Birmingham, Blackpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield

Job Summary

This is a critical enterprise leadership role, central to how DWP builds the capability, confidence and leadership needed to deliver better outcomes for citizens, support our people and strengthen the organisation for the future.

The Director for Capability, Learning and Talent leads at enterprise level, shaping how we grow talent, build capability at scale and develop the leaders we need for the future. This is a system leadership role, bringing together strategy, people and delivery to create lasting impact across the organisation.

As a key member of the People and Capability senior leadership team, reporting to the Director General People and Place, you will lead a significant portfolio spanning apprenticeships, learning, leadership, organisation development, skills, talent and early careers, bringing these together into a coherent, inclusive and future-focused system that supports DWP build the necessary capability

Job Description

Key responsibilities for the Director for Capability, Learning and Talent will include:

Provide strategic leadership for capability, learning and talent across DWP
Shape and deliver an integrated capability and talent strategy aligned to organisational priorities
Lead the development of leadership capability across all grades, with focus on senior leaders
Oversee and evolve talent management and succession planning frameworks
Strengthen and scale early careers, apprenticeships and entry pathways
Drive innovation in learning and development, ensuring impact at scale
Work with senior stakeholders, including cross civil service, to influence and embed system-wide change
Lead and develop a high-performing, expert team

Key responsibilities for the Director for Capability, Learning and Talent will include:

Provide strategic leadership for capability, learning and talent across DWP
Shape and deliver an integrated capability and talent strategy aligned to organisational priorities
Lead the development of leadership capability across all grades, with focus on senior leaders
Oversee and evolve talent management and succession planning frameworks
Strengthen and scale early careers, apprenticeships and entry pathways
Drive innovation in learning and development, ensuring impact at scale
Work with senior stakeholders, including cross civil service, to influence and embed system-wide change
Lead and develop a high-performing, expert team

Person specification

We Are Looking For a Senior Leader Who Brings Strategic Clarity, Expertise And a Values-led Approach To Leading People, Systems And Change

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their knowledge, experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

Strategic leadership

Ability to lead at scale in complex organisations with clarity, curiosity and sound judgement
Experience of shaping enterprise-wide strategies that connect people, priorities and delivery
Strong systems thinking, with the ability to connect across boundaries and see the whole as well as the parts

Professional expertise

Deep expertise in learning, leadership, talent or workforce capability, with a strong understanding of how to build cultures where people can grow
Evidence of designing practical, scalable solutions that create impact and improve people’s experience of work

Delivery and impact

Strong track record of turning strategy into meaningful outcomes that strengthen capability and organisational performance
Experience of leading transformation in complex environments, with resilience, pace and a focus on what matters most

Influence and relationships

Credibility with senior stakeholders, with the confidence to challenge constructively and the judgement to build trust
Strong influencing and relationship-building skills across diverse partners, with a collaborative and generous approach

Leadership style

Inclusive, people-centred leadership that creates the conditions for others to thrive
A strong commitment to building capability, enabling learning and leaving the system stronger than they found it

You must have achieved CIPD Chartered Fellow membership or be willing to work towards this upon commencement of your role

Alongside your salary of £105,000, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £30,418 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
Generous annual leave – at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process outlined below no later than 23:55pm on Monday 20 July 2026

A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years;
A personal statement (maximum 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities, and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.

Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.

As part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say’. All monitoring data will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be provided to the selection panel. The information you provide when submitting your application will help us monitor our progress towards the Civil Service becoming the most inclusive employer.

Shortlist

A panel, including the hiring manager, will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the person specification section of this pack. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.

The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which a decision is expected to be made, and all shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

Assessment

If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in a Staff Engagement exercise in advance of the interview. This assessment will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, it is designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview. Shortlisted candidates may have the opportunity to speak to Sarah Homer prior to the final interview. This is an informal discussion to allow candidates to learn more about the role and is not part of the assessment process.

Interview

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend a panel interview in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the person specification. You may be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation. Full details will be provided prior to the interview.

Your interview will either be face-to-face in London. The interview panel will be chaired by Chris Pilgrim, Civil Service Commissioner who will be supported by additional panel members. The final panel interview will be a blended interview, covering Behaviours and Experience. A blended interview aims to be more of a conversation exploring the candidate’s capability for the role.

Offer and Feedback

Regardless of the outcome, we will notify all candidates as soon as possible. We will offer the opportunity to discuss feedback for all candidates who reached interview.

A reserve list will be held for up to 12 months, which we may use to fill future similar vacancies for candidates who are considered appointable following interview.

Please see attached Candidate Pack for further information regarding the role and recruitment process.

Reasonable Adjustments

At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, especially those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk as soon as possible, before the closing date to discuss your needs. Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what additional support or adjustments you might need during the recruitment process.

For further information regarding reasonable adjustments, please see following link: Reasonable Adjustments , Civil Service Careers

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact

Name : Senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk
Email : senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email : senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact: senior.recruitment@dwp.gov.uk

If you are not satisfied with the response, you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

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