Deputy Director Expert Services

Job summary

The Role Overview

This high-profile leadership position holds significant influence, sitting right at the heart of our People and Places team. Reporting to our Chief People Officer, Christina Duncan, you’ll lead the way for HR Expert Services. Your focus will be on making genuine, lasting improvements across the Cabinet Office—helping us build HR functions that are as resilient, modern, and supportive as the people they serve.

Leading the Way and Getting Things Done

You’ll guide a talented team of about 20 specialists, providing the vision and support they need to handle a range of vital HR tasks. You’ll oversee everything from the big-picture strategy to the day-to-day operations, including:

●HR Policy & Casework: Developing and implementing robust HR Policy and expert Casework solutions.
●Pay & Reward: Designing competitive Pay and Reward strategies that attract and retain top-tier talent.
●Employee Relations: Cultivating productive Trade Union relations and overseeing critical workforce levers, including exit processes.
●Change Enablement: Acting as a key enabler for delivering organisational changes

Working Together and Finding Better Ways

We want someone who always keeps the "user" in mind. You’ll analyse digital trends and modern standards to streamline our processes and make them more efficient. By building strong relationships with colleagues across government, you’ll help ensure our services are truly world-class and ready for whatever the future brings.

Candidate Information Session

Session Overview

Wednesday 26th August 2026

The Cabinet Office will be holding an informal information session via MS Teams for potential applicants to find out more about the role of Deputy Director, Expert Services. Whether you are contemplating an application, or simply want more insight into the role and its potential impact, this session will provide a much better understanding of our environment and ambitions.

Please email [email removed] to register your interest, outlining the date you would like to join. We will then send you an MS Teams invitation.

How to Join Anonymously
If you wish to preserve your privacy, follow this step-by-step guide to join the MS Teams meeting without revealing your credentials:

1.Click on the MS Teams link
2.Select 'Join'
3.Choose pre-join settings
Select "Change" at the top of the meeting pre-join screen
4.Join without signing in
5.Type an anonymous name
Enter an alias or your preferred name in the designated field
6.Enter the meeting
Select "Join" to instantly enter the candidate information session.

Job description

Key Responsibilities

As the Deputy Director, Expert Services your key responsibilities will include:

• Providing essential HR services to drive the ‘Cabinet Office transformation ', with a focus on:
  -Taking full ownership and accountability for workforce levers, including the expert management of exit strategies.
  -Directing the strategy for Trade Union engagement and consultation.
  -Collaborating with colleagues to offer HR expertise that informs and shapes organisational redesign.
• Pay and Reward: Leading the delivery of our strategic Pay and Reward framework.
• Employee Relations: Championing Employee Relations to build constructive, timely, and effective partnerships across the workforce.
• HR Policy Modernisation: Modernising HR Policy across the Cabinet Office, leveraging automation and AI to create an environment that is both fair and inclusive.
• Complex Casework: Leading the Complex Casework function as a high-quality centre of excellence driven by data and transparency.
• Future Operating Models: Partnering with the HR leadership team to design future operating models, supporting both the Cabinet Office and the wider Matrix cluster shared services vision.
• Wider Leadership: Playing a visible wider leadership role as a member of the People and Places leadership team and the Corporate Services leadership team.
• Deputising: Acting as a trusted deputy by standing in for the Chief People Officer, Deputy Chief People Officer and other Deputy Directors across the team when needed. Maintaining a strong leadership presence throughout the directorate and leading cross-team initiatives as required.

Person specification

It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, that you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.

Essential Criteria:

We are seeking an experienced and engaging leader to join our senior team. The successful candidate will be a collaborative professional capable of navigating complexity with composure and delivering high-impact results. You will demonstrate the following:

●Leadership & HR Expertise: Proven experience in senior HR roles, with a deep understanding of at least two areas across HR policy, Reward, HR casework and Employee Relations.
●People & Culture: A track record of building inclusive, high-performing teams and fostering a "one team" culture that values diverse perspectives.
●Strategic Execution: Outstanding capability to implement large-scale programmes and deliver at pace within dispersed, complex environments.
●Stakeholder Credibility: The ability to secure the confidence of senior leaders, advising on sensitive issues and maintaining influential relationships.
●User Focus: A strong commitment to enhancing customer and user experience through innovative, modern standards.

Qualifications:

• Professional Qualifications: Chartered Membership of CIPD (or equivalent) or a willingness to work toward this professional qualification.

Qualifications

Chartered Membership of CIPD (or equivalent) or a willingness to work toward this professional qualification.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £86,000, Cabinet Office contributes £24,914 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).

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career within the Department and wider Civil Service.

It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

This includes:

• Annual Leave: 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays.
• Privilege Day: This will be complimented by one further day paid privilege enti