Programme Delivery Manager

Job summary

DfE Connect exists to tackle fragmentation across the department, connecting services, data, and platforms to create a joined‑up service offering for schools. Our mission is to enable schools to access the information, support, and guidance they need, when they need it.

By delivering a coherent and personalised offer from across the whole department, we will reduce duplication and inconsistency, making it easier for schools to engage with DfE confidently and efficiently.

We are an empowered, multidisciplinary team uniquely positioned to bring platforms and services together in a way that makes sense for school and trust leaders—helping them feel confident that they are effective, compliant, and able to identify opportunities to improve.

DfE Connect also supports wider transformation across the department: moving towards a more efficient, integrated, user‑centred organisation that understands its users and maximises its impact on the schools it supports.

Our diverse and inclusive culture reflects the society we live in. This helps us to achieve better outcomes for all our users. We work in multi-disciplinary teams using Agile methods to innovate and radically improve services that:

• Raise education standards and provide the best start in life for children.
• Support disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people.
• Drive economic growth.

You can read more about our strategy on the DfE digital and technology blog, by visiting our LinkedIn page, or by following us on Twitter @DfE_DigitalTech .

Job description

We’re looking for someone with a strong digital delivery background who thrives in agile environments. In this role you will deliver across organisational boundaries, working closely with other digital delivery teams in DfE and a wide range of stakeholders to bring together a cross-cutting programme of work. Your work will help connect products and services across our estate so they make sense for the people who use them.

You’ll bring excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the confidence to engage senior stakeholders. You’ll have broad and deep experience across programmes, products and services, and understand delivery across the full lifecycle. You will act as the main point of escalation for delivery issues and take accountability for decisions that keep the programme moving.

You will be an active member of the portfolio’s senior management team and contribute to the delivery of the wider departmental strategy.

As programme delivery manager you will oversee the effective delivery of a complex, high-risk programme made up of multiple products and services. These will be delivered in an agile environment by several multidisciplinary teams. You will lead and support your community of delivery managers, ensuring that each person can work to the best of their ability and that the community continues to grow and develop. You will coach and mentor delivery managers so they build their practice and confidence.

You will also play an active role in the delivery management leadership community across the department and contribute to the wider DfE community and profession.

As a Programme Delivery Manager, you will:

• Lead and motivate multiple multi-disciplinary teams, helping them organise and plan their work, ensuring they make progress, meet the government service standard and create services that meet users’ needs. Assess the effectiveness of teams and engage with them in different ways depending on their needs, facilitating collaboration across teams as needed.
• Ensure teams understand their vision, scope and goals and these align as required across the department. Ensure teams clearly communicate their approach, plans and progress.
• Identify the people, skills and resources that teams need to deliver the agreed goals.
• Provide information and structures that support effective and appropriate governance.
• Identify and challenge organisational processes that impede delivery and work with stakeholders as needed to improve them.
• Use your delivery expertise to identify and actively manage risks, issues and internal and external dependencies across multiple delivery teams. Act as an escalation point for risks raised by delivery teams, supporting or intervening as necessary to enable prompt and effective management.
• Work with teams in other portfolios, managing dependencies closely through open communication and careful collaborative planning activities for successful delivery of your team’s cross cutting work.
• Manage a diverse and unique set of stakeholders to ensure good relations and effective communication. Work with policy leaders to develop their ability to support agile ways of working.

Working with the Head of Profession for Delivery Management, you will also:

• Help create a culture and environment where teams can deliver effectively, are passionate about their work and can bring their ‘whole selves’ to work.
• Build agile delivery management capability through hands on coaching and identifying development opportunities.

Learn more about the role and the skills needed for it:

Programme delivery manager - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• In-depth knowledge of Agile methodologies and how they help deliver products and services at scale. Strong track record of building agile capability and developing team members.
• Strong advocate for user-centred design and ability to apply this approach within Agile delivery teams and in the approach to stakeholder engagement.
• Significant track record of successfully delivering difficult or complex digital programmes or portfolios of work, leading, coordinating and motivating multi-site, multi-disciplinary teams.
• Able to deal with difficult, ambiguous delivery challenges and drive them to a resolution.
• Experience of managing people, teams, and other environmental factors to resolve and manage impediments, blockers and risks.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills to be able to mediate and communicate with stakeholders at all levels and between organisational, technical and political boundaries.
• Experience of effective supplier management including building strong relationships, more cost-effective services and improved performance.
• A continuous approach to planning, forecasting, estimating, managing uncertainty, metrics and measurements, contingency planning and roadmapping both within your portfolio but also with teams across other portfolios. Ability to communicate the plan, planning assumptions and progress to a range of stakeholders, maintain the cadence of delivery and manage the relationships between different people within and across teams.

Desirable criteria

• Able to quickly get up to speed with product, policy and political contexts, in order to create a positive environment for delivery.
• Experience of financial management and knowing how to negotiate, influence or set budgets in complex environments. Able to write or input into business cases and communicate business-value propositions.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview in the event of a tie break situation to make an informed decision.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,854, Department for Education contributes £20,526 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

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 Experience.

Application

At sift stage, you will be assessed on your experience in line with the essential skills listed in the person specification section of the job advert.

To apply for this role, please provide:

1. A ShortCV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role.
2. A Statement of Suitability(no more than 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the job advert.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the statement of suitability is 1000 words. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 1000 words will not be taken into account.

The CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the essential criteria detailed in the advert.

If there is a high volume of applicants, candidates may be sifted on the first three (3) essential criteria.

Interview

If you are successful at sift, you will be invited to a 45-minute interview.

At interview you will be asked questions to assess your experience in line with the essential criteria listed above.

At interview you will be asked questions around the behaviours listed in the advert.

We receive many applications, and unfortunately we’re not able to provide feedback for candidates who aren’t shortlisted. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Other Information

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

• name/title
• educational institutions
• age
• gender
• email address
• postal address
• phone number
• nationality/immigration status

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

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

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, 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 Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk 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 interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming 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/

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 : Cathy Dutton
• Email : Cathy.dutton@education.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If 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

Attachments

DFE Terms & Conditions - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 215kB)Reasonable Adjustments guide 05_2025 - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)OGD Transfer Supplementary information - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 327kB)