Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Workforce Planning and Optimisation Lead

The closing date is 04 February 2026

Job summary

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.

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.

About us

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.

Date posted

21 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

354-CO-21824

Job locations

Portland House

Richmond Road

Worthing

BN11 1HS

Job description

Job 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.

Job description

Job 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.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
Project or programme management training or qualification
Evidence of ongoing CPD activity

Knowledge / Experience

Essential

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

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
Project or programme management training or qualification
Evidence of ongoing CPD activity

Knowledge / Experience

Essential

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

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).