Programme Manager, Grade 7, Temp, Liverpool / London

Job summary

Are you passionate about driving meaningful organisational change that improves services, strengthens ways of working, and delivers long‑term impact?

Do you enjoy shaping complex transformation programmes, aligning diverse stakeholders, and turning strategic vision into tangible outcomes?

Can you lead the planning, coordination and delivery of key transformational change across the organisation? Can you bring structure, insight and strong programme leadership to ensure initiatives are delivered on time, within scope and to a high standard?

As a member of the Delivery function, you will work closely with the Head of Delivery, Delivery Managers, Project Managers, Senior Stakeholders and colleagues across the Commission.

The Programme Manager will lead a complex multi-year transformation programme aligned to Government Digital Service (GDS) standards and the organisation’s digital strategy. You will be responsible for ensuring successful delivery of end‑to‑end services, coordinating multiple workstreams, and ensuring that delivery teams adhere to user‑centred design, agile delivery, and technical governance. You will also work with the cross-functional teams and manage multiple projects simultaneously, including developing, maintain, and executing integrated delivery plans.

As part of your role, you will be responsible for managing dependencies of varying complexity, removing blockers and managing risks. You will have awareness of the of the overall programme and will balance objectives and understand when to redeploy resources as priorities may changes.

You will be responsible for communicating the overall programme's progress, risks and decisions clearly and confidently, facilitating workshops, and discussions to ensure shared understanding across the business.

Job description

The main things you will be doing are:

Programme Leadership & Strategy

Provide strategic leadership and direction across the transformation programme, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and GDS standards. Develop and maintain the programme roadmap, including milestones, dependencies, scope, and benefits realisation. Work closely with senior leadership to set vision, constraints, and delivery approach.

Governance & Assurance

Establish and manage programme governance, including steering groups, decision-making forums, and reporting mechanisms. Prepare for and lead GDS service assessments (Alpha, Beta, Live) and ensure compliance with service standards. Provide high‑quality reporting to the Portfolio Board, Strategic Change Board and Senior Leadership

Delivery Management

Work alongside multiple agile delivery teams and programme managers, ensuring they have the resources, clarity, and support needed to deliver successfully. Manage programme‑level risks, issues, assumptions, and dependencies, escalating where necessary. Ensure integration across digital, policy, operations, data, and technical architecture.

Stakeholder Engagement

Act as the primary contact for programme communications, managing relationships with internal stakeholders and third parties. Facilitate collaboration between digital, operational, policy, and commercial teams. Manage expectations through clear, consistent communication and evidence‑based reporting.

Financial & Commercial Management

Manage programme budgets, including forecasting, financial controls, and cost tracking. Work with commercial colleagues to oversee supplier performance, contracts, and procurement activity.

People & Capability

Foster a culture of continuous improvement, agile ways of working, and user‑centred design. Support capability building across the wider organisation.

Person specification

Key skills and experience and knowledge you will need are:

• Strong understanding of multidisciplinary team environments.
• Excellent stakeholder management.
• Understanding of digital accessibility and inclusive designs.
• Understanding of GDS Service standard, user-centred design, agile delivery and digital governance.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to resolve complex issues and proactively resolve conflicts.
• Excellent at managing multiple projects, priorities, and timelines simultaneously.
• Experienced in building and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders, negotiating positive outcomes on challenging issues

Qualifications

Agile/ Project qualifications (Scrum, AgilePM, Prince2, APM)

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,245, Charity Commission contributes £16,583 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.

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:

• A blind CV setting out your Job History/Full Qualifications/Previous skill and experiences
• Personal statement of up to 750 words demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria for the role outlined on the Job Description.

At interview you will be assessed on your experience, strengths and the following behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace

You will also be asked to carry out a presentation at interview. This will be on a prepared topic and will assess your knowledge and experience.

Interview Arrangements

Interviews will be taking place via Teams.

The sift is due to take place between 22/04/202 - 24/04/2026.

Interviews will be held between 27/04/2026 - 08/05/2026.

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.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.

Behaviours:

The distinguishing Behaviours (the required skills, knowledge, and behaviours) for this role are set out in the Civil Service Behaviours Framework 2018 (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.

Fixed Term Contracts – Important Information

This is a fixed-term appointment as a Grade 7 in the CC - DDaT team. Your responsibilities are listed in the Job Description for this post. This post will therefore begin from the date of your appointment and end 24 months later.

Permanent civil servants joining the Charity Commission on a Fixed-term Appointment:

If you accept a Fixed-term Appointment with the Charity Commission it must be a transfer from your home department on a loan basis to ensure you can return to your home department at the end of the Fixed-term Appointment.

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 : Collette Clayton
• 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 hrselfservice@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

Programme Manager Job Description Opens in new window (pdf, 249kB)Benefits Opens in new window (pdf, 169kB)The role of the Charity Commission Opens in new window (pdf, 112kB)