Programme Manager

Job summary

We are seeking three experienced Programme Managers to lead the governance, assurance and performance of a programme of property projects within Defra Group Property.

You will ensure that projects led by Project Managers are set up and delivered in line with clear governance, robust controls and consistent delivery disciplines. As Programme Manager, you will be accountable for ensuring that a programme of interdependent property projects is governed and delivered effectively.

You will operate at programme level, setting standards, providing oversight, and holding delivery to account across multiple projects led by Project Managers. Your focus will be on ensuring that the right governance, assurance and delivery disciplines are consistently applied.

You will work in close partnership with the PMO, using programme data, reporting and controls to drive insight, inform decisions and maintain delivery discipline across the portfolio.

This is an opportunity for experienced Programme Managers who understands the difference between leading projects and leading programmes, and who can operate as a system leader across a complex delivery environment

Job description

Programme Governance & Assurance

• Alignment with robust programme governance frameworks, ensuring clarity of roles, responsibilities and decision-making
• Lead programme-level assurance, including reviews, controls and gateway processes
• Work with the PMO to ensure governance processes, reporting and controls are consistently applied and adhered to
• Ensure consistent application of project delivery standards, methodologies and controls across all projects
• Monitor programme health, using insight and data to ensure risks, issues and performance are transparently reported and managed
• Provide independent challenge to project teams and stakeholders to support robust, evidence-based decision-making

Portfolio Oversight & Integration

• Maintain the overall integrity and coherence of the programme across multiple projects
• Identify and manage interdependencies, working with the PMO to ensure these are clearly captured, tracked and actively managed
• Intervene where delivery is off track, working with Project Managers and the PMO to resolve systemic issues
• Ensure alignment between project delivery, business objectives and property strategy

Leadership of Delivery Community

• Provide leadership and direction to Project Managers
• Work in partnership with the PMO to drive consistent ways of working, high-quality reporting and a strong delivery culture
• Foster a culture of accountability, transparency and continuous improvement in delivery practice
• Support the development of strong project delivery capability across the team

Strategic Programme Leadership

• Ensure that programmes are aligned to strategic objectives and deliver intended outcomes and benefits
• Oversee the integrity of business cases and programme-level planning
• Use insight from reporting and assurance to inform strategic decision-making
• Engage effectively with stakeholders across property, corporate functions and the wider department.

Person specification

• Significant demonstratable experience operating as a Programme Manager, overseeing multiple projects within a complex delivery environment
• Strong track record of leading governance and assurance frameworks across programmes or portfolios
• Experience of working closely with a PMO to drive effective reporting, controls, assurance and performance management
• Track record of securing project approvals, including developing 5 case model business cases in collaboration with project leads and subject matter experts.
• Working knowledge of scheduling, budgeting and cost management, business change and implementation, change control, assurance, risk and benefits management.
• Significant demonstrable experience of overseeing project delivery through Project Managers or equivalent roles
• Ability to manage complexity, including dependencies, risks and competing priorities across a programme and/or portfolio
• Experience of providing constructive challenge and holding delivery teams to account

Qualifications

• Managing Successful Programmes (MSP)
• A recognised project management qualification such as;PRINCE2 Practitioner, Project Leadership Programme (PLP), APM Practitioner or equivalent.
• Membership of the Government Property Profession or Government Project Delivery Profession.
• A recognised Property Accreditation (or working towards) at Chartered, Certified or Fellow grade (RICS, IWFM, CIOB, CEng, CEnv, RTPI, RIBA) or APM Chartered Project Professional ChPP.

Qualifications

Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) A recognised project management qualification such as; PRINCE2 Practitioner, Project Leadership Programme (PLP), APM Practitioner or equivalent. Membership of the Government Property Profession or Government Project Delivery Profession. A recognised Property Accreditation (or working towards) at Chartered, Certified or Fellow grade (RICS, IWFM, CIOB, CEng, CEnv, RTPI, RIBA) or APM Chartered Project Professional ChPP.

Memberships

Member of the Government Property or Project Delivery Profession

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

• Knowledge of RIBA stages and property project lifecycle.Knowledge of governance, assurance and reporting activities within a typical monthly programme management cycle.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,375, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

• Flexi Time Policy. Our Flexi-time policy allows you to vary your hours from day to day, within the requirements of your role, to suit your needs and to offer a better work/life balance.

  Leave. If you work full time at Defra you are entitled to 25 days’ leave (rising, over 5 years, to 30 days’). If you work part time it will be pro-rated.

  Privilege day. You are also entitled to a privilege day off in May to mark the King’s birthday (date varies), plus time off for the 8 public holidays a year.

  Career breaks. We recognise that your work-life balance can extend beyond the short-term to the longer-term, and to support this you are able to apply for career breaks. These are unpaid extended breaks from work, granted at the discretion of the department.

  Volunteering leave - 3 days paid volunteering leave every year (pro-rata). Once you have passed probation.

  Season ticket loan – for an interest free season ticket loan, if you have worked within the Defra for more than three months. This can be used to purchase train and bus season tickets, as well as station car parking.

  Tenancy deposit loan – for an interest free loan, to assist you in meeting the deposit costs for your privately rented home.

  Salary advances and loans for other circumstances – for salary advances and loans in the following circumstances: for new entrants, for the purchase of bicycles, holidays and religious holidays.

  Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme – Since the closure to new entrants of the employer childcare voucher scheme, the government introduced the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. In this scheme, working parents open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 a year for each child or £4,000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare.

  Support to buy a bicycle – we run two schemes that can help you buy a bicycle for your commute:

  1. The Cycle to Work Scheme –you can apply for a bicycle for your commute, up to the value of £6,000, which is recovered from you through salary sacrifice, as a tax-free benefit. At the end of the repayment period, you have the option to buy the bike if you wish, saving around 30% of the original cost.
  2. Bike loan – if you are not eligible to apply for the Cycle to Work Scheme, you can apply for a loan of up to £1,000 towards the cost of a bike using the Bike loan scheme. This however is not a salary sacrifice scheme.

  High-street and online discounts. Offers through SmartSpending™ which is accessed through the StaR platform. Accessible 24/7, you can save at hundreds of top retailers.

  Maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave. We offer generous maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave – a total of 52 weeks leave to look after your new baby, regardless of your length of service. Most mothers are entitled to 39 weeks of paid leave, and a further 13 weeks of unpaid leave. Most partners are entitled to 15 days of paid paternity leave. Shared parental leave arrangements are in place, allowing parents to divide their leave with each other.

  Professional Membership. Defra group will fund one professional membership for each permanent employee which is relevant to their role.

  Eye care scheme. If you use a computer screen in connection with your job, we will pay for a regular eyesight test, and you may also be entitled to help towards purchasing new glasses, if they are needed for computer use.

  The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a free 24/7 confidential telephone advice service, available to all of our staff throughout the year.

  Civil Service Sports Council. The opportunity to join the Civil Services Sports Council.

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, Experience and Technical skills.

Application Process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement & behaviour statements.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted on the Lead Behaviour - Leadership

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Sifting will take place w/c 21st September

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on behaviours, technical skills and experience

Interviews are currently scheduled to take place w/c 5th October but may be subject to change.

A 5 minute presentation will be required at Interview. The subject will be 'You inherit a programme comprising multiple property projects. Several projects are amber/red, reporting is inconsistent and governance boards lack confidence in delivery. How would you establish control of the programme in your first 90 days’.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.

Near miss

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Defra which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match.

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Location

As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of1 2 months from which further appointments can be made.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Defra 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

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 Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.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 interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Accessibility

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

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Merit Lists

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Criminal Record Check

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be 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 circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Internal Fraud Database Check

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.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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 : Marie Holmes
• Email : marie.holmes1@defra.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.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, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here