Job Description

Fusion, the process that powers the sun and stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs. UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research organisations to achieve ground-breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid by developing the power stations of tomorrow and the skilled workforce to deliver them.

The People and Culture team plays a critical role in this mission. As a strategic, corporate expert function, we provide organisation‑wide people services that enable strong leadership, effective management, and the development of future capability. By creating an inclusive environment where people can perform, grow, and thrive, we support UKAEA to build and sustain the talent needed to achieve its long‑term goals.

The Talent Management Lead is a senior subject matter expert role responsible for shaping and embedding UKAEA’s organisation‑wide approach to talent management. Operating with a high degree of autonomy, the role leads the design, delivery, and continuous improvement of frameworks that strengthen succession planning, capability development, and transparent career pathways across both leadership and technical tracks. Through robust analysis and professional judgement, the post holder influences workforce strategy, supports long‑term organisational resilience, and enables evidence‑based talent decisions.

Working closely with senior leaders and colleagues across People & Culture, the role acts as a trusted advisor, providing expert insight that supports strategic decision‑making and the effective deployment of capability across the organisation.

Core responsibilities

• Define and embed the organisation’s approach to talent, aligned to strategy, values, and future capability needs.
• Design and implement evidence-based approaches to identify high-potential individuals, critical skills, and business-essential talent.
• Provide insight, tools, and analysis to assess talent positioning, capability gaps, and succession risks, enabling data-driven decisions.
• Lead the design and delivery of a consistent, evidence-based succession planning framework for critical roles.
• Develop methodologies, tools, and standards to support organisation-wide succession planning and inform senior decision-making.
• Produce dashboards and analyse complex data to generate actionable workforce and succession insights.
• Develop frameworks and insights to shape targeted development pathways for key talent pools.
• Provide capability data and analysis to inform Learning & Development strategy and interventions.
• Create tools and guidance (with People & Culture CoEs) to embed stretch, rotational, and experiential development.
• Assess and benchmark capability practices to design a cohesive, enterprise-wide capability and competency framework.
• Design transparent career pathways across leadership and technical/expert tracks.
• Establish talent governance, manage dashboards and reporting, align with Reward/Job Evaluation, and ensure compliance with organisational policies.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Talent Management, Organisational Development, or related HR disciplines, operating as a subject-matter expert in complex or regulated environments.
• Proven expertise in designing and embedding talent identification, succession planning, capability frameworks, and career pathways.
• Strong experience integrating competency frameworks across selection, performance, development, and progression.
• Track record of influencing senior leaders and shaping strategic workforce decisions, policy, and frameworks.
• High data literacy, with the ability to interpret workforce analytics, build dashboards, and generate insight-led recommendations.
• Experience delivering complex, organisation-wide programmes with cross-functional scope.
• Degree-level qualification (or equivalent experience) in Organisational Psychology, HR, or OD, with ongoing professional development in relevant areas.

Additional Information

A full list of our benefits can be found here but highlights include:

• £64115 base salary inclusive of specialist allowance
• 7% corporate performance bonus
• Final salary defined benefit scheme with an equivalent of 21.5% employer pension contribution
• 25 days annual leave, plus 3 days Christmas closure, 2.5 privilege days and 8 Bank Holidays
• Flexible working options plus family friendly leave

UKAEA’s mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce. We particularly encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in STEM, including women and individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, while ensuring all appointments are made on merit. Further information can be found here