Head of Business Partnering & Innovation

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. But the work doesn’t stop there, we are proactive in our approach to bringing fairness to all aspects of life including gender, neurodiversity and across the poverty divide.

Hackney Council is looking for 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 is much more than a relationship-management role. 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 also have the confidence to recommend that activity is paused, redirected or stopped when the evidence no longer supports continued investment.

A central part of the role will be 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. This will involve 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 need to 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.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

– 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.

– An ability to turn complex or ambiguous challenges into clear problems, options and deliverable outcomes.

– 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.

– The ability to influence elected Members, senior leaders and stakeholders where priorities and interests differ.

– Strong financial, commercial and supplier-management experience.

– A commitment to inclusive leadership, professional development and building high-performing teams.

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.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.

To proceed with your application, you will need to create an account and submit your application.

As part of the application process, you will need to complete a number of competency based questions. These questions allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide examples of your skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description.

We understand the benefits of using AI in the workplace. However, if you are thinking of using this tool to submit your application, we ask you to think about what value it will add. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

Closing date for applications: 11 October 2026 (22.59)

Interview date: TBC

Please note – we reserve the right to close applications early if we receive a high number of applications.

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud. In order to achieve this, we are seeking individuals who embody our “PROUD” values: Purpose and Respect, where we foster belonging through active inclusion, kindness, and open dialogue; Ownership, where we champion proactive collaboration and accountability for our shared success; and Unity and Diversity, where we work as one Council to break down silos and champion anti-racist behavior.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: hackneyworks@hackney.gov.uk