Talent Development Manager

As our Talent Development Manager, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the people strategy behind one of the most ambitious missions of our time — making fusion energy a reality. You’ll lead the design and delivery of our end‑to‑end talent and capability development strategy, ensuring we attract, onboard, engage, develop, and retain the exceptional people who will help deliver this national endeavour.

This is a rare opportunity to help build a high‑performance, inclusive culture from the ground up — one where expertise thrives, careers accelerate, and people feel genuinely proud to contribute to a mission with global impact.

You will act as a trusted strategic partner to leaders across UKFE and our wider ecosystem, influencing how we grow, support, and future‑proof our workforce. This organisation is unlike any other: a fusion of industry pace, public‑sector responsibility, startup innovation, and large‑scale national infrastructure delivery. Your work will help shape what this unique blend looks like for our people.

What you will bring to this role:

Talent Development and Capability Building

• Develop and implement an enterprise-wide talent development strategy that supports STEP’s delivery and evolving organisational needs.
• Establish clear career pathways and progression frameworks, enabling internal mobility and long-term capability growth.
• Lead succession planning, talent reviews, and interventions for high-potential and mission-critical roles.

Onboarding, Integration and Retention

• Create a modern, engaging onboarding and induction experience that supports rapid integration and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ensure onboarding reflects UKFE’s unique partnership model and high-integrity safety and delivery culture.
• Partner with leaders, hiring managers, candidates, employees, project members and People Business Partners to support talent retention in UKFE and the STEP programme.

Learning, Leadership & Culture

• Develop and commission targeted learning and development programmes, including technical capability uplift and behavioural development aligned to STEP values.
• Design and deliver leadership development initiatives that empower managers to lead in complex, cross-sector, delivery-focused environments.
• Support leaders in shaping culture intentionally — balancing innovation, inclusion, delivery discipline, and long-term purpose.

Employee Engagement and Experience

• Lead initiatives to foster a connected, informed, and engaged workforce — through both insight and action.
• Develop and run engagement frameworks, including surveys, listening activities, and people-focused communications.
• Champion continuous improvement in employee experience, working across People, Comms and Delivery teams.

EVP, Inclusion and Strategic Advisory

• Shape and refine our Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to reflect the UKFE identity and purpose.
• Embed principles of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in all aspects of the talent and development agenda — ensuring a culture of psychological safety, belonging and contribution.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on people development, engagement, and cultural change.

Embody a Leadership Mindset

• Regardless of your formal position, you embody a leadership mindset and a set of leadership behaviours.  You embrace and embody our organisation's culture, values, and mission in all aspects of your work.
• Foster a positive and inclusive team environment that aligns with our cultural values.
• Contribute to maintaining a respectful and collaborative workplace, valuing diversity, and promoting teamwork.
• Ensure Talent Acquisition Team have the tools and training to be successful in their roles.
• Act as a cultural ambassador, representing our organisation's values and professionalism in interactions with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders.
• Lead by example, demonstrating integrity, professionalism, and ethical behaviour.
• Make informed decisions and solve problems effectively, considering diverse perspectives and organisational goals.

Essential:

• CIPD Level 7 or equivalent qualification and solid experience (5-7 years) in a relevant function
• Proven track record in leading talent development, learning, or organisational development functions within complex, technical, or delivery-focused organisations.
• Deep understanding of how to grow talent in dynamic and fast-evolving environments, with a pragmatic approach to execution.
• Strong experience designing and embedding career and capability frameworks, onboarding programmes, and leadership development pathways.
• Strategic and systems thinker with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and operate in ambiguity.
• Passion for culture-building and working in service of a long-term, mission-led purpose.

Beneficial:

• Experience in engineering or infrastructure, and/or large-scale programmes.
• Familiarity with partnership or joint venture models across public and private sectors.
• Understanding of organisational transition and culture evolution in newly formed entities.
• Experience with budget ownership and management.

We welcome applications from under-represented groups, particularly women in STEM and individuals from British black and ethnic minority backgrounds, and individuals with disabilities. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) Partner and Inclusion Ambassadors, actively promotes EDI and takes steps to increase diversity within our organisation. We reinforce best practices in recruitment and selection and evaluate approaches to remove barriers to success.

UKFE is committed to being accessible. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions or require help or adjustments to compete on a fair basis, for example, changes to the way we interview or share information.

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions. Whilst not required at this time, there is a possibility of an SC Clearance being required in the future. If a candidate already holds an SC clearance, that clearance can be transferred to UKIFS.

For applicants applying from outside the United Kingdom or those who have spent time outside the UK in the last five years, please visit the following link for information on criminal records checks: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants If your country of residence or previous residence is not listed on the website or if the UK Government does not have information on obtaining a criminal records check from that state, we regret to inform you that we cannot process your application.

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications. We may consider your application for future positions or similar positions within the organisation.

We have a number of exceptional opportunities available at the moment, to view them all please visit Careers - STEP.