Programme Manager – Casual Workforce Transformation

12 Month Fixed Term Contract

The Football Association is embarking on one of the most significant casual workforce transformation programmes in its recent history.

Forthcoming Employment Rights Act reforms will change the way organisations engage and manage casual workers. With almost 3,000 casual workers supporting everything from Wembley Stadium events and England teams to grassroots football and FA Learning, we need a strategic and commercially minded Programme Manager to lead this critical piece of work.

This is an opportunity to influence organisation-wide workforce strategy, helping us design a future operating model that balances flexibility, compliance, colleague experience and commercial sustainability.

Working closely with senior leaders across HR, Legal, Finance, Technology and operational teams, you will lead a complex transformation programme that will shape how The FA engages, deploys and supports its casual workforce for years to come.

What will you be doing?

• Leading a strategic programme to assess the impact of Employment Rights Act reforms on The FA's casual workforce model.
• Reviewing current workforce arrangements, contractual frameworks, policies, processes and technology solutions.
• Developing future workforce model options and recommendations that balance legal compliance, operational effectiveness and colleague experience.
• Building business cases and implementation plans to support organisation-wide decision making.
• Leading senior stakeholder engagement, consultation and change activity across multiple business areas, working in close partnership with HR Business Partners to ensure a coordinated and consistent approach.
• Identifying and managing programme risks, dependencies and legislative developments.
• Reviewing workforce technologies and future system requirements to support compliance, workforce planning and reporting.
• Developing the frameworks, guidance and governance required to support future ways of working.
• Supporting leaders and managers through significant operational and cultural change, partnering with HR Business Partners to plan, implement and embed change effectively.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for an HR programme leader who thrives in complex, ambiguous environments and can take a broad business challenge through to practical implementation.

You'll bring:

• Experience leading large-scale workforce, people or organisational transformation programmes.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment legislation and its application within operational environments.
• The ability to navigate complexity, balancing legal, commercial and people considerations.
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with experience influencing senior leaders and cross-functional teams.
• Strong programme governance, planning and delivery capability.
• Experience building compelling business cases and turning strategy into action.
• A collaborative and pragmatic approach, with the credibility to challenge and influence at all levels.
• Experience of contingent, casual, flexible or large-scale workforce models would be advantageous, as would knowledge of upcoming Employment Rights Act reforms and IR35 considerations.

Why join us?

This is a rare opportunity to lead a high-profile transformation programme at the heart of English football.

You'll work across one of the UK's most recognised sporting organisations, partnering with senior leaders to solve complex workforce challenges while helping shape a modern, sustainable and compliant workforce model for the future.

What's in it for you?

We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles. To achieve this, we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire, which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.

We pride ourselves on offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:

• Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season, encourages you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and well-being.
• Free, nutritious lunches at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
• Private medical cover funded by The FA.
• A contributory pension scheme.
• An additional 'Thank You' day's leave, volunteering days, as well as 25 days of annual leave (based on a full-time, permanent contract)
• A hybrid working model which offers greater flexibility.

For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers

Currently, we are working within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model, and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary. The contractual location of this role can be found on the FA Careers page.

We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work. 

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.

As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.