Project Manager

Job summary

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Holocaust Memorial Team is a small but growing, high performing team delivering a nationally significant, high profile and politically sensitive Major Programme in the heart of Westminster: the United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.

We are responsible for delivering the Government’s commitment, first made in January 2015, to implement the recommendations set out in Britain’s Promise to Remember, the report of the Prime Minister’s cross party commission on Holocaust remembrance. The ambition includes:

Constructing a striking new national Memorial, with an integrated Learning Centre, at Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster.

Creating a powerful exhibition, grounded in the best historical research, explaining the facts of the Holocaust from British perspectives.

Establishing an Operating Body with the capability and resources to operate the Memorial and Learning Centre.

The Holocaust (the murder of Europe’s Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators) remains unsurpassed in its aims and scale. The questions it raises continue to resonate today, including in relation to subsequent genocides and the persistence of antisemitism. The UK’s Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre will be a national institution for Holocaust remembrance, encouraging reflection on its implications for British government and society, both historically and in the present day.

The programme is being delivered through a team of civil servants and specialist contractors and is subject to a high level of Parliamentary scrutiny, public interest and formal assurance. We are seeking an exceptional and senior-focused project manager to provide control, governance, and assurance across the portfolio.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Programme Manager, this role provides programme level control, planning, coordination, and assurance across a portfolio of interrelated projects. The postholder will support the effective integration of delivery activity, maintaining a coherent forward plan, overseeing programme level risks, issues, and dependencies, and ensuring governance and reporting arrangements support timely and well informed decision making. The role works closely with project and workstream leads to provide oversight and structured challenge.

As Project Manager, you will be responsible for leading the planning, execution, and delivery of projects that together comprise the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre Programme. You will coordinate across a wide range of senior stakeholders, manage complex interdependencies, delivering to time, cost, scope, and quality.

The role requires the ability to navigate significant political, commercial, financial, and reputational complexity, while maintaining transparency, compliance with relevant policies and standards, and a clear focus on outcomes.

Job description

You will:

• Oversee HMLC programmelevel planning, risk management, reporting, and assurance across the full project lifecycle, ensuring delivery to agreed time, cost, and quality standards.
• Lead the development and execution of integrated programme plans maintaining a clear and accurate record of decisions, actions, and accountabilities.
• Lead the secretariat function supporting the Programme Board, including the preparation of highquality, decisionfocused papers for the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) and senior leaders.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders across MHCLG, HM Treasury, No.10, and delivery partners, providing clear advice and managing expectations effectively.
• Manage and continuously improve reporting, performance management, and external assurance processes.
• Provide structured challenge, professional project management guidance, and support to colleagues, embedding lessons learned and best practice across the programme.
• Work with Commercial and Finance Leads to ensure robust the funding for the programme is tightly managed, providing support to valueformoney assessments and the development and refresh of business cases.

This is a highautonomy and demanding role requiring practitionerlevel technical expertise and the confidence to influence senior stakeholders at the most senior levels of government including HMT and No10.

Person specification

You will demonstrate:

• Experience of leading or significantly managing complex, multistrand programmes or major projects, with high levels of risk, interdependency and uncertainty.

• Experience of leading or coordinating multidisciplinary teams, including civil servants, consultants and delivery partners.

• Experience of establishing and running robust project and programme level controls, including planning, milestones, dependencies, risks, issues and benefits.

• Proven ability to engage, influence and provide clear advice to senior stakeholders both internally and externally

• Experience of supporting or servicing programme boards and the ability to produce concise, decisionfocused papers and brief senior leaders effectively.

• Experience with contract and/or supply chain management

You will:

• Hold a recognised project or programme management qualification at Practitioner level (such as PRINCE2, Managing Successful Programmes, Association for Project Management, Managing Projects and Leading Workstreams, or the Project Leadership Programme).

• You will hold Practitioner Level Government Project Delivery accreditation or willingness to work towards it.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,167, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £16,271 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

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

Application and Selection

The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience: In your covering letter (maximum of 750 words) and CV please outline how your experience meets the person specification and essential skills

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.

If you run into any technical problems when applying through Be Applied (for example, trouble logging in or submitting your application), their support team can help. Please contact them at hello@beapplied.com.

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: Delivering at Pace, Working Together, Leadership, Making Effective Decisions.

• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

Candidates will be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation, further details will be provided on invitation to interview. The presentation will be assessed against Experience

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place 07/04/2026.

How We Recruit

Find out more about our recruitment processes here.

• Applying

• Sifting

• Interview

• Interview Results & Feedback

• Reserve List

• Near Miss

• Civil Service Grades

• We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer

• Reasonable Adjustments

How to Apply

Find out everything you need to know before applying here.

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.

• Security Clearance Requirements

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements

• Right to Work

• Artificial Intelligence

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles

• CV Declaration

• Sponsorships

• Salary and Grade

• Existing Civil Servants

• Conflict of Interest

• Location and Flexible Working

• Fixed Term Contracts

• Internal Fraud Database - Internal Fraud Register

• Appeals and Complaints

• Conflict of Interest

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office:

London Office: + CTC

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (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

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

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 : Chris Olsen
• Email : chris.olsen@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:

a procedural irregularity

an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy

exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk

Attachments

1a. MHCLG Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 834kB)1b. Candidate Guidance Opens in new window (pdf, 355kB)1c. Success Profiles Candidate information Opens in new window (pdf, 936kB)Darlington Economic Campus Career Pathways Opens in new window (pdf, 452kB)