Principal Project Manager

Job summary

As a Principal Project Manager, you’ll be responsible for delivering a variety of complex, high-impact projects, taking them from initiation through to completion. The portfolio you cover will be broad and varied, spanning business change to technical programmes. Across every project, you’ll be trusted to shape the delivery approach, set expectations, guide multi-disciplinary teams and keep projects moving forward in environments where priorities shift and challenges evolve.

Alongside this day-to-day delivery leadership, you’ll also operate at a strategic level, leading whole projects or major elements of larger programmes, driving governance and assurance activity, and writing and managing business cases that support informed decision-making.

Job description

The projects you lead will directly enable major organisational outcomes. Your leadership will span the full project lifecycle, planning, scheduling and coordinating; managing time, cost, quality and benefits; and proactively controlling risk, issues, dependencies and change. This involves bringing structure to uncertainty, creating momentum during periods of change, and offering clarity when key decisions are required.

You’ll engage and influence stakeholders at all levels, including senior leaders, partners, suppliers and customers, producing clear reports, briefings and recommendations that support confident decision-making. Delivery methods will be tailored to each project to suit the context and unlock progress and value.

Some projects will be led independently; others will place you within larger, multi-disciplinary delivery groups. In every case, you’ll be supported by a well-established project management community, and the outcomes you deliver will have real-world impact across the organisation. The role also includes line management responsibilities, with opportunities to take on mentoring as part of your continued development. Occasional UK travel may be required to meet teams and engage with stakeholders.

A structured induction will help you understand our mission, ways of working, and the delivery community you’ll be joining. During your first weeks, you’ll meet your line manager and a dedicated buddy who will support your transition, build your confidence, and help you navigate the organisation.

Development continues through a blend of internal and external training, practical experience, and community support. As a corporate member of the Association for Project Management (APM), we encourage you to explore relevant courses, frameworks, and accreditation pathways. Access to mentoring, coaching, regular career check-ins and project management forums, will provide you with opportunities to share learning and strengthen your professional network.

Ongoing development is integral to the role. Support is available to deepen expertise across planning, risk, financials, reporting and benefits, as well as to build leadership capabilities needed for increasingly complex delivery. Whether the aim is to broaden experience, specialise in a particular area or progress into more senior project roles, guidance and opportunities are in place to help you grow with confidence. Throughout this journey, an active and generous project management community contributes to shared learning and professional growth.

Person specification

You have a recognised project management qualification, such as the Association for Project Management (APM) Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ), the APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ), or an equivalent certification. You’ll also have at least four GCSEs at Grade 4/C or above (including English and Mathematics), or equivalent Level 2 qualifications, or relevant experience demonstrating solid numeracy and communication.

You have experience delivering projects across varied environments and are ready to take on more complex, higher-impact work. You’ve led significant workstreams, engaged with senior stakeholders, and maintained progress when challenges arise. You understand the foundations of project management, planning, reporting, financial tracking, risks, issues and change, and can apply these with confidence in environments where detail, judgement and clear communication matter.

You know how to influence, negotiate and collaborate with a wide range of colleagues, from technical specialists to business generalists. You adapt your communication style to suit different audiences, presenting information clearly to support informed decision-making.

Your credibility, consistency and reliability help you build trust quickly across teams.

Experience delivering projects in environments such as agile delivery, digital or engineering settings, Government Digital Service (GDS) frameworks, cyber security, or emerging technologies (including artificial intelligence) would be beneficial, though not essential.

You bring qualities that define successful project managers at this level: flexibility in shifting environments, calmness under pressure, a proactive approach to problem-solving, and curiosity about how to deliver the best possible results. You value collaboration and shared learning, and you’re committed to your own development, ready to stretch your leadership skills and continue progressing.

Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary £53,000 to £64,841 dependent on skills and experience, plus other benefits including:

• 25 days’ annual leave, rising automatically to 30 days after 5 years' service, plus an additional 10.5 days of public and privilege holidays
• opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• an interest-free season ticket loan
• an excellent pension scheme
• a cycle to work scheme
• facilities such as a gym, restaurant, and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
• paid parental and adoption leave

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

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

1. Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) rating the appropriateness of your responses to a series of short scenarios. The SJT tests criteria important for all roles in our organisation.
2. Application sift, which will assess your motivation for the role, the organisation and your relevant experience.
3. Interview to assess competency and suitability for the role.
4. If successful, you’ll receive the conditional offer of employment, subject to a drugs test and vetting.

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

At GCHQ, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a workforce that truly reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: people of different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including individuals from groups that are currently under-represented in our workforce, such as women, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Visit our website to find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity .

GCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme. The scheme encourages employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident organisation, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for this position, assessed at sift, are offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. This is known as the Offer of Interview. To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

• You will be required to reach the minimum pass mark for the Organisational Situational Judgement Test which looks at your ability to problem solve. If you meet this criteria, you will be directed to complete an application form.
• You must hold a minimum of four GCSEs at Grade 4/C or above, including English Language and Mathematics, or equivalent Level 2 qualifications. Relevant experience demonstrating solid numeracy and communication skills may be considered as an alternative.
• You must hold a recognised project management qualification, such as the Association for Project Management (APM) Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ), the APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ), or an equivalent certification.
• Experience delivering projects across varied environments, with accountability for managing projects or significant workstreams.
• Effective stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with experience influencing senior stakeholders and presenting clear, concise information to a variety of audiences.

To work at GCHQ, you must be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. Read about our eligibility criteria.

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. Find out more about the vetting process.

Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs, and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.

Before applying, we recommend setting up a separate email address for your contact with us to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid including identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you manage your application with us more securely.

The role is based in Cheltenham, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.

We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in-person appointments during the recruitment and vetting process. Full details will be provided with your interview or assessment invitation. Reimbursement is discretionary and will only be made in line with the Candidate Expenses Policy, as amended from time to time. Candidates must book their own travel, using the most economical option, and provide original hard copy receipts for reimbursement.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to begin your application. Applying from outside the UK will affect our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date for this role once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.

Please note, it is this organisation's policy not to provide feedback at any stage of the recruitment process. This may be contrary to the message below.

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

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (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

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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

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 : careers@recruitmentteam.org.uk
• Email : careers@recruitmentteam.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : careers@recruitmentteam.org.uk