Business relationship manager

Find out what a business relationship manager in government does and the skills you need to do the role at each level.

Last updated 29 August 2025 — See all updates

Contents

— What a business relationship manager does
— Business relationship manager role levels

— 1. Business relationship manager
— 2. Senior business relationship manager
— 3. Lead business relationship manager

— Roles that share business relationship manager skills

What a business relationship manager does

A business relationship manager, sometimes known as ‘business partner’, establishes and maintains meaningful relationships with colleagues to deliver positive impact across the organisation.

In this role, you will:

bring together different functions to ensure value across the organisation
work strategically across teams to ensure digital and data investment adds value
explore the perspectives, challenges and ambitions of teams to shape a pipeline of opportunities
act as a point of focus, for example, for strategic development, to collaborate with colleagues who influence strategic direction
set the conditions for a culture of creating meaningful connections

Business relationship manager role levels

There are 3 business relationship manager role levels, from business relationship manager to lead business relationship manager.

The typical responsibilities and skills for each role level are described in the sections below. You can use this to identify the skills you need to progress in your career, or simply to learn more about each role in the Government Digital and Data profession.

1. Business relationship manager

A business relationship manager is responsible for ensuring consistency in engagement across the business.

At this role level, you will:

prepare documentation and obtain support to progress new ideas, opportunities and investments
use relevant systems to maintain a view of activity and business-related knowledge
support continuous improvement activities that mature the capability of the team

This role level is most often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:

EO (Executive Officer)
HEO (Higher Executive Officer)

Skill	Description
Business analysis (IT operations) Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: investigate problems and opportunities in existing processes, and contribute to recommending solutions work with stakeholders to identify objectives and potential benefits
Continual service improvement Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: identify process optimisation opportunities with guidance, and contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions
Ownership and initiative Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: own an issue until a new owner has been found or the problem has been mitigated or resolved
Service focus Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: take inputs and establish coherent frameworks that work
Service management framework knowledge Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: show you have a Level 3 service management framework qualification
Stakeholder relationship management (IT operations) Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: negotiate with and influence stakeholders, and manage relationships effectively influence decisions, deal with challenging situations and remove blockers build long-term strategic relationships and communicate clearly and regularly with stakeholders, supporting mutual needs and commitments while focusing on user needs
Strategic thinking Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: work within a strategic context and communicate how activities meet strategic goals contribute to the development of strategy and policies
Technical understanding Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: understand the core technical concepts related to the role, and apply them with guidance
User focus Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: identify and engage with users or stakeholders to collate user needs evidence understand and define research that fits user needs use quantitative and qualitative data about users to turn user focus into outcomes

You can:

investigate problems and opportunities in existing processes, and contribute to recommending solutions
work with stakeholders to identify objectives and potential benefits

You can:

identify process optimisation opportunities with guidance, and contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions

You can:

own an issue until a new owner has been found or the problem has been mitigated or resolved

You can:

take inputs and establish coherent frameworks that work

You can:

show you have a Level 3 service management framework qualification

You can:

negotiate with and influence stakeholders, and manage relationships effectively
influence decisions, deal with challenging situations and remove blockers
build long-term strategic relationships and communicate clearly and regularly with stakeholders, supporting mutual needs and commitments while focusing on user needs

You can:

work within a strategic context and communicate how activities meet strategic goals
contribute to the development of strategy and policies

You can:

understand the core technical concepts related to the role, and apply them with guidance

You can:

identify and engage with users or stakeholders to collate user needs evidence
understand and define research that fits user needs
use quantitative and qualitative data about users to turn user focus into outcomes

2. Senior business relationship manager

A senior business relationship manager develops relationships across the organisation to understand business ambitions and, where appropriate, ensure digital products and services support them.

At this role level, you will:

explore shared needs, encouraging re-use, central management, sharing and commoditisation, aligned to digital, data, technology and security strategies
lead activities that improve relationship maturity, increase value, improve user experience and increase efficiency
ensure strategic demands, such as spending reviews, are supported
partner with others to provide strategic guidance on meeting goals
promote sustained investment of user-centred approaches to ensure products and services meet user needs
ensure complex needs and challenges are understood, prioritised and communicated

This role level is most often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:

SEO (Senior Executive Officer)
G7 (Grade 7)

Skill	Description
Business analysis (IT operations) Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: lead investigative work into problems and opportunities in existing processes lead the collection of information and creation of recommendations for improvements absorb large amounts of conflicting information and use it to produce solutions
Continual service improvement Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: identify process optimisation opportunities with guidance, and contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions
Ownership and initiative Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems achieve excellent user outcomes
Service focus Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: take inputs and establish coherent frameworks that work
Service management framework knowledge Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: show you have a Level 3 service management framework qualification demonstrate knowledge of the life cycle or capability elements of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
Stakeholder relationship management (IT operations) Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: negotiate with and influence stakeholders, and manage relationships effectively influence decisions, deal with challenging situations and remove blockers build long-term strategic relationships and communicate clearly and regularly with stakeholders, supporting mutual needs and commitments while focusing on user needs
Strategic thinking Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: work within a strategic context and communicate how activities meet strategic goals contribute to the development of strategy and policies
Technical understanding Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: show a thorough understanding of the technical concepts required for the role, and can explain how these fit into the wider technical landscape
User focus Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: collaborate with user researchers and can represent users internally explain the difference between user needs and the desires of the user champion user research to focus on all users prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, guiding others in doing so offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use

You can:

lead investigative work into problems and opportunities in existing processes
lead the collection of information and creation of recommendations for improvements
absorb large amounts of conflicting information and use it to produce solutions

You can:

identify process optimisation opportunities with guidance, and contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions

You can:

take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems
achieve excellent user outcomes

You can:

take inputs and establish coherent frameworks that work

You can:

show you have a Level 3 service management framework qualification
demonstrate knowledge of the life cycle or capability elements of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)

You can:

negotiate with and influence stakeholders, and manage relationships effectively
influence decisions, deal with challenging situations and remove blockers
build long-term strategic relationships and communicate clearly and regularly with stakeholders, supporting mutual needs and commitments while focusing on user needs

You can:

work within a strategic context and communicate how activities meet strategic goals
contribute to the development of strategy and policies

You can:

show a thorough understanding of the technical concepts required for the role, and can explain how these fit into the wider technical landscape

You can:

collaborate with user researchers and can represent users internally
explain the difference between user needs and the desires of the user
champion user research to focus on all users
prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, guiding others in doing so
offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use

3. Lead business relationship manager

A lead business relationship manager leads engagement with internal and external stakeholders to ensure complex needs and challenges are understood, prioritised and communicated to relevant audiences. They may lead a team of business relationship managers.

At this role level, you will:

ensure strategic demands, such as spending reviews and services strategy commitments, are met and appropriately communicated
promote ways of working that support meaningful connections and outcomes, aligned to the changing needs of the organisation
set conditions that enable a culture of positive impact through increased value, improved user experience and enhanced efficiency
enable others to implement activities that improve relationship maturity

This role level is most often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:

G7 (Grade 7)
G6 (Grade 6)

Skill	Description
Business analysis (IT operations) Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: direct business analysis, including the collection of information and evidence and the identification of problems and opportunities ensure that recommendations fit with strategic business objectives communicate recommendations persuasively to important stakeholders identify the simplest of a variety of approaches
Continual service improvement Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: analyse current processes, and identify and implement opportunities to optimise them lead and develop a team of experts to deliver service improvements help to evaluate and establish requirements for the implementation of changes by setting policy and standards
Ownership and initiative Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems achieve excellent user outcomes
Service focus Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: see the bigger picture by taking groups of services and investigating how to get the best of underlying services
Service management framework knowledge Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: show you have a Level 3 service management framework qualification demonstrate knowledge of the life cycle or capability elements of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
Stakeholder relationship management (IT operations) Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: manage long-term strategic relationships with stakeholders, identifying where new connections need to be made and existing ones nurtured direct the strategic approach for stakeholder relationships, establishing stakeholder objectives and ensuring these are clearly represented act as a point of escalation if stakeholder relationships break down or become challenging for more junior members of the team influence important senior stakeholders and arbitrate when blockers are escalated facilitate discussions across high risk and complex areas or projects under constrained timelines
Strategic thinking Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: define strategies and policies, providing guidance to others on working in the strategic context evaluate current strategies to ensure business requirements are being met and exceeded where possible
Technical understanding Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: show a thorough understanding of the technical concepts required for the role, and can explain how these fit into the wider technical landscape
User focus Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: give direction on which tools or methods to use demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure they're met by the business apply strategic thinking to provide the best service for the end user

You can:

direct business analysis, including the collection of information and evidence and the identification of problems and opportunities
ensure that recommendations fit with strategic business objectives
communicate recommendations persuasively to important stakeholders
identify the simplest of a variety of approaches

You can:

analyse current processes, and identify and implement opportunities to optimise them
lead and develop a team of experts to deliver service improvements
help to evaluate and establish requirements for the implementation of changes by setting policy and standards

You can:

take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems
achieve excellent user outcomes

You can:

see the bigger picture by taking groups of services and investigating how to get the best of underlying services

You can:

show you have a Level 3 service management framework qualification
demonstrate knowledge of the life cycle or capability elements of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)

You can:

manage long-term strategic relationships with stakeholders, identifying where new connections need to be made and existing ones nurtured
direct the strategic approach for stakeholder relationships, establishing stakeholder objectives and ensuring these are clearly represented
act as a point of escalation if stakeholder relationships break down or become challenging for more junior members of the team
influence important senior stakeholders and arbitrate when blockers are escalated
facilitate discussions across high risk and complex areas or projects under constrained timelines

You can:

define strategies and policies, providing guidance to others on working in the strategic context
evaluate current strategies to ensure business requirements are being met and exceeded where possible

You can:

show a thorough understanding of the technical concepts required for the role, and can explain how these fit into the wider technical landscape

You can:

give direction on which tools or methods to use
demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels
bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure they're met by the business
apply strategic thinking to provide the best service for the end user

Role	Shared skills
IT service manager	Business analysis (IT operations) Continual service improvement Stakeholder relationship management (IT operations) Service focus Service management framework knowledge Strategic thinking Technical understanding Ownership and initiative User focus
Application operations engineer	Continual service improvement Service focus Service management framework knowledge Technical understanding Ownership and initiative User focus
Command and control centre manager	Continual service improvement Service focus Service management framework knowledge Technical understanding Ownership and initiative User focus
End user computing engineer	Continual service improvement Service focus Service management framework knowledge Technical understanding Ownership and initiative User focus
Incident manager	Continual service improvement Service management framework knowledge Service focus Technical understanding Ownership and initiative User focus

Updates

Published 7 January 2020

Last updated 29 August 2025

29 August 2025

The business relationship manager role has been updated. This includes a new role description, role level descriptions and some updated skills.

The skills ‘asset and configuration management’ and ‘IT service reporting’ have been removed from the role.

30 November 2024

The skill 'asset and configuration management' has been updated. The level descriptions were edited to improve clarity and to better meet the definitions for each level.

The 'service reporting' skill has been renamed 'IT service reporting' to better reflect the requirements of the skill level descriptions. Its level descriptions have been updated to improve clarity. Awareness level now refers to 'key performance indicators' to align with the general skill description.

The skill 'service management framework knowledge' has been updated to improve clarity. No change was made in the meaning of the skill level descriptions.

30 August 2022

The ‘relationship management’ skill has been renamed ‘stakeholder relationship management (IT operations)’ to ensure consistency across the DDaT Profession Capability Framework.

7 January 2020

First published.

Business relationship manager

What a business relationship manager does

Business relationship manager role levels

1. Business relationship manager

2. Senior business relationship manager

3. Lead business relationship manager

Updates

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Business relationship manager

What a business relationship manager does

Business relationship manager role levels

1. Business relationship manager

2. Senior business relationship manager

3. Lead business relationship manager

Roles that share business relationship manager skills

Updates

Is this page useful?

Thank you for your feedback