Army - Project Manager

Job summary

The Soldier Academy (Sldr Ac) is an Operational Group, commanding Army Training Regiments and Units to deliver sufficient soldiers from Basic Training, Regular and Reserve personnel, to ensure the Army has the right talent.
Currently the Army is undergoing its greatest transformation for 50 years as it seeks to optimise for the challenges of the 21st century.
The Soldier Academy delivers Regular Army Basic Training across sites primarily at Pirbright, Catterick, Harrogate and Winchester, with Reserve Basic Training delivered at Pirbright, Grantham and regional sites around the country.
The Sldr Ac also delivers Instructor training through the Army Instructor School (AIS). The throughput of the Sldr Ac is over 10,000 recruits per annum. Basic and other training being delivered is constantly evolving, striving for optimisation and betterment, and meeting the Army’s requirement to deal with the ever-changing nature of warfare and geopolitical situations.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

The successful candidate will act as the lead coordinator delivery agent for selected change across the Soldier Academy and AITC if required. Acting as the designated Project Manager for change initiatives; Initiate, Plan, Direct and Deliver Change projects across all Defence Lines of Development on behalf of Army Individual Training Command (AITC) Change within the Sldr Ac. You will ensure project objectives are achieved within the Time, Cost, Quality criteria (incl. any tolerance agreed by the Project Board / Programme Office), managed in accordance with appropriate methodology (chiefly Association of Project Management (APM) but PRINCE or Agile may be appropriate within an Managing Successful Programmes (MSP context). They will also track, coordinate and provide project oversight for change initiatives being undertaken across the Sldr Academy span of responsibility.

Project areas (Programme Lines of Effort [LoEs]) within scope of this role include:

• Delivery of training, syllabus change and development
• Organisational Change
• Training Pipeline
• Instructor Capability
• Infrastructure
• Digitalisation and Technology in Training.

Many of the Project outputs will be delivered by Business as Usual capability, but require oversight, support and tracking from a Project specialist to ensure successful delivery, justification and tracking for further reporting purposes. The remit of the role is so diverse that the individual must be comfortable with prioritisation and selection of achievable and highest value goals. The role will also be dealing with other Programmes as a customer / dependency / Subject Matter Expert on coordination with the Programme Management Office.

Role Overview:

• Act as the designated Project Manager for a nominated set of change initiatives.
• Submit project status reports asrequired, to key Stakeholders; reporting risk, data assumptions and recording changes which could impact on the project.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Take responsibility for the delivery of discrete projects asrequired, including planning, strategy, management, governance structure, reporting protocols and quantitative and qualitative data capture.
• Overseetimely arrangement & recording of Project Mgt groupings (e.g. Project Board, Project Mgt Gp).
• Undertake options analyses& produce draft papers including Business Cases, detailing recommended COAs/rationale.
• Identify resources and assign responsibilities.

In conjunction with the AITC PMO Change Office and Programme Manager:

• Identify deliverable/timing/dependency to support project schedules.
• Identify and report project risks, undertakeappropriate risk mitigation actions as required.
• Ensure that Requirements activities, their durations and timings are correctly captured in projectplanning.
• Undertaketimely/effective communications with HQ Sldr Ac staff, SMEs and all project stakeholders.
• Ensure that Outputs, Outcomes and Benefits areidentified and managed.
• Take responsibility as the staff lead for the delivery of theSldr Ac project as part of AITC Change PMO.
• Line manager duties asappropriate to the post.

Person specification

Essential Skills Required:

• Exceptional interpersonal skills with the ability to interact, liaise and communicate complex stakeholders and use collaboration, communication and influencing skills to drive the project transformation.
• Excellent and proven track record of leading and motivating people and teams, demonstrating positive outcomes through others.
• Conceptual thinking with the ability to analyse complex and wide-ranging questions, issues and information, providing recommended solutions to problems.
• The ability to manage and prioritise competing demands in a fast-paced setting meeting challenging and changing deadlines.
• The ability to work autonomously in a changing, demanding, congested and resource and policy constrained environment.
• Proven successful track record working in projects and programmes of at least 5 years.

Desirable Criteria:

• Management of Successful Programmes (MSP).
• Agile Project Management Practitioner.
• Association for Project Management (APMQ) - Project Management, APMQ - Change Management (or equivalent, e.g PRINCE 2), (must be undertaken within 6 months of assumption of post).

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,040, Ministry of Defence contributes £13,337 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance.

Other benefits for Army civil servants include:

• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service
• Highly competitive pension scheme
• Personal and professional development of skills
• Alternative working patterns for many roles
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
• Enhanced parental and adoption leave
• 6 days special leave per year which can be used for volunteering activities
• Learning and Development

We believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference and you will be supported to help you learn and advance in your career. This includes working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking a modern apprenticeship as part of your role.

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

At application stage you will be assessed against the following:

• Your CV - to include Job History
• Personal Statement - of no more than 500 words detailing how you meet the essential skills criteria
• Behaviour - Leadership

Where a large number of applications are received, an initial sift will be conducted based on the evidence you provide in support of Leadership.

The remaining elements will only be reviewed if you are successful at this initial sift.

At interview stage you will be assessed against the following:

• Behaviour - Communicating & Influencing
• Behaviour - Delivering at Pace
• Behaviour - Making Effective Decisions
• Behaviour - Seeing the Big Picture.

Application sifting will be scheduled to take place within 7 days of the application closing date. Interview dates are to be confirmed and will be held in person. We endeavour to keep to these time frames, but these are subject to change around business needs.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Joanne Martin
• Email : Joanne.Peall101@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: info@csc.gov.uk.

Attachments

ADR013810_EVP_Booklet_A5 - Army 2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 273kB)Candidate Information Opens in new window (docx, 31kB)External Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)Terms and Conditions of Service Opens in new window (docx, 24kB)