Stephanie James

Stephanie James FCIPD is a senior HR leader with over 24 years’ experience delivering strategic people change across the Civil Service. A Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, Stephanie has built a career spanning multiple areas within HR including Employee Experience, Workplace Transformation and large-scale HR digital change.

Stephanie is currently the Deputy Director for HR Transformation and the HR Functional Lead for the Department for Work and Pensions’ for the Synergy Cluster (DWP, Home Office, DEFRA and MoJ), one of the largest shared services transformations in government. In this role, she is helping shape the future HR operating model and HR processes whilst designing and implementing Oracle HCM, helping shape modern, user-centred HR services across multiple departments.

Prior to joining DWP, Stephanie spent 20 years at the Crown Prosecution Service, where she led a range of people and transformation initiatives, building a reputation for combining HR expertise with digital innovation to deliver sustainable organisational change.

Known for her collaborative leadership style, Stephanie is passionate about modernising HR services, driving successful transformation and building future HR capability across the Civil Service. "HR transformation is not about implementing technology; it's about creating the conditions for people, organisations and services to thrive."