Project Manager

Job summary

We are seeking experienced, highly organised and adaptable professionals to join the National Crime Agency as Project Managers.

To meet the constantly evolving challenge from serious and organised criminals we need to continuously transform and improve the capabilities needed to tackle them. Transforming and continuingly improving Agency's response is fundamental to how we will continue to protect the public.

This role is aligned to the Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF). Please see the linked document below for further details.

Project Manager SEO - Government Project Delivery

Job description

This is a unique opportunity to help deliver our ambitious programmes as we are looking for skilled, motivated and experienced Project Delivery professionals to join our team. You could be posted to a range of exciting and challenging Agency priorities, including: tackling organised immigration crime and money laundering; transforming our response to child sexual exploitation; changing the way we work with data and information at different security to classifications to improve our understanding and response to serious and organised crime; transform our estate to modernise the working environment and improve how we collaborate with partners; and changing how we run the Agency through the adoption of modernised Enterprise Resource Solutions.

Working in our Project Delivery profession you will get a great insight into the whole organisation and how it operates as a leader for wider law enforcement, it's a fantastic opportunity to bring your skills to help deliver our mission to lead the fight against serious and organised crime whilst being a key part of innovative, inclusive and vibrant teams.

Successful candidates may be posted to projects or programmes across a range of Commands within the Agency, depending on organisational priorities and business needs at the time of appointment. This offers opportunities to work on a variety of complex and rewarding initiatives that support the Agency's mission.

Please note that certain projects and programmes within the Agency require candidates to obtain Developed Vetting (DV) clearance. The level of security clearance required will vary depending on the command and team you are assigned. Please refer to the advert below for more information about the vetting requirements.

Duties and Responsibilities

Delivery - Define and lead the project to deliver agreed outcomes within time, cost and quality constraints.

Project Management - Manage and lead the project and team on a day-to-day basis. Sets project controls, design the project structure suitable for each stage, and select appropriate delivery methodologies.

Business Case - Coordinate the development of the business case.

Budget - Track delivery within the budget.

Resources - Schedule and manage resources to deliver the project using data insights. May work independently or with a small team.

Benefits Realisation - Ensure benefits are identified, understood, measured, tracked, and owned. Implement and monitor a benefits realisation strategy to ensure longer-term delivery of benefits against the business case.

Stakeholder Management - Identify key stakeholders and develop effective relationships.

Risks & Issues - Identify and monitor project risks and issues, develop mitigating actions, and escalate as needed.

Governance - Provide key reports and supports effective governance and decision-making.

Assurance - Support or establish appropriate project assurance measures.

Change Management - Ensure effective change management processes are in place to agree and document changes to deliverables with stakeholders.

Guidance & Support - Seek guidance, support, and coaching from the project community, commit to personal development, and promote effective individual and team performance.

Project Performance and Controls - Develop a project plan and applies project principles to achieve stated objectives. Set and monitor project controls and track delivery against milestones.

Digital and Data - Use digital tools to analyse data to understand progress against the plan and take mitigation actions and exploit opportunities. Use data to forecast future outcomes and address issues before they escalate. Provide actionable data driven insights to ensure stakeholders are kept informed and engaged throughout the project lifecycle.

Person specification

Visible Leadership - The ability to engage, motivate and coach others. To act as a role model and inspire and empower others.

Credible Action - The ability to promote the wider public good in all actions and to act in a morally, legally and socially appropriate manner at all times. Challenges unacceptable behaviour.

Working with Ambiguity - The ability to work in an environment of uncertainty and continual change. Able to feel comfortable making decisions and setting direction without having the full picture and re-focus as details emerge. Can apply knowledge and techiniques to reduce ambiguity.

Collaboration - The ability to establish and develop productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, bringing people together to benefit the project.

Influencing - The ability to influence, change and impact decisions with both internal and external stakeholders. Aligned to communicating and influencing.

Conflict Resolution - The ability to recognise, anticipate and effectively deal with existing or potential conflicts at an individual, team or strategic level.

Inspiring Others - The ability to create and present a compelling vision and set clear direction, that motivates others to work towards a common goal.

Resilience - The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and adverse situations whilst remaining calm, reassuring others and maintaining performance.

Innovation - The ability to think of, research and apply new ideas and ways of doing things. Encourages and supports innovations from others, is willing to experiment and follow ideas through to implementation

Culture Change - The ability to plan, lead and effect positive cultural change, securing commitment and buy-in, and promoting a positive long term vision. Recognises when broader culture change is necessary to deliver a project.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership

Technical skills

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

• 1. Good understanding and application of project and programme methodologies such as such as Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid or another structured approach with an emphasis on planning, change, risk and stakeholder engagement
• 2. Demonstrable experience of excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including a good understanding of commercial management/practices
• 3. Proven experience of managing a small/medium complexity project, or working as a member of a large/medium complexity project team - this will be assessed via a presentation

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,687, National Crime Agency contributes £16,711 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).

New entrants to the NCA receive 26 days annual leave, rising to 31 on completion of 5 years continuous service, plus 8 bank holidays.

If qualifying criteria is met new joiners from UK Police Forces or the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) will have service with those employers taken into account for continuous service purposes for annual leave entitlement only, this will be up to a maximum of 31 days leave (including 1 privilege day).

Other benefits include:

• Flexible working, including flexi-time, compressed hours and job sharing (in line with business requirements)
• Family friendly policies, notably above the statutory minimum
• Learning and Development opportunities
• Interest free loans and advances, including season tickets, childcare and rental deposits
• Housing schemes - Key Worker status
• Discounts and Savings with a wide variety of services including Cycle to Work, Smart Tech schemes, dental insurance, gym discounts and savings on everyday spending, available through the Reward Gateway , Edenred and Blue Light Card schemes.
• Staff support groups/networks
• Sports and social activities, including membership to the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC)

Further information is available on the NCA Website.

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.

How we will assess you

Your application will be assessed against the following:

Technical - this will be assessed by 500 word examples on:

1. Good understanding and application of project and programme methodologies such as such as Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid or another structured approach with an emphasis on planning, change, risk and stakeholder engagement
2. Demonstrable experience of excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including a good understanding of commercial management/practices

Experience - This will be assessed:

CV

Please include your full career history, training, qualifications, key responsibilities, and achievements. Explain any employment gaps in the last two years. Ensure all accreditation dates are accurate.

Details of what is expected within your CV are as follows: Please upload a CV of no more than two pages, using a minimum font size of 11. Your CV must clearly demonstrate how your skills, knowledge, and experience meet the essential criteria outlined for this role:

Proven experience of planning, managing, and delivering complex or large projects or workstreams within a programme.
AND
Demonstrable commercial awareness, including experience and good understanding of commercial management/practices

Any gaps in employment or education over the past 5 years should be clearly explained within your CV.

This vacancy will use the CV for longlisting. Candidates must achieve the minimum benchmark at this stage for the remainder of their application to be assessed and progressed to the full sift.

A panel will assess how well your application demonstrates the requirements outlined above.

You will receive an acknowledgement once your application is submitted.

We aim to have sift completed and scores released within 10 working days of the closing date of the advert. For high volume campaigns this timeframe may be extended.

Scores will be provided but further feedback will not be available at this stage.

For guidance on the application process, visit:
NCA Applying and Onboarding

Assessment 1

The format of this assessment will be Interview which will be tested on the criteria listed in the Success Profiles at Assessment section.

Additional assessment methods used alongside Interview

As part of the assessment process a Presentation will be required to assess the criteria outlined below:

Successful candidates progressing from sift to interview must deliver a 15-minute presentation covering Technical 3 below: Proven experience of managing a small/medium complexity project, or working as a member of a large/medium complexity project team

Success Profiles at Assessment

Behaviours

Delivering at Pace

Leadership

Technical

1. Good understanding and application of project and programme methodologies such as such as Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid or another structured approach with an emphasis on planning, change, risk and stakeholder engagement
2. Demonstrable experience of excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including a good understanding of commercial management/practices
3. Proven experience of managing a small/medium complexity project, or working as a member of a large/medium complexity project team - this will be assessed via a presentation
   Please prepare a presentation on a project you managed or played a significant role in delivering. Your presentation should cover:
   - Project objectives and context.
   - Your role and responsibilities.
   - Delivery methodology used.
   - Risks, issues and dependencies managed.
   - Key stakeholder challenges.
   - Significant decisions you were responsible for.
   - Outcome achieved and benefits realised.
   - Lessons learned.

Assessment Outcome

Outcomes will be communicated via the NCA recruitment portal.

If successful but no role is immediately available, you may be placed on a reserve list for 12 months.

Reserve lists can be used to fill similar role types across the Agency where the assessment criteria is considered a match by the recruitment team and the business area.

In the event of a tie at the assessment stage, available roles will be offered in merit order using the following order:

1. Lead criteria (behaviours/technical/experience)
2. If still tied, desirable criteria will be assessed (if advertised)
3. If still tied, application sift scores will be used

Feedback is provided only to those who attend an assessment.

You will be subject to vetting and pre-employment checks before appointment.

Once the vacancy closes, the advert will no longer be accessible. Please save a copy for your records.

We encourage all candidates to visit the NCA Careers Page for more information.

Full advert details for this vacancy can found on the advert on the NCA Recruitment Portal. Please follow the link to apply at advertisers' site

Vetting requirements - SC Enhanced

Prior to commencing the role, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance and then achieve DV Enhanced clearance within the first 12 months in post.

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.

The requirement for DV Enhanced clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 7 of the last 10 years.

Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

If the increased clearance cannot be obtained you will be moved to a role appropriate to your clearance level achieved on entry.

For further information on National Security Vetting checks please visit the following page Demystifying Vetting

Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks.

Occupational Health

Successful candidates will be expected to undertake an occupational health assessment. Depending on the role an in-person medical may be required in either London or Warrington. Unfortunately, travel costs will not be reimbursed.

Things you need to know

Multi Location

Where multiple locations are advertised, appointments will be made in merit order for each location.

Please indicate up to three location preferences clearly. Only your first three preferences will be considered. You may be allocated to any of the locations you select. If you decline an offer for a location you have selected as a preference, a further offer may not be made.

If you choose to reject an offer and no alternative preferred location can be offered, you will not be able to return to the process or be placed on a reserve list.

Only the advertised locations are available; any additional notes added to the application will not be taken into account.

Near Miss

If you meet the criteria for a lower grade, you may be offered that role if not appointable at the advertised grade.

Conversely, if found appointable at a higher grade but no posts are available, you may be offered a lower-grade role.

All offers are made based on merit.

Hybrid Working

The NCA supports hybrid working. The extent of remote working will depend on the role and can be discussed at the offer stage.

Reasonable Adjustments

We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and an inclusive, equal opportunities employer.

We’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone can be their authentic self. If you’re neurodiverse, have a disability, or live with a long-term health condition, we encourage you to let us know about any reasonable adjustments you may need during the recruitment process.

If you experience accessibility issues with the advert or require reasonable adjustments, please contact our Recruitment Team at Central.Recruitment@nca.gov.uk before the advert closing date.

Please ensure you complete the ‘Equal opportunities’ and 'Reasonable Adjustments' sections in the application form to inform us on what support you may need in the recruitment process.

For more on our Disability Confident commitment, visit Disability Confident Scheme , Civil Service Careers.

Visit NCA Benefits and Support for more details.

Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

In order to monitor the effectiveness of the National Crime Agency's Diversity & Inclusion strategy, we require certain personal details about you on submission of your application for statistical and monitoring purposes only. Please note that this will be treated in confidence and will not impact your application.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

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 security 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

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 : The Recruitment Team
• Email : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk

Further information

If you believe your application has not been treated fairly, email: Central.Recruitment@nca.gov.uk (quoting the vacancy reference).
If unresolved, you may escalate your complaint to the Civil Service Commission.