Overview

Head of Digital Capability & Onboarding at Smiley & Co, Ltd. Location: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham. Salary: £54,857 per annum.

The organisation is investing in the digital workforce to meet future challenges by building a more sustainable, skilled, in-house capability and reducing reliance on external contractors. They have created the Digital & Data Hub—a central team that brings together recruitment, onboarding, workforce planning, and governance to support the growth of a modern digital profession within the agency. They are looking for a senior leader to head up the Hub to scale recruitment of digital professionals, embed consistent onboarding and capability support, and help meet ambitious workforce targets in line with government expectations.

You will work with colleagues across digital, data, HR, and commercial teams, providing direction, solving delivery challenges, and building processes that support long-term workforce growth. This is a role for someone who can navigate complexity, influence at senior levels, and lead a team to deliver tangible outcomes that strengthen internal capability.

If you are energized by solving workforce challenges at scale and want to shape the conditions that help digital professionals succeed, they would like to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end recruitment campaigns across digital and data professions, ensuring roles are advertised, assessed, and onboarded in a consistent, timely, and inclusive way.
• Oversee the onboarding journey for all digital professionals, including apprenticeships, and develop mechanisms that support retention, development, and career progression.
• Drive activity to convert and reduce external contractor roles where appropriate, aligning to Civil Service and government targets for efficiency and workforce sustainability.
• Ensure the Hub maintains accurate oversight of digital workforce metrics—including headcount, vacancies, contractor usage, and diversity indicators—and reports effectively to the organisation and central government stakeholders.
• Work closely with HR, finance, commercial, and digital leadership to coordinate workforce activity, unblock delivery risks, and provide senior-level assurance on progress.

Qualifications & Attributes

• A clear, practical leadership style focused on delivery, clarity, and collaboration.
• A commitment to inclusion, development, and building professional communities.
• Ability to model high standards while supporting others to grow in capability and confidence.

This post is offered on a Fixed Term Appointment (FTA) basis to complete a finite piece of work.

Working Arrangements

Full-time is 37 hours per week. Applications from those seeking part-time work are welcome, but the successful candidate should be able to work at least 30 hours per week. Hybrid working is available as a non-contractual arrangement subject to business requirements. Occasional travel to other offices may be required, including potential overnight stays.

How to Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for this organization, please click apply to be redirected to their website to complete your application.

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