Workforce Planning Manager
Location: London (hybrid working)Role Type: Permanent, full-time (35 hours)
Salary: £63,000 - £68,000 per annum
The Role
We are supporting a large-scale events organisation in the search for an experienced Workforce Planning Manager. This is a pivotal role responsible for leading workforce strategy and operational delivery across a complex, high-volume event environment.
You will take ownership of workforce planning, scheduling, and headcount management across a workforce of permanent staff, casual workers, freelancers, and volunteers. Alongside this, you will oversee the operational delivery of workforce logistics, ensuring a seamless experience for all event personnel.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead end-to-end workforce planning across multiple workforce types, ensuring a clear view of demand, supply, and cost
- Deliver workforce forecasting and scenario modelling to support changing event requirements
- Partner with finance and operational teams to align workforce plans with budgets
- Analyse workforce data to identify risks, improve performance, and inform decision-making
- Define and track key workforce metrics such as fill rates, costs, and utilisation
- Own the workforce planning cycle, ensuring clear governance, timelines, and accountability
- Influence senior stakeholders to improve planning discipline and cost control
- Oversee workforce demand planning and scheduling strategy
- Define principles for shift planning, coverage, and workforce allocation
- Identify risks in workforce deployment and implement mitigation strategies
- Drive improvements in workforce fill and utilisation
- Ensure workforce readiness for live events, including contingency planning
- Oversee workforce logistics such as accommodation, transport, uniforms, and catering
- Support robust and efficient pay processes in partnership with finance
- Lead and develop a small team, setting clear priorities and service standards
Essential experience:
- Strong experience in workforce planning, operations, or large-scale resource management
- Experience within events, hospitality, or large-scale operational environments
- Highly analytical, with experience working with large datasets and generating insight
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Experience with workforce management systems (e.g. scheduling platforms)
- Budget management experience
- Experience leading teams and driving process improvement
