Digital Portfolio Manager

Job summary

We are MHCLG

We are looking for a motivated Digital Portfolio Manager to support MHCLG’s digital and data transformation across the built environment system. This role sits within the Building Insights division and be key to the development of a new Strategic Digital and Data Hub, leading work to bring together a complex and rapidly expanding portfolio of digital activity.

Working across multiple programmes, you will play an important role in shaping a more joined-up system that delivers impact for users and supports a modern, effective regulatory environment. This is an exciting opportunity to help drive a more joined-up and digital-first regulatory system, ensuring services connect effectively and support a coherent end-to-end user journey. You will lead key elements of the approach, helping to establish strong foundations and drive alignment across a portfolio of significant scale and ambition.

The role

You will operate at the intersection of policy, strategy and delivery, leading work to translate regulatory ambition into a clear and coherent digital and data approach. You will lead the development of a joined-up view of digital across the portfolio, working with colleagues across programmes to improve alignment and support a more integrated system. This includes shaping how services connect, how data is used across organisational boundaries, and how decisions align with longer-term system outcomes. Working closely with digital delivery teams, you will ensure delivery reflects user-centred design, shared principles and common standards, supporting pace while maintaining coherence across services.

You will also lead elements of governance, ensuring it supports delivery, manages interdependencies, and aligns with government digital standards and assurance processes. A key part of the role will be acting as a bridge between digital, policy and stakeholder groups, providing clear and accessible advice and briefings that translate complex digital concepts into practical, actionable insight.

Find out more about our Digital teams and what they are working on through our MHCLG Digital blog. Please note that MHCLG do not offer visa sponsorship and applicants will need a valid visa for the duration of your employment.

Job description

This role brings together strategic leadership, policy input and cross-portfolio coordination. As a Digital Portfolio Manager, you'll:

• Lead the development and implementation of digital and data strategy across the portfolio, aligned to direction set by senior leadership
• Own and manage digital governance processes, ensuring they support effective decision-making and delivery
• Coordinate delivery activity across digital spokes, bringing in relevant divisional expertise to drive alignment and coherence
• Work with stakeholders and arm's length bodies to co-ordinate and collaborate on digital strategy and delivery
• Shape and apply shared principles, standards and service approaches, supporting joined-up delivery
• Ensure services contribute to a coherent end-to-end user journey, working across teams to improve integration
• Contribute to cross-cutting work on data standards and system design, supporting improved use and integration of data
• Act as a key interface between policy and delivery, ensuring alignment between intent and implementation and supporting policy teams to navigate digital processes and governance
• Provide clear, high-quality advice and briefings, simplifying complex digital issues for a range of stakeholders
• Build and influence relationships across MHCLG and partner organisations, supporting alignment across organisational boundaries

Person specification

As a Digital Portfolio Manager, you'll have:

• Skills as a confident and collaborative leader, comfortable operating in a complex and evolving environment
• Experience of working across programmes or portfolios, with a strong understanding of how digital delivery works in practice
• Ability to lead discrete areas of strategy, work effectively with stakeholders, and engage with multidisciplinary teams to ensure priorities translate into delivery
• Ability to take a broader view across work areas, balancing immediate delivery needs with longer-term considerations such as coherence, integration and sustainability
• Experience leading or shaping strategy, policy or delivery in a digital, data or transformation context
• Strong understanding of digital service delivery, including user-centred design, agile approaches and service standards
• Experience working across programmes or portfolios with multiple teams, dependencies and competing priorities
• The ability to translate policy intent into clear, deliverable approaches, and support their implementation
• Experience providing clear, high-quality briefing and advice to stakeholders
• Strong influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively across organisational and professional boundaries

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £60,230, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £17,448 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

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

Application and Selection

The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience , Technical

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience & Technical: Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description.

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead sift question listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to interview.

Lead sift question (Technical): Please describe how you would approach shaping strategy to support the alignment and management of a portfolio of digital projects to meet shared outcomes.

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Making Effective Decisions
• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Technical: Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

Candidates will be asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation, further details will be provided on invitation to interview.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 21st September 2026.

Interviews are envisaged to take place shortly after and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

How We Recruit

Find out everything you need to know before applying here..

• Applying
• Sifting
• Interview
• Interview Results & Feedback
• Reserve List
• Near Miss
• Civil Service Grades
• We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer
• Reasonable Adjustments

Human

How to Apply

What you need to know before applying.

• Security Clearance Requirements
• Civil Service Nationality Requirements
• Right to Work
• Artificial Intelligence
• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles
• CV Declaration
• Sponsorships
• Salary and Grade
• Existing Civil Servants
• Conflict of Interest
• Location and Flexible Working
• Fixed Term Contracts
• Internal Fraud Database - Internal Fraud Register
• Appeals and Complaints
• Conflict of Interest

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office:

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.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

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 : Digital Data Jobs
• Email : digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - Recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:
•a procedural irregularity
•an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy
•exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.
It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at Recruitment@communities.gov.uk.
If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk