Head of Organisational Development & Design

Ofgem is Great Britains independent energy regulator. Our primary responsibility is to protect energy consumers, especially the most vulnerable, while at the same time working with government, industry and consumer groups to deliver a clean, more affordable and secure net-zero energy system at the lowest cost to consumers and drive economic growth.

Ofgem has a culture of inclusion that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of our colleagues. It fuels our innovation and helps ensure we can best represent the consumers and the communities we serve. Everyone is welcome - as an inclusive workplace, our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work.

Role Purpose

The Head of Organisational Development & Design sets the strategic direction and acts as the organisational authority for organisational design, development and people change, ensuring Ofgems structures, leadership capability and ways of working enable delivery of long‑term business objectives. Reporting to the Deputy Director of Organisational Effectiveness & Capability, the role provides enterprise‑level leadership across organisational design, development, learning and inclusion‑related capability. The postholder is accountable for OD&D strategy, standards, governance and investment decisions, assuring the quality and coherence of target operating models, structural changes and people change approaches. The role sponsors and assures OD‑led transformation, uses organisational health insight to shape priorities, and ensures EDI and engagement considerations are embedded strategically into design, capability and governance frameworks, with operational delivery led by specialist managers. The role owns senior escalation, statutory assurance and external accountability for OD&D‑led agendas.

Key Accountabilities

• Set and own the strategic vision, standards and governance for organisational development and design, acting as the organisations design authority.

• Own OD&D strategy, frameworks and assurance processes, ensuring high‑quality design, people change and capability interventions aligned to organisational priorities.

• Provide strategic sponsorship and assurance for EDI and employee engagement agendas, ensuring they are coherently embedded into OD&D frameworks, transformation activity and leadership practice.

• Sponsor and assure major organisational design and change initiatives, including target operating models, restructures and service reconfigurations.

• Use organisational health insight, diagnostics and evidence to inform strategic decisions, prioritisation and continuous improvement across OD&D investment.

• Provide senior leadership oversight of OD&D budgets, commissioning and external partnerships, ensuring value for money and prioritisation.

• Hold senior‑level accountability for statutory EDI governance, Board assurance and external scrutiny, with operational delivery delegated appropriately.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Design Authority

• Act as Ofgems organisational design authority, setting design principles, spans & layers thresholds, role architecture and governance expectations.

• Ensure organisational design decisions support long‑term strategy, leadership effectiveness, workforce sustainability and inclusion objectives.

• Provide authoritative advice to senior leaders on design trade‑offs, risk and options.

• Deputising for HR Deputy Directors and Chief People Officer as required.

OD&D Strategy and Standards

• Define OD&D strategy (own design principles, spans & layers thresholds, job family/capability frameworks and governance).

• Ensure work activity aligns with Civil Service and Ofgem values delivering against organisational strategies and priorities.

• Oversee budgets associated with OD&D standards, frameworks and governance activity to ensure resources are used effectively, commissioning external expertise where required.

• Set clear EDI governance within OD&D standards (e.g., where organisational design decisions require equality impact consideration, staff network consultation or alignment to inclusion objectives).

• Lead Ofgems engagement with Cabinet Office and Civil Service HR on the central Inclusion Strategy, responding to cross government asks and representing Ofgem through the Heads of EDI network.

Organisational Design and Change

• Sponsor and assure target operating models, restructures and service reconfigurations, ensuring they reinforce the organisations desired culture, support inclusion and respond to insights from engagement and organisational health diagnostics.

• Set design methods, templates and quality assurance standards, ensuring alignment with workforce, finance, digital and ER/IR considerations. Use engagement data, culture metrics and survey outcomes to inform design choices and lead the EDI & Engagement Manager on the overall cultural direction of travel.

• Influence senior leaders on design trade‑offs and change risks, integrate OD&D into programme governance, ensure compliance and coordinate with ER/IR on consultation for people change.

• Ensure design artefacts and decisions incorporate equality impact insights. Escalate material EDI risks to appropriate governance with clear mitigations.

EDI, Skills, Capability and Culture

• Accountable for the design and delivery of OD and EDI interventions that strengthen Ofgems skills and capability, colleague collaboration and drive a high-performance culture.

• Lead learning and capability team/s - working with Heads of Professions to ensure learning activity delivers strong leadership & management and strengthens Ofgems Professional skills and capability.

• Accountable for the continued evolvement and delivery of Ofgems EDI Strategy, working with Senior Leaders, internal specialists and staff network groups to drive a culture of equity, inclusion and diversity.

• Oversee budgets for EDI, culture programmes, skills and capability development and team interventions to ensure value for money and prioritisation.

Insights & Diagnostics

• Own OD analytics and diagnostics, produce insights and action plans for Executive Boards and measure intervention outcomes.

• Manage expenditure on diagnostics tools, surveys, organisational health platforms and specialist insight providers.

• Integrate EDI & engagement related insights, trends and risks (internal and sector wide) into organisational health dashboards and Board reporting, including progress against statutory reporting (e.g., gender/ethnicity pay gaps) and strategy targets.

Key Skills and Capabilities

• Significant experience leading organisational design and development in a complex public sector environment, including acting as a design authority for major change.

• Deep expertise in OD&D methods and organisational design.

• Strong grasp of people change governance and compliance.

• Proven ability to convert organisational health data into actionable insight and measurable outcomes.

• Excellent senior stakeholder management, influencing and coaching skills. Credible adviser to Senior Leadership.

• High‑quality written and verbal communication, able to simplify complexity and frame clear options and trade‑offs.

• Programme/portfolio leadership, with disciplined prioritisation and benefits realisation focus.

• Resilient, pragmatic and collaborative. Comfortable leading through ambiguity and challenge.

• Credibility and experience in EDI & engagement leadership, including statutory reporting, staff network engagement, sector level collaboration and cross government liaison.

• Ability to manage sensitive issues with sound judgement, discretion and timely escalation.

Essential Criteria:

• Proven experience setting strategic direction and leading organisational development and design functions in complex organisations. (Lead Criteria 1)

• Strong expertise in organisational design principles, including target operating models, structural changes and governance. (Lead Criteria 2)

• Demonstrable experience delivering evidence-based OD interventions that improve organisational health and performance.

• Experience of EDI & engagement governance, statutory reporting and senior level engagement with staff networks and sponsors.

• Ability to use organisational health data and workforce insights to inform strategy and continuous improvement.

• Professional qualification in organisational development, organisational design, or HR e.g. CIPD Level 7 or equivalent (or equivalent experience)