Head of Design & Development (Guidance and Education Systems)

Level: Head of
Location: 4 days per month in Bedford

Where leadership meets lasting national impact
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) exists to deliver a clear and compelling vision: better financial futures for everyone in need. As an arm’s-length body sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions, MaPS plays a central role in the UK’s financial wellbeing agenda, bringing together policy, delivery and innovation to ensure that people can access trusted guidance and make confident financial decisions throughout their lives. Through its work across pensions guidance, debt advice and money guidance, MaPS is shaping a more inclusive and resilient financial future for millions.

Design the future of financial wellbeing across the UK
Guidance & Education Systems (GES) is a new and developing directorate with an ambitious mission: to strengthen the quality, reach and effectiveness of money guidance and financial education delivered through education providers, partners and practitioners across the UK. This is an opportunity to shape a system that helps millions of people make better financial decisions, supporting better outcomes for people across the UK at all life stages, including children and young people.

Why this role matters
As our Head of Design & Development, you'll sit on the GES Leadership Team and play a pivotal role in defining how organisations, practitioners and partners develop the skills, knowledge and capability needed to create lasting impact. You'll lead the design of innovative learning offers, content and sector-wide development programmes, including helping to scale landmark initiatives such as Money Guiders.

This isn't just a learning and development role. It's a chance to influence a national ecosystem.

You'll combine strategy, insight, policy, design and leadership to create solutions that strengthen capability across organisations and practitioner communities. You'll identify future opportunities, translate evidence into action and design offers that improve outcomes for people across the UK.

About you
We are seeking a strategic and collaborative leader with experience designing and delivering learning, skills or capability-development programmes at scale. You will combine strong stakeholder management and leadership skills with the ability to translate complex insight, policy and organisational priorities into practical, high-quality solutions, and be passionate about driving innovation, inclusion and measurable impact across a changing and evolving landscape.

You will be highly collaborative and comfortable working across a diverse stakeholder landscape, building credibility with senior leaders, policy specialists, delivery teams and external partners. With strong leadership capability, you will set direction, inspire confidence and lead teams successfully through change while maintaining a focus on delivery and outcomes.

Join us
If you're excited by the opportunity to design learning and capability solutions that strengthen a national ecosystem and improve financial wellbeing for millions of people at all stages of life, we'd love to hear from you.

For an informal and confidential conversation, please contact the appointed search partners at GatenbySanderson. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation.

Senior Researcher – Khadeeja Khalid: Khadeeja.khalid@gatenbysanderson.com

Please click Apply to find out more and to apply.
Closing date: 5pm Tuesday 18 August 2026