Capacity Planning & Forecasting Lead

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About the role

The Capacity Planning & Forecasting Lead is accountable for leading the development, ownership and continuous improvement of robust, data-driven capacity plans and demand forecasts across Helpdesk and Operations. This role owns the production of accurate short, medium and long-term forecasts, the integrity of capacity models, and the delivery of insight that enables confident operational, financial and commercial decision-making. Working under the direction of the Senior Manager - Enterprise Capacity Planning & Insights, the Lead ensures supply and demand are aligned through disciplined planning, rigorous analysis, proactive stakeholder engagement and clear governance of planning assumptions. This role is critical in enabling efficient and effective operations, ensuring resource plans support service performance, financial discipline, cost efficiency and wider commercial objectives.

Key Responsibilities

1. Capacity Planning & Resource Modelling

• Lead the design, ownership and maintenance of operational capacity plans across Helpdesk & Operations, ensuring plans are robust, governed and aligned to demand, service commitments and business priorities.
• Own the balance between service performance, resource availability, cost efficiency and commercial outcomes, ensuring capacity recommendations are evidence-based and financially responsible.
• Set out clear hiring, redeployment and resource recommendations across operational roles, influencing senior stakeholders through clear rationale, scenario modelling and commercial impact assessment.
• Track actual versus planned recruitment, attrition, shrinkage and productivity assumptions, providing early warning of risks to service, cost or delivery outcomes.
• Continuously refine planning assumptions, productivity inputs and model design to improve accuracy, resilience and confidence in workforce plans.

2. Demand Forecasting & Analytics

• Own and produce short, medium and long-term demand forecasts using appropriate statistical techniques, operational insight and workforce planning methodologies.
• Lead forecast accuracy management through structured validation, back-testing, variance tracking and continuous model refinement.
• Lead detailed planned versus actual analysis, identifying material variances, underlying drivers and the financial or operational implications of changes in demand.
• Challenge and govern forecasting assumptions, using root cause analysis to improve precision, explain movements and support credible decision-making.
• Translate demand trends, risks and opportunities into clear recommendations for operational leaders, Finance, Change and senior stakeholders.
• Design, own and communicate recovery plans when service levels, demand, capacity or cost performance move outside agreed expectations.

3. Workforce Management & Planning

• Lead the effective use of Workforce Management systems, ensuring planning data, assumptions and outputs are accurate, consistent and trusted by operational teams.
• Proactively identify emerging trends, operational pressures or unforeseen risks, leading timely interventions to protect service, cost and colleague capacity outcomes.
• Drive continuous improvement in WFM tools, planning processes and governance, ensuring outputs are scalable, repeatable and aligned to enterprise planning standards.
• Identify efficiency opportunities, operational leakage and areas for optimisation, quantifying the service, cost and commercial benefit of proposed actions.
• Lead cross-functional planning conversations with Operations, Finance, Change and senior stakeholders, ensuring plans are understood, challenged appropriately and translated into action.

4. Financial Planning & Forecasting

• Lead workforce input into budget planning, reforecasting and quarterly financial forecasts for Helpdesk & Operations, ensuring assumptions are transparent, evidence-based and operationally credible.
• Own the alignment between capacity plans, demand forecasts, service commitments and financial targets, escalating risks and trade-offs with clear recommendations.
• Deliver cost optimisation through improved resource utilisation, productivity insight, scenario modelling and clear identification of opportunities to improve commercial outcomes.

5. Change Impact & Planning Governance

• Lead capacity and demand impact assessments for business initiatives affecting Operations and Helpdesk, ensuring service, cost, FTE and commercial implications are clearly understood.
• Own the incorporation of product, process, regulatory, volume and operating model changes into forecasts and capacity plans, ensuring assumptions are documented and aligned across functions.
• Apply and strengthen capacity planning governance, ensuring planning decisions are traceable, assumptions are clear and senior stakeholders have confidence in the outputs.
• Lead best-practice adoption across planning processes, using lessons learned, performance data and stakeholder feedback to improve future planning cycles.

Key Accountabilities

• Ownership, accuracy and reliability of demand forecasts, capacity plans and planning assumptions.
• Credibility of planning outputs with Heads of Operations, Helpdesk, Finance and Change stakeholders.
• Effectiveness of variance analysis, root cause identification and corrective action planning.
• Measurable improvement in forecast accuracy, model quality and planning confidence over time.
• Alignment of capacity with service level commitments, financial targets and commercial priorities.
• Contribution to operational efficiency, cost optimisation and benefit realisation.
• Responsiveness to emerging demand trends, operational risks and changes in business priorities.
• Ownership of recovery plans when service, cost, capacity or forecast accuracy moves outside agreed business appetite.

Skills & Experience Required

Essential

• Proven experience leading capacity planning, demand forecasting or workforce planning activity within a contact centre, operations or enterprise planning environment.

• Strong understanding of workforce management and staffing methodologies.

• Strong track record of owning forecast accuracy, capacity modelling and planning governance across short, medium and long-term horizons.

• Advanced Excel skills and experience with statistical modelling techniques.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability with high attention to detail.

• Ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders by translating complex datasets into clear insight, options, risks and commercially grounded recommendations.

• Proactive, organised, and self-sufficient working style.

Desirable

• Experience with WFM tools (e.g., Verint, Calabrio, ControliQ or similar)
• Exposure to financial planning and budgeting processes
• Knowledge of SQL or data querying tools
• Experience working in high-volume, fast-paced operational environments

Behavioural Competencies

• Data-driven and analytical mindset
• Strong communication and storytelling ability
• Attention to detail and accuracy
• Solution-oriented with a continuous improvement focus
• Collaborative and stakeholder-focused approach
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and adapt to changing demands

Interview process

The interview process for this role will be a 1 stage interview consisting of competency and technical questions and a presentation.

Working Schedule

The Capacity Planning & Forecasting Lead role is a permanent, full time, 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday. Our office is based in Bristol, BS2 0TR. Hybrid working is available where only 3 days a week is required in the office.

Why us?

Here at HL, we're the UK's number 1 investment platform for private investors, based in Bristol. For more than 40 years we've helped investors save time, tax and money on their investments.

To achieve our mission, we believe we have a workplace like no other, with constant learning, dynamic teams, and a great ethos. We're steered by core values that promote service, quality, innovation, and opportunity in everything we do.

What's on offer?

• Discretionary annual bonus* and annual pay review
• 25 days* holiday plus bank holidays and 1-day additional Christmas closure
• Option to purchase an additional 5 days holiday**
• Flexible working options available, including hybrid working
• Enhanced parental leave
• Pension scheme up to 11% employer contribution
• Income Protection and Life insurance (4 x salary core level of cover)
• Private medical insurance*
• Health care cash plans - including optical, dental, and out patientcare
• Health screening programme
• - confidential support including mental health counselling and remote GP
• Wellhub - unlimited access to fitness providers and wellness coach sessions
• Variety of travel to work schemes with bike storage and shower facilities
• Inhouse barista and deli serving subsidised coffee and sandwiches
• Two paid volunteering days per year

* dependant on role level

** only available to select during our annual benefits window, in November each year

Hargreaves Lansdown is an inclusive employer that values diversity in its workforce. We encourage applications from all individuals without regard to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or age.
All potential applicants are encouraged to scroll through and read the complete job description before applying.

This role may also be available on a flexible working or part time basis - please ask the Recruitment & Onboarding team for more information. xwwtmva

Please note, we are unable to provide employment sponsorship to candidates.