Local Project Lead (Fixed Term Contract - 2 years) (Ref: 14717)

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

Overview of the job

**PLEASE NOTE** This position is being offered on a Fixed Term Contract for an initial period of 2 Years.

The Project Lead is responsible for developing and influencing the strategic direction for the key project area, alongside the initiation, leadership and implementation of the project plan and key milestones. This is a strategic role that will involve influencing internal and external stakeholders to secure buy in to the project and ensure ambitions and benefits are realised. The Project Lead will be establishing, managing and implementing a range of key deliverables. The post holder will need to work flexibly to adapt to the changing landscape whilst ensuring the project remains a high priority across the organisation, despite competing demands. The Project Lead will be responsible and accountable for the effective delivery of the project, task managing and holding regular checkpoint meetings with multiple workstream leads. The Project Lead will be contributing to effective delivery across the programme due to the range of dependencies on structures and policies.

The need to ensure the rapid pace of change is maintained means the Project lead needs to be innovative and flexible in the way he/she provides project leadership and management. The role needs to ensure that all processes are lean, fit for purpose and applied pragmatically ensuring that systems provide a balance between facilitating decision making and applying suitable governance arrangements.

Summary

Responsible for the development, implementation and management of appropriate governance structures and reporting arrangements to ensure that the Project is derisked and delivers its commitments within time, cost and quality.

The Project Lead works with senior stakeholders from within HMPPS and MoJ. The Project Lead is responsible for ensuring that the project undertakes suitable external scrutiny at key points.

The Project lead leads a small team to deliver effective management and specialist support to facilitate the smooth running of the project.

Responsibilities, Activities and Duties

The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

• To be responsible for the overall definition and conduct of the project.
• Lead on the definition, implementation and management of appropriate project delivery arrangements providing an effective balance between control and support.
• Working with professional procurement and commercial colleagues to ensure all procurement and contracting activities are carried out on time and deliver effective contracts that support operations but also deliver value for money.
• Organise, chair, facilitate and support any stakeholder and working group meetings as well as ad-hoc meetings and workshops.
• Manage Project resources and prioritise work within delegated limits to deliver the necessary outputs.
• Manage the acquisition of resources for the project.
• Escalate issues to the Programme Board and other governance bodies where these are outside own remit to resolve or where there are conflicting issues or matters which could affect delivery of the project.
• Ensure stakeholders are kept informed routinely and at key milestones as appropriate. Manage the development and implementation of stakeholder strategy and management plans. Ensure communication plans and tools deal with the management of the difficult and sensitive messages to Staff (unions re: competition and in/out of scope arrangements).
• Ensure action owners are reminded of outstanding actions from Boards / sub-committees / working groups.
• Oversee planning with key work stream representatives and suppliers in relation to the activities required to be delivered by the project to produce a detailed and integrated work plan for the overall project.
• Escalate forecast slippage beyond agreed tolerances and propose remedial action in response, amending the project plan as appropriate.
• Responsible for ensuring the effective coordination of input to and maintenance and management of risks and issues logs for the project, ensuring risks and issues are fully articulated and evaluated and have an identified responsible owner; escalate those that cannot be managed or contained within the Project.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustments may require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.

Behaviours

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Changing and Improving

Ability

• Working knowledge of business case development and approval.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and experience of building, influencing and maintaining strategic partnerships with other government departments, agencies, suppliers and other senior level stakeholders.
• Excellent written communication skills to produce comprehensive reports and briefings for Directors within HMPPS and MoJ.
• Excellent understanding of MS Office products and particularly in the use of MS Word, MS Excel and MS Project.

Experience

• Significant experience of managing large and complex prison construction projects.
• Experience of supporting at senior level providing briefing and reporting arrangements in a variety of roles across several projects/programmes.
• Comprehensive knowledge and hands on experience of project delivery techniques and management of major projects or programmes.
• Experience of building and managing a multi-functional team and getting the most out of it in a senior, dynamic and complex environment.
• Excellent written communication skills to produce comprehensive reports and briefings for Directors within HMPPS and MoJ.

Technical

Recognised project delivery qualifications, ISEB accreditation, Practitioner or Advanced Practitioner inMSP, Prince2, MoR.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,316, HM Prison & Probation Service contributes £15,155 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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 Strengths.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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.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 : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk
• Telephone : 0345 241 5358

Recruitment team

• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/14717?entityId=14717