HR Synergy Roadmap, Planning and Change Assurance Lead
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £56,375 - £69,105 |
| Hours: | Full-time |
| Location: | Nottingham |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Posting date: | 21 Aug 2026 |
| Closing date: | 30 Aug 2026 |
Summary
Our HR Function plays a critical role within Defra Group. We are responsible for developing and delivering the Group People Strategy and Plan to build and sustain a high performing workforce, empowered to deliver against our organisational priorities in an inclusive, ambitious and engaging environment.
To deliver our professional and expert end-to-end HR service, Defra Group HR partners with Defra, Rural Payments Agency, Environment Agency, Animal & Plant Health Agency, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, and Natural England, as well as many other delivery partners, which includes Civil Service and public service bodies.
The HR function is structured across 3 pillars of delivery: HR Business Partnering, HR Expert Services and HR Operations. This role sits within HR Digital and Automation in the wider HR Operations space and has a specific focus on reporting, governance and delivery assurance within the wider Synergy Programme.
About the Synergy Programme
The Synergy Programme aims to transform shared services across Defra, DWP, MoJ, Home Office, and their Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs). This transformation will impact around 250,000 Public and Civil Service employees, supporting new ways of working for over half of the Civil Service.
Synergy’s Mission:
The mission is to simplify and enhance the delivery of corporate services in government with an outcome to make working lives easier. This results in crucial support which delivers crucial services through the provision of smarter, faster, and more intuitive systems designed around user needs.
Synergy’s Objectives:
- To simplify operations through an optimised Shared Services Centre
- To improve user experience
- To enhance data quality and reporting
- To deliver service continuity alongside the provision of a foundation for service enhancements
- And to demonstrate value for money
This post reports to the G6 Synergy@Defra HR Senior Programme Manager and is one of two G7 roles within the HR Synergy delivery team. The role owns the HR Synergy delivery roadmap and planning architecture — the forward-looking view that shows where HR is heading, what the major decision points are, and how delivery is sequenced. Because Synergy is the dominant transformational programme for HR, this roadmap serves as the primary reference point that the Change Portfolio Lead and other HR programmes use when aligning their own plans to Synergy’s transformational timeline.
The post-holder will lead the development and maintenance of the HR Synergy delivery roadmap — a rolling view showing minor and major Target Operating Model inflection points, interim state transitions, readiness milestones, and go-live decision points. They will map the major decisions on the horizon, including Synergy go-live timing considerations, readiness change requirements, and interim versus end-state TOM transitions, ensuring these are visible and flagged in good time for senior decision-making.
Critically, the role also provides assurance over the Business Change Management support HR receives from the Synergy@Defra team, acting as the day-to-day HR counterpart to the BCM function at G7 peer level, monitoring the quality of change impact assessments, readiness activities, and stakeholder engagement, and identifying where support falls short.
Synergy is a major GMPP cross-government programme with a budget of approximately £300 million, delivering digital transformation across DWP, Home Office, MoJ and Defra. Within Defra group, the programme will fundamentally reshape how HR services are delivered to core Defra and seven Arms’ Length Bodies, ultimately affecting over 30,000 employees.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the development and maintenance of the HR Synergy delivery roadmap, showing minor and major TOM inflection points, interim state transitions, readiness milestones, and go-live decision points.
- Map major decision points on the horizon and ensure these are visible in the roadmap and flagged for senior decision-making in good time.
- Work with workstream leads and HR Design’s team to define and confirm SME allocations per workstream area, categorising individuals against agreed FTE commitment levels.
- Plan, scope, and support delivery of key Synergy planning workshops, including SME allocation workshops and SLT planning sessions.
- Provide assurance over the BCM support HR receives from the Synergy@Defra BCM team, monitoring quality of change impact assessments, readiness activities, and stakeholder engagement.
- Provide the Synergy roadmap, forward view, and inflection point analysis to the Change Portfolio Lead for cross-programme alignment.
- Work closely with the Head of HR Design’s team to ensure the roadmap accurately reflects design outputs and that design decisions are sequenced realistically.
The post-holder will take a senior role in the delivery of Synergy for Defra HR. This will include both line management and deputising for G6/DD at regular times, as well as being a visible ‘Face of Synergy’ within Defra and across government.
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