PMO Manager, SEO, Perm, Liverpool

Job summary

Are you skilled at defining clear project management standards and embedding them across complex programmes?

Do you enjoy bringing structure, consistency and assurance to portfolios while still enabling delivery teams to succeed?

Are you confident in making well‑reasoned, evidence‑based decisions that balance governance with pragmatism?

Can you design and maintain PMO processes that genuinely improve business outcomes, not just compliance?

Do you have experience supporting senior stakeholders with clear, insightful reporting and recommendations?

Are you motivated by using strong portfolio and project controls to help a public‑facing organisation deliver meaningful change?

Do you thrive in environments where transformation, collaboration and continuous improvement are key?

The PMO Manager will define and maintain the project management standards and processes needed to optimise the business outcomes of the Charity Commission’s Futures Programme.

This includes implementing and sharing best practices, and developing and applying project procedures, tools, and techniques to standardise methodologies and achieve efficiencies. The PMO Manager provides expert guidance, support, and insight on projects, acting as the source of all project information and metrics.

Job description

The PMO Manager will be responsible for defining and developing the project management machinery needed to ensure projects are delivered to time, cost and quality and to provide appropriate data and analysis for senior stakeholder assurance throughout the project lifecycle.

In addition, the postholder will be responsible for driving process improvement and fostering innovation within project management practices. The PMO Manager will lead initiatives to streamline workflows, introduce automation, and embed best practices that enhance efficiency, agility, and value delivery. By championing continuous improvement and leveraging data-driven insights, this role ensures the PMO evolves as a strategic enabler of organizational growth and innovation.

You will be responsible for:

Standards & Governance

• Design and implement PMO standards, processes, and templates that drive consistency and quality across the business change lifecycle
• Ensure compliance with organizational governance while allowing flexibility for business-specific needs.
• Establishes and implements protocols for changing project or programme scope, and updates configuration documents as required.

Portfolio Management

• Oversee the portfolio of projects ensuring prioritisation aligns with the requirements of the Strategic Change Board.
• Evaluate and monitor project resource allocation, dependencies, and capacity planning to provide the programme’s governance structure with independent assurance on the delivery of objectives and anticipated quality standards.

Risk Management

• Establishes project processes and standards for managing risks and issues. Provides assurance to the programme governance structure on the effectiveness of risk and issue management arrangements.

Delivery Assurance

• Provide assurance on project health through stage-gate reviews, risk assessments, and quality checks.
• Support escalation management and issue resolution.
• Process Improvement
• Identify inefficiencies in project delivery processes and implement improvements to enhance speed, quality, and cost-effectiveness.
• Introduce automation and digital tools to streamline reporting and governance.
• Drive adoption of best practices and continuous improvement initiatives across the embedded PMO and delivery teams.
• Benchmark performance and implement lessons learned to improve future delivery.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership providing accurate and honest perspectives of the progress being made against each project.
• Facilitate communication between delivery teams, business stakeholders, and the central PMO.
• Capability Building
• Coach and mentor project managers and business teams on delivery best practices.
• Promote continuous improvement and adoption of modern delivery approaches (Agile, hybrid).
• Reporting & Insights
• Produce accurate, timely dashboards and reports on portfolio performance, risks, and financials.
• Use data analytics to identify trends and recommend improvements.

Person specification

Key skills and experience and knowledge you will need are:

• Ability to research, investigate, analyse and present facts and numerical data to inform and support effective decision making.
• Able to work independently to manage own time, effectively planning and prioritising competing demands to ensure deadlines are met without compromising on quality.
• Ability to think innovatively when overcoming obstacles and influencing others to change their approach.
• Highly organised with a strong attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to interpret data and present it in easy-to-understand format.
• Experience of collaboratively working in a programme management office.
• Experience of influencing, persuasion and negotiation to achieve the desired outcomes and manage tight schedules.
• Experience in tracking, monitoring and forecasting performance of projects; displaying the confidence to act to affect progress.
• Budget/fiscal tracking.
• Project Management.
• Competent in Microsoft products including Excel, PowerPoint, Project and Visio.
• Able to apply risk management principles during the management of work and when making decisions.
• Handling data and information sensitively in accordance with the business procedures and/or law.
• Knowledge of Agile methodologies.
• Knowledge of Waterfall methodologies.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,027, Charity Commission contributes £12,754 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Alongside your salary, Charity Commission contributes towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

This is your chance to make a contribution that really matters and to make an impact in an organisation where your voice will be heard and your hard work noticed.

Watch this short video to find out more about us.

We operate a flexible hybrid working policy where office attendance is combined with at least 3 days homeworking per week dependent on role requirements.

We recognise everyone as an individual, accepting people for who they are and treating everyone fairly. We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring from all backgrounds and we aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We champion inclusion and wellbeing, aiming to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and has a sense of belonging.

We do not discriminate on the basis of culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor.

We offer access to the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme (employer contributions of 28.97%), far more than in the private sector, and a flexible, family-friendly environment. Additionally, you can look forward to other great benefits via our ‘Perkbox’ and ‘Edenred’ schemes. These include everything from an interest-free season ticket loan and bicycle loan (after two months) to discounts on gym membership, cinema tickets and restaurants. Please see the attached Charity Commission benefits document.

A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30 days per year. You have the opportunity to purchase up to an additional 5 days annual leave (pro rata) per year, requests must be submitted in the February of that year.

The Charity Commission’s operational ambition is to realise the Commission’s values of being an expert regulator that is fair, balanced, and independent, which works in a way that is supportive, collaborative, and innovative to achieve our ambitions. We want to develop our capability to regulate charities to realise this goal and meet our statutory and public duties to ensure that charity in England and Wales can deliver maximum benefit to society in a way that upholds its reputation in the eyes of the public.

Work at the Charity Commission and you’ll make a difference every day to:

• The 170,000 charities of all shapes and sizes that we regulate across England and Wales.
• The trustees we partner with and advise.
• The people and causes that benefit from the £10bn generously donated each year by the public.

Find out more about working for us here.

To note: Any move across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018 may have implications on an employee’s ability to carry on claiming childcare vouchers.

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, Strengths and Experience.

To apply for this post, you must complete the following:

• Comprehensive CV which lists qualifications and skills sets
• Personal statement of up to 750 words demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria for the role outlined on the Job Description.

We will assess your experience, strengths and the following Behaviours at Interview stage:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Interview Arrangements

Interviews will be taking place Face to Face in our Bootle office.

The sift is due to take place week commencing 6th April 2026.

Interviews will be held week commencing the 27th April 2026.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

At the interview, the panel can then probe further and ask applicants to provide further specific examples that show how they best demonstrate their skills.

We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process to manage numbers.

Behaviours

The distinguishing Behaviours (the required skills, knowledge, and behaviours) for this role are set out in the Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours (Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) and should be referred to when making this application.

You are required, under the Behaviours approach, to describe how you have dealt with a specific situation.

You must give evidence of your knowledge, skills, and behaviours and how you have applied this, such as what you did or said and how you interacted with other people.

When you are giving your examples, do not spend too many words on description and background information. Avoid using general or unspecific statements. Instead say what the situation was, what you did, what your thought process was and what was the result.

This post is full time however those applicants who do or wish to work an alternative working pattern are welcome to apply. The preferred working pattern may or may not be available. You should discuss this with the vacancy holder.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled persons, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via Charitycommissionrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Reserve Lists

If we have more successful candidates than available vacancies, we will hold a 12-month reserve list as standard.

During that time, we may use the list to fill the same, or similar roles with closely matching essential criteria, without further testing of merit. Any appointments from the Reserve list will be made in strict merit order.

Applying

We recognise everyone as an individual, accepting people for who they are and treating everyone fairly.

All applications for these vacancies must be made online. There are limited exceptions to this. Paper applications will only be considered if you have a disability that will prevent you from applying online. If this is the case, please email Charitycommissionrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Once you have submitted your application it cannot be amended; only submit your application when you have completely finished and answered all the relevant questions.

Please note that late applications will not be accepted.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

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.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 : Jonathan Busby
• Email : Recruitment@charitycommission.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : charitycommissionrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

The Charity Commission’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition.
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or if you feel the recruitment has been conducted in such a way that conflicts with the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance hrsupportservice@charitycommission.gov.uk.

If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web page here.

Attachments

PMO Manager Job Description Opens in new window (pdf, 210kB)Benefits Opens in new window (pdf, 169kB)The Role of the Charity Commission Opens in new window (pdf, 110kB)