Senior Strategic Workforce Planning Specialist

Job Description

Location - London or Bristol - Hyrid working, 3 days in the office, 2 wherever.

Why this job matters

The skills organisations require to sustain success is changing at an ever-increasing rate, and in a competitive skills market, ensuring we have the right skills in the right place to add value is critical to the future ambition of BT Group. This role will be responsible for delivering a future focused and actionable Strategic Workforce Plan for the Group that enables both the business and people transformations to happen in the most agile and cost-effective way.

This role will lead a cross-functional team to:

• Utilise external and internal insight to define the skills demand needed in the future.
• Conduct analysis to build an understanding of the current skills, plans and inflight upskilling interventions across the organisation
• Work closely with Strategy and business leaders to develop an actionable plan as well as defining critical skills demands and influence activity across People & Culture to best close those gaps.

The ideal candidate will:

• Have expertise in Strategic Workforce Planning at complex organisations, combining analytical rigor with strategic foresight to be able to synthesize complex data into clear insights that shape business decisions.
• Have a strong understanding of the broader HR ecosystem and its levers, to be able to influence how talent, skills, and organisational design work together to enable BT’s future ambitions.
• Have experience of working at senior levels in the business, as an adept political navigator and trusted advisor, capable of driving alignment and action across senior stakeholders.

What you’ll be doing

• Strategic Workforce Planning: Turn BT’s future skills strategy into actionable plans aligned with FY30 ambitions and transformation priorities.
• Demand & Supply Analysis: Lead workforce modelling to identify gaps in capacity, capability, and location for critical business units.
• Data-Driven Forecasting: Use market trends, competitor insights, and internal analytics to build scenarios and forecasts, advising senior leaders on workforce risks and opportunities.
• Critical Skills Ecosystem: Design and govern frameworks for identifying, building, and acquiring critical skills; partner with leaders on multi-year workforce plans.
• Integration with People & Culture: Ensure workforce planning informs organisational design, role architecture, and capability development.
• Stakeholder Advisory: Act as a trusted advisor to HR and business leaders, influencing decisions through evidence-based recommendations.
• Methodology & Standards: Drive continuous improvement of workforce planning frameworks, tools, and governance standards.

The skills you'll need

• Strategic Workforce Planning – Expertise in demand/supply modelling, scenario planning, and workforce analytics.
• Data & Insights – Strong ability to interpret complex data, build dashboards, and translate insights into actionable recommendations.
• Skills Frameworks – Knowledge of skills taxonomy and interventions (build, buy, borrow).
• Organisation Design Integration – Linking workforce planning outputs to structure and capability decisions.
• Market Intelligence – Skilled in benchmarking labour market trends and competitor practices.
• Agile & Programme Delivery – Experience applying agile methodologies and managing large-scale, cross-functional programmes.
• Stakeholder Engagement – Ability to influence senior leaders and collaborate across HR, Finance, and business units.
• Change Agility & Continuous Improvement – Adapt planning approaches to evolving priorities and drive innovation in methodologies and tools.

Benefits

• 15% on target bonus
• Health Care
• Car Allowance
• BT Pension scheme, minimum 5% Employee contribution, BT contribution 10%
• From January 2025, equal family leave: receive 18 weeks at full pay, 8 weeks at half pay and 26 weeks at the statutory rate. It’s for all parents, no matter how your family is made up.
• Enhanced women’s health support: including help with menopause symptoms, cancer screenings, period care and more.
• 25 days annual leave (not including bank holidays), increasing with service
• 24/7 private virtual GP appointments for UK colleagues
• 2 weeks carer’s leave
• World-class training and development opportunities
• Option to join BT Shares Saving schemes.

Our leadership standards

Looking in:
Leading inclusively and Safely
I inspire and build trust through self-awareness, honesty and integrity.
Owning outcomes
I take the right decisions that benefit the broader organisation.

Looking out:
Delivering for the customer
I execute brilliantly on clear priorities that add value to our customers and the wider business.
Commercially savvy
I demonstrate strong commercial focus, bringing an external perspective to decision-making.

Looking to the future:
Growth mindset
I experiment and identify opportunities for growth for both myself and the organisation.
Building for the future
I build diverse future-ready teams where all individuals can be at their best.

About us

BT Group was the world’s first telco and our heritage in the sector is unrivalled. As home to several of the UK’s most recognised and cherished brands – BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet, we have always played a critical role in creating the future, and we have reached an inflection point in the transformation of our business.

Over the next two years, we will complete the UK’s largest and most successful digital infrastructure project – connecting more than 25 million premises to full fibre broadband. Together with our heavy investment in 5G, we play a central role in revolutionising how people connect with each other.

While we are through the most capital-intensive phase of our fibre investment, meaning we can reward our shareholders for their commitment and patience, we are absolutely focused on how we organise ourselves in the best way to serve our customers in the years to come. This includes radical simplification of systems, structures, and processes on a huge scale. Together with our application of AI and technology, we are on a path to creating the UK’s best telco, reimagining the customer experience and relationship with one of this country’s biggest infrastructure companies.

Change on the scale we will all experience in the coming years is unprecedented. BT Group is committed to being the driving force behind improving connectivity for millions and there has never been a more exciting time to join a company and leadership team with the skills, experience, creativity, and passion to take this company into a new era.

A FEW POINTS TO NOTE:

Although these roles are listed as full-time, if you’re a job share partnership, work reduced hours, or any other way of working flexibly, please still get in touch.

We will also offer reasonable adjustments for the selection process if required, so please do not hesitate to inform us.

DON'T MEET EVERY SINGLE REQUIREMENT?

Studies have shown that women and people who are disabled, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse or from ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification and criteria. We're committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace where everyone can be their best, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every requirement on the Job Description, please apply anyway - you may just be the right candidate for this or other roles in our wider team.