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Our focus on complex health issues that disproportionately impact people living in cities.
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Head of Change
Closing date
23 July 2026
Employment type
Permanent
Location
London, Hybrid
Salary
£73,000 - £78,000 / year
Overview
The Head of Change leads the development, coordination and delivery of the Foundation’s strategic change portfolio. Reporting to the Director of Transformation, this role provides expert direction on organisational change initiatives, ensures alignment with strategic priorities, and builds a culture where transformation is understood, embraced and delivered confidently across the organisation.
The Head of Change acts as the Foundation’s change leader, helping to shape strategy, establishing structures for high-quality programme delivery, and ensuring teams are ready and supported through change. This includes oversight of the Change team, taking a lead on cross-Foundation change initiatives, and ensuring all strategic programmes are governed effectively.
This role is cross-organisational, working closely with the Chief People & Transformation Officer on the operating model, the Chief Financial Officer and the Director of Transformation on planning and delivery.
This role delivers a transformational, organisation-wide approach to change, grounded in best practice, and provides a high-quality, consistent programme delivery through a strengthened PMO capability. The Head of Change delivers improved organisational staff readiness and staff confidence during periods of change, and produces clear, measurable outcomes across the Foundation’s strategic transformation priorities. This role also helps to foster a culture that embraces innovation, adaptability, and continuous improvement.
The Head of Change acts as the Foundation’s change leader, helping to shape strategy, establishing structures for high-quality programme delivery, and ensuring teams are ready and supported through change. This includes oversight of the Change team, taking a lead on cross-Foundation change initiatives, and ensuring all strategic programmes are governed effectively.
This role is cross-organisational, working closely with the Chief People & Transformation Officer on the operating model, the Chief Financial Officer and the Director of Transformation on planning and delivery.
This role delivers a transformational, organisation-wide approach to change, grounded in best practice, and provides a high-quality, consistent programme delivery through a strengthened PMO capability. The Head of Change delivers improved organisational staff readiness and staff confidence during periods of change, and produces clear, measurable outcomes across the Foundation’s strategic transformation priorities. This role also helps to foster a culture that embraces innovation, adaptability, and continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Change Leadership
- Define, lead and manage the organisation-wide strategic change programme, ensuring alignment with the Foundation’s mission and long-term goals.
- Develop the strategic change governance forum, providing oversight, challenge and direction.
- Work with the Executive Team, senior stakeholders, and programme leads to ensure clarity of change objectives and secure stakeholder buy-in.
- Working with the Chief Financial Officer, oversee organisational planning, delivery and monitoring of key KPIs.
- Foster a culture of change readiness, adaptability, and continuous improvement, ensuring clear alignment with the Foundation’s overarching decision-making framework.
Programme & Portfolio Management
- Oversee a portfolio of high-profile strategic projects, ensuring consistent delivery standards and measurable outcomes.
- Lead and mature the Foundation’s project framework to support governance, reporting, assurance and delivery quality.
- Ensure that the organisation has the necessary resources – people, technology and budget – to implement change initiatives without creating bottlenecks or overwhelming Business As Usual operations.
- Monitor progress and evaluate the impact of change initiatives, adjusting the approach to achieve outcomes.
Leadership & People
- Manage and mentor the Change team, building a high-performing group of change specialists.
- Cultivate collaboration across teams, ensuring consistent approaches to change management and project delivery.
Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
- Partner with senior stakeholders to build alignment, engagement and ownership across change programmes.
- Lead delivery of change communications and engagement plans, ensuring clarity, consistency and accessibility.
- Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, offering challenge, insight and strategic guidance.
Change Management Practice
- Conduct enterprise-level change impact and readiness assessments.
- Design and implement training, coaching and resources for leaders and teams undergoing change. Ensure change methodologies, tools, and frameworks are embedded and consistently applied.
- Support the Chief People & Transformation Officer with organisational design activities, including target operating model development and capability mapping.
Financial & Risk Management
- Manage project and programme budgets effectively.
- Identify risks, interdependencies and issues across the change portfolio and develop mitigation plans. Ensure compliance with relevant regulatory, governance and audit requirements.
Role responsibilities are not exhaustive, and you would be reasonably expected to take on wider tasks that are commensurate with the level of your role.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Skills, abilities, and attributes:
- Self-starter who is adaptable, works with integrity and exhibits the Foundation’s core values.
- Committed to the principle of continuous improvement, with careful attention to detail and due process.
- Committed to delivering consistent and high-quality customer service to both internal and external stakeholders.
- Good interpersonal skills and able to effectively liaise with both internal and external communities.
- Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate, inspire, challenge and influence.
- Excellent analytical skills with the ability to translate complex concepts into actionable plans.
- Financial acumen and experience managing significant budgets.
- Comfortable operating in fast-paced, ambiguous and highly collaborative environments.
- Strong influencing skills with senior stakeholders, including C-suite and Board-level relationships.
Knowledge, experience, and qualifications:
- Experience in delivering large-scale transformation within complex organisations (charity, private, public sector, healthcare or equivalent).
- Exposure to digital transformation, innovation programmes or organisation design.
- Proven track record leading enterprise-wide change and readiness programmes.
- Demonstrable experience building and leading PMO functions.
- Experience managing multidisciplinary teams and driving cultural and behavioural change.
- Experience operating within matrixed, multi-disciplinary or multi-site environments.
- Proficient, with recognised successes, in working with industry best practice project and change methodologies (e.g. Agile, PRINCE2, PMP, Prosci/ADKAR, CCMP).
Benefits
- Contributory pension
- Annual personal development budget
- Annual health and wellbeing personal allowance
- Enhanced maternity, paternity, and parental leave pay accessible without length of service requirements.
- Health and wellbeing programme that offers optional free yearly health check-ups.
- Support for healthy eating via fruit bowls and onsite lunch facilities.
- Agile working, flexible hours, and supportive IT kit.
- Shower facilities and bike lock area.
- Generous annual leave (27 days + bank holidays)
- Subsidies for glasses
- Employee Assistance Programme
About us
As part of our team, you will work alongside talented people from a real mix of personal and professional backgrounds, in an environment where different perspectives and lived experience are valued and respected.
Who we are
Our team
Our team bring together a unique combination of expertise, skills and drive to meet our ambition of making cities healthier places for everyone to live in.
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Who we are
Working at Impact on Urban Health
Our purpose and values as an employer.
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