Lead Delivery Manager

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

1. joining up public sector services
2. harnessing the power of AI for the public good
3. strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
4. elevating leadership and investing in talent
5. funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
6. committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need

The Government Digital Service (GDS), part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), exists to help government create brilliant public services that empower people in the UK. We work at the very centre of government to drive digital transformation, focused on users in line with the blueprint for modern digital government

The Products & Services Directorate (P&S) within GDS is at the forefront of delivering nation scale citizen facing products to create great public services that are accessible, inclusive and easy to use, including:

• GOV.UK app: building a personalised and proactive relationship with users, making it easier to interact with government
• GOV.UK Mailbox and Notifications, GOV.UK Pay, GOV.UK Notify, GOV.UK Forms and Emergency Alerts: building services once, to be used across government and public sector
• GOV.UK AI: maximising opportunities of current technological advances to develop citizen facing AI experiences

Job description

We are seeking passionate Lead Delivery Managers who thrive in fast-paced environments and possess expert knowledge of Agile and other methodologies to enable national scale delivery at pace

As a Lead Delivery Manager you’ll be responsible for leading work within the P&S directorate portfolio, working directly with our multidisciplinary, highly skilled teams, as well as teams and partners across government and the wider public sector

Responsibilities:

• lead delivery across multiple teams at different stages of development and product life cycle
• own delivery, tracking and ongoing iteration and updating of the delivery plan, including the critical path
• lead on developing and implementing delivery methods that combine both permanent civil servants and other people and resources seamlessly, and to best effect, this includes leading on the procurement of our strategic tech & security delivery partners, working with leadership to define scope
• being responsible for the review, improvement and evolution of our collective delivery management; implementing new process, tools and ways of working where necessary to meet our objectives
• eliciting and maintaining our area OKRs (working closely with all delivery and product leads) - you will then be accountable for the reporting of our work, helping to hold the area to account for its effectiveness overall
• work with our delivery managers to identify, communicate and manage risks, issues, dependencies and blockers - help identify and resolve issues before they arise
• work within GDS processes, and with senior delivery groups across GDS to track progress against plans and directly manage delivery managers and lead delivery managers and develop a wider community of talented delivery managers

Person specification

Our delivery professionals work on a diverse range of projects, products and services within GDS and across government departments. You’ll have strong interpersonal skills and enjoy working in a demanding, high profile agile environment. You’ll be passionate about agile working, care about technology and know how to make projects succeed. You’ll share the belief that how you work is as important as what you deliver.

You’ll be bright, empathetic and persuasive.

We’re interested in people who have:

• a significant track record of successfully delivering digital projects and products
• a deep understanding of agile and lean methodologies and how they help deliver products and services at scale
• a deep understanding of the digital landscape
• experience in matrix-managing multidisciplinary teams
• experience in promoting agile practices across an organisation
• a significant track record of successfully delivering complex programmes or portfolios of work, leading, coordinating and motivating multi-site / multi-department teams

Benefits

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
• an extra day off for the King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

Any move to Government Digital Service 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

Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

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

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 500 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a 20 minute phone screen
• a 75 minute interview based on the behaviours and competencies listed and your experience. The interview will include the following elements:
  • a presentation based on a topic provided in advance
  • a series of interview questions

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a technical exercise.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria in the person specification which is:

• a significant track record of successfully delivering digital projects and products at national scale

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• working together
• changing and improving
• making effective decisions
• communicating and influencing
• delivering at pace

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework for the Delivery profession:

• agile and lean practices
• communicating between the technical and non-technical
• maintaining delivery momentum
• planning
• team dynamics and collaboration

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here

Recruitment Timeline

Sift completion: w/c 20th April 2026

Phone screens: w/c 27th April 2026

Panel interviews: w/c 11th May 2026

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

Location:

Whilst this role's location is London/Manchester, if you are a current Civil servant working in DSIT and based in Bristol you are also able to apply for this role. If you are successful, you will retain your current location and pay.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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.

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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk
• Email : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact gds-complaints@dsit.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: info@csc.gov.uk Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.