Location
London Borough of Hackney

Hours
Full Time

Salary
£86,121 per annum

About the Role
Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values. Over the past twenty years, the Council has built up first-class services, outstanding public infrastructure, and a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition. We are leading the way on essential work such as our fight for equity in Hackney with a particular focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. Our proactive approach also addresses fairness across gender, neurodiversity, and the poverty divide.

We are seeking an outstanding strategic leader to transform how organisational needs are understood, investment is prioritised, and ideas are turned into sustainable improvements for residents. As Head of Business Partnering & Innovation, you will connect services across the Council with the digital, data, and technology capabilities needed to solve complex problems and deliver measurable public value.

You will lead an integrated function covering strategic business partnering, portfolio and demand management, business analysis, project and delivery leadership, user adoption, benefits realisation, innovation, and horizon scanning. This role goes beyond relationship management; you will create a trusted, coherent route through which services can define their challenges, test assumptions, explore opportunities, and develop credible proposals for change. You will ensure the Council focuses its limited resources on the problems and opportunities that will make the greatest difference to residents and the organisation.

Working with senior leaders and elected Members, you will establish a transparent enterprise approach to assessing and prioritising demand. You will provide constructive challenge where proposals are poorly defined, duplicative, solution-led, or unlikely to deliver sufficient value. You will have the confidence to recommend pausing, redirecting, or stopping activity when evidence no longer supports continued investment.

A central part of the role is improving how change is delivered and sustained. You will establish professional standards for business analysis, delivery, organisational readiness, adoption, and benefits realisation. You will ensure new services and capabilities are not simply launched but are understood, used, owned, and continuously improved.

You will lead Hackney’s approach to practical and responsible innovation by identifying relevant developments in technology, policy, and professional practice; creating safe ways to test promising ideas; and turning successful experiments into scalable, sustainable services. Innovation must respond to clearly defined needs, produce evidence, and deliver meaningful value rather than becoming a collection of disconnected pilots.

We need a visible, inclusive, and influential leader who can build strong relationships across professional and organisational boundaries. You will lead multidisciplinary teams, develop professional capability, and create an environment where colleagues can challenge existing practice, learn quickly, and take responsibility for outcomes.

Operating in a complex and politically accountable organisation, you will engage confidently with elected Members, senior leaders, employees, Trade Unions, residents, community organisations, partners, and suppliers. You will reconcile competing priorities, explain difficult trade-offs, and secure commitment to collective decisions.

This is an opportunity to shape a new corporate function and change how Hackney works with its services to prioritise investment, deliver change, and realise measurable benefits.

If you combine strategic influence with delivery discipline, curiosity, political awareness, and a determination to turn ideas into better outcomes, we would like to hear from you.

Success in the First 12 Months
- Establish a trusted and proactive business-partnering model that connects service priorities with the Council’s technology, digital, and data capabilities.
- Introduce a transparent approach to identifying, assessing, and prioritising demand, ensuring investment is focused on the opportunities that deliver the greatest value for residents and the organisation.
- Build a strong innovation pipeline, safely testing and scaling opportunities involving automation, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies.
- Embed effective benefits realisation and adoption practices, ensuring change delivers measurable service improvements, efficiencies, and financial benefits.

Experience
- Significant senior leadership experience in a large, complex, and politically sensitive organisation.
- A strong record of establishing trusted strategic partnerships with senior service leaders.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary teams through complex organisational and cultural change.
- Expertise in enterprise demand management, portfolio prioritisation, and investment governance.
- Evidence of delivering measurable improvements for residents or customers alongside efficiencies, savings, or increased organisational value.
- Experience establishing professional standards for business analysis, delivery, adoption, and benefits realisation.
- A strong record of introducing innovation and translating promising ideas into sustainable services.
- Strong financial, commercial, and supplier-management experience.
- The ability to influence elected Members, senior leaders, and stakeholders where priorities and interests differ.

About You
- A visible, inclusive, and influential leader who can build strong relationships across professional and organisational boundaries.
- Committed to inclusive leadership, professional development, and building high-performing teams.
- Able to engage confidently with elected Members, senior leaders, employees, Trade Unions, residents, community organisations, partners, and suppliers.
- Skilled at reconciling competing priorities, explaining difficult trade-offs, and securing commitment to collective decisions.
- Politically aware, curious, and determined to turn ideas into better outcomes.

Qualifications
Not explicitly specified; however, demonstrated senior leadership experience and relevant expertise are essential.