materials to support programme implementation, including onboarding resources, briefing packs, and facilitation tools tailored to staff groups, evaluation panels, and leadership audiences.
Working for our organisation
The post holder will work as a key senior member of the team, to ensure a comprehensive, quality and timely workforce planning, intelligence and optimisation.
We'd love you to join our organisation that is rated 'good' overall and 'outstanding' for caring by the CQC.
To be successful in this role you will share our passion, desire and empathetic approach to supporting people of all ages with complex mental health needs.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Workforce Planning, Change Management and Governance
Lead one or more workforce optimisation projects within a wider programme, ensuring delivery against strategic objectives, agreed timeframes, and quality outcomes.
Lead on the development and delivery of the Trusts workforce plan.
Plan, manage, and evaluate project workstreams, maintaining robust documentation, governance, and audit traceability.
Identify and mitigate risks and issues, escalating appropriately and ensuring continuity of delivery.
Analyse and report on specific target areas, synthesising complex data to inform programme decisions and performance tracking.
Source and interpret accurate, reliable evidence from large volumes of information to support delivery and assurance.
To fully understand the national, regional and local workforce planning agenda to ensure the Trust is ahead in planning for future changes and can respond accordingly.
Support management teams to develop operational workforce plans, that are realistic, achievable, sustainable and aligned to Trust and ICS strategies. When aggregated they will form an important part the overarching strategic workforce plan for the Trust/ICS.
Responsible for the provision of workforce information, analysis and planning to drive the delivery of a range of projects on behalf of the Trust/ICS, to include national benchmarking and system planning.
Examine ways in which workforce data can be stored and used more effectively to support service improvements, team configuration, service redesign and effective workforce planning. Initiate innovative uses of workforce data to support continuous improvements in the management and development of the workforce through regular audits.
Help to identify and resource workforce information requirements and analysis for key service developments such as organisational change, implementation of new service delivery, decommissioning service delivery and large-scale workforce redesign.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
- Project or programme management training or qualification
- Evidence of ongoing CPD activity
Knowledge / Experience
Essential criteria
- Extensive project management experience including project planning, reporting and risk management, financial management, delivering change projects within agreed timescales
- Experience of managing project teams
- Experience of working at a senior level in a large organisation in a political environment engaging effectively with stakeholders
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Syed Hasan
- Job title
- Associate Director Planning, Intelligence, Systems
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 020 3299 9000
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