Strategic Workforce Planning Manager

A career without limits

As the nation’s flag carrier, we take great pride in connecting Britain with the world and the world with Britain.

It’s something we’ve been doing for over 100 years, ever since we launched the world’s first international scheduled air service between London and Paris.

This originality has been in our blood since day one. It’s the spirit we share with the people that fly with us, our partners, and our colleagues.

So, whether you are a reassuring voice on the end of a phone, a smile at the door, under a wing keeping the turbines spinning or landing us gently in far-flung places, a job at British Airways is yours to make.

We know great things can happen when you’re inspired to think big and bring your ambition to work every day, which is why, at British Airways the sky is never the limit.

The role:

Join us as we build Strategic Workforce Planning at British Airways.

As one of the first dedicated Strategic Workforce Planning Managers at British Airways, reporting to the Head of People Effectiveness, you'll help build a critical organisational capability that will shape how we deliver our future business strategy.

Rather than focusing on operational resource planning or short-term workforce forecasting, you'll work with senior leaders to understand what our future workforce needs to look like, identifying the capabilities, skills and workforce interventions required to deliver our ambitions over the next 3–5 years and beyond - identifying opportunities for optimisation and effectiveness.

Working at the intersection of business strategy, people strategy, data and organisational effectiveness, you'll help answer some of the most important questions facing our business: what workforce will we need in the future, where are our biggest risks and opportunities, and how do we ensure we're building an organisation that's ready for what's next?

Strategic Workforce Planning Manager – Permanent / Fixed Term Opportunities

About you

You're a strategic thinker who enjoys solving complex organisational challenges and turning ambiguity into clear, actionable plans.

You understand that workforce planning isn't simply about predicting headcount—it’s about helping businesses make informed decisions about the workforce they'll need to deliver their objectives. You're naturally curious, commercially minded and able to balance long-term thinking with practical delivery.

You thrive when working across diverse stakeholder groups, bringing together different perspectives, data sources and expertise to develop solutions that create meaningful business value. You're confident influencing at senior levels, constructively challenging assumptions and helping leaders navigate difficult workforce decisions.

You combine strong analytical capability with excellent communication skills, translating complex data and workforce insights into compelling narratives, clear recommendations and practical action.

Most importantly, you're motivated by making a genuine difference—helping shape a workforce that is capable, resilient and ready for the future.

What you'll do

• Lead Strategic Workforce Planning activity across assigned business areas, translating business strategy into practical workforce plans over a 3–5 year horizon.
• Work closely with Strategic HR Business Partners and business leaders to identify future workforce, capability and critical role requirements.
• Deliver workforce demand, supply and capability analysis, identifying risks, gaps and opportunities.
• Lead workforce scenario planning and modelling, helping leaders understand the implications of strategic, operational, demographic and technological change.
• Challenge workforce assumptions and identify opportunities to improve workforce efficiency, productivity and deployment.
• Leverage workforce data, external market intelligence and emerging trends to provide meaningful insight and recommendations.
• Act as a trusted advisor on workforce and organisational implications of business strategy and transformation activity.
• Build workforce plans, with the right business ownership across reskilling, redeployment, automation, strategic hiring, talent development and organisational change interventions.
• Ensure workforce plans are embedded within business planning processes, with clear ownership, governance and measurable outcomes.
• Collaborate across People, Finance, Data & AI and Transformation teams to drive joined-up decision making and sustainable business impact.
• Continuously improve Strategic Workforce Planning methodologies, tools and approaches, helping establish best practice across British Airways.

What you'll bring

• Significant experience in Strategic Workforce Planning within a large, complex organisation.
• Experience translating business strategy into workforce plans, recommendations and tangible business outcomes.
• Strong analytical capability, with confidence interpreting workforce data and using insight to influence decision-making.
• Experience of workforce modelling, scenario planning and organisational analysis.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with credibility at senior levels.
• The ability to simplify complex information and communicate compelling workforce stories that drive action.
• A commercial mindset, focused on delivering practical solutions that create business value.
• Experience working across multiple functions and disciplines to solve organisational challenges.
• Professional Strategic Workforce Planning training, accreditation or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience of Oracle Fusion and workforce planning technology would be advantageous.

What we offer:

We believe that all the people who work with us should feel valued for the part they play. It’s one of the reasons our rewards go far beyond a competitive salary.

From the day you join us, you’ll get access to brilliant staff travel benefits including unlimited basic and premium standby tickets on British Airways flights. You’ll also receive up to 30 discounted ‘Hotline’ airfares per year for yourself, friends, and family.

At British Airways you’ll have the chance to take on new challenges and move forward in a way that feels right for you. We encourage all those who work for us to consider opportunities right across our business to help you develop and progress.

We never stand still, and we don’t expect our people to either.

Inclusion & Diversity

At British Airways we all have a part to play in creating an inclusive place to work. Diverse representation among our people is really important to us and we recognise that all our colleagues are uniquely different and bring their own originality, creativity and identity to work.

Inclusion and diversity is a key driver of innovation and we’re committed to creating a culture where everyone feels that they can be themselves. We’re looking for people from all backgrounds and cultures to join us and be a part of our journey to become a Better BA as we continue to connect Britain with the world and the world with Britain.