Learning and Development Officer - Higher Executive Officer

Job summary

The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) is a non-ministerial department, which provides actuarial solutions including financial risk analysis, modelling and advice to support the UK public sector. Our vision is to be bold and trusted partners in risk and finance, enhancing decision making for lasting benefits to society.

This role will help the organisation with a number of initiatives and improvements in talent and learning and development. It supports the Head of Talent & Skills Development to deliver an effective, professional learning and development function that enables a high performing organisation.

The post holder will bring strong expertise, sound judgement, a proactive approach and the confidence to work independently with colleagues across GAD. They will be expected to support the Head of Talent & Skills Development to translate organisational priorities into practical learning solutions, use evidence and feedback to improve outcomes, and provide trusted advice and challenge to stakeholders where appropriate.

Job description

This role will lead the delivery and continuous improvement of some key projects within GAD’s learning and development offer. The post holder will take ownership of priority L&D programmes and initiatives end-to-end, including the L&D Training Plan, the Actuarial Mentoring Programme and Beyond Boundaries, driving them from scoping and stakeholder engagement through to delivery, evaluation and continuous improvement. Working closely with the Head of Talent & Skills Development, the role holder will act as a subject matter lead on L&D across the organisation, shaping high-quality learning interventions, influencing stakeholders and helping build a high-performing learning culture.

The L&D offer will have to support a broad range of career pathways across GAD, recognising the different development needs of colleagues in analyst, specialist consultant and functional roles, and helping them build the skills and confidence needed to progress and perform effectively.

The HR team is small and operates within a matrix framework. The post holder will therefore need to work flexibly, prioritise effectively and contribute to wider people priorities where this aligns with their expertise, while maintaining focus on L&D delivery, quality and impact.

Person specification

Programme Leadership

• Own and lead key L&D programmes end-to-end, including the Learning and Development training plan, Actuarial Mentoring Programme and Beyond Boundaries, from initial scoping through delivery, evaluation and iteration
• Act as the primary point of contact and subject matter lead for assigned programmes and L&D activities, managing all stakeholder relationships and communications autonomously
• Develop programme frameworks, timelines, and success metrics, and report progress and outcomes to the Head of Talent & Skills Development and senior stakeholders
• Identify opportunities to expand or evolve existing programmes in response to organisational need and learner feedback
• Lead on the design and facilitation of engaging, learner-centred training interventions, applying best practice across the full learning cycle
• Maintain training records, booking logs and feedback spreadsheets of all L&D and Talent activities.

L&D design and stakeholder engagement

You will provide professional L&D expertise, advice and challenge to help colleagues and teams build capability and achieve organisational objectives. This includes:

• Help lead the development and delivery of L&D priorities that support GAD’s business plan and workforce capability needs.
• Engage and consult with senior stakeholders, managers and colleagues to identify learning requirements, clarify outcomes and agree practical solutions.
• Design and develop engaging learning initiatives, resources and interventions that reflect best practice and meet identified learner needs.
• Deliver and facilitate interactive training sessions, ensuring a learner-led, inclusive and engaging approach is applied in all delivery.
• Create an energetic and credible learning environment across the organisation, working in partnership with managers to improve knowledge, skills and behaviours.
• Monitor regulatory and professional requirements for staff training and competence, ensuring changes are reflected in relevant learning plans and interventions.
• Build robust evaluation into L&D interventions, using evidence, feedback and outcomes data to assess impact and identify improvements.
• Identify and monitor L&D KPIs, preparing insight-led reports on participation, feedback, costs, budget and delivery for the Head of Talent & Skills Development and senior stakeholders.
• Use feedback and management information to improve the L&D service, strengthen value for money and identify more effective ways of operating.
• Review training and development needs, identify capability gaps and recommend appropriate internal or external learning solutions.
• Support the learning elements of induction, ensuring new starters have clear, relevant and timely development pathways.
• Develop clear and effective communications that promote learning opportunities and explain the purpose, benefits and impact of L&D activity.
• Maintain track of trainee actuary development and exam-related support and monitoring.
• Support and improve apprenticeship and mentoring programmes, ensuring they are aligned with wider talent and capability priorities.

Evaluation & Continuous improvement

Work with HR colleagues to streamline and improve the HR service, proactively suggesting ways to improve quality and efficiency and optimise customer-focused HR, L&D and Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing practices, to deliver people services that are efficient, compliant with Civil Service and employment law requirements and maximise staff engagement in GAD. This includes:

• Supporting organisational change or transformation projects (e.g., relating to organisational development, performance, engagement, culture change, etc)
• Supporting improvement projects to streamline existing HR and L&D systems, processes, procedures and service provision.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Developing Self and Others
• Changing and Improving
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Relevant experience or CIPD level 5 qualified (or willing to undertake the qualification). (Essential)
• Good IT skills including MS Office and excellent Excel skills. (Essential)
• Experience of using HR management information systems and of analysis and reporting (Desirable)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,127, Government Actuary's Department contributes £12,204 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).

As well as competitive salaries, we offer a substantial package of benefits:

• Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day-to-day work.
• 25 days annual leave per year, increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service. In addition, we offer 9 days public and privilege days leave