Project Manager (Ref: 19260)

Job summary

This is a National Role

Job description

Job role: SEO Project Manager

Directorate: HMCTS Change Directorate

About us

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for administering criminal, civil, and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. Our mission is to deliver justice effectively and efficiently, helping people and businesses access justice.

Our Change Directorate is at the forefront of delivering this mission, managing a dynamic portfolio of 20–30 projects desgned to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and accessibility of our services. As a Project Manager, you will contribute across a varied portfolio, taking on different projects over time that align with both organisational priorities and your professional development. This role offers a valuable opportunity to broaden your experience, strengthen your skills, and make a meaningful impact across multiple areas of the organisation.

This is more than just a project role; it’s a chance to build a career with real purpose. We’re looking for individuals driven by public service, who thrive in a dynamic environment and want their work to make a meaningful difference to people’s lives.

Join HMCTS and play a key role in shaping a more accessible and effective justice system for all.

About the role

As an SEO Project Manager, you will be responsible for the day-to-day management of a project or workstream, including leading and coordinating the project team.

You will be responsible for driving and overseeing the delivery of the project to ensure that the objectives are clearly defined and achieved within the agreed time, cost, and quality constraints. As an SEO Project Manager, you will play a key role in project governance and working with stakeholders, to ensure the agreed project outputs are delivered to enable benefits to be realised.

Your role as the SEO Project Manager encompasses several key aspects, including but not limited to:

• Define and document project scope, goals and deliverables that support business goals in collaboration with senior management and stakeholders, including day-to-day management and leadership of the project and the project team.
• Identify and manage project dependencies and critical path.
• Develop and deliver progress reports, proposals, requirements documentation, and presentations.
• Monitor the project budget, including tracking against supplier statement of works/timesheets.
• Execute project lifecycle in accordance with in-house processes and government standards.

For a comprehensive overview of the role and its requirements, please refer to the attached Role Profile, Candidate Information Pack, and the Government Project Delivery Capability Framework: Project Manager SEO - Government Project Delivery (link)

Who are we looking for? (Person Specification)

Suitable for candidates who have worked within a medium or large, complex project team, or have led a specialist area or workstream on a smaller, less complex project.

Candidates should demonstrate that they meet the following essential criteria in line with the Project Manager, SEO-level as set out in the Government Project Delivery Capability Framework (link)

Essential

Experience of delivering projects or a defined workstream within a larger programme, including planning, tracking and reporting progress. (Lead Criterion)

Ability to manage risks, issues and dependencies, taking action to keep delivery on track.

Experience of working with stakeholders to deliver agreed outcomes, including handling challenges and escalating appropriately.

Experience delivering projects (or ability to deliver work) on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards in a structured environment.

Experience producing clear, concise written outputs (e.g. reports, briefings or contributions to business cases or equivalent documents) for a range of audiences.

Working knowledge of project governance and approval processes (or equivalent in other organisations).

How to apply

Please submit a CV that clearly demonstrates your skills and experience against the essential criteria, ensuring it is clearly formatted, concise, well‑structured and no more than 2 pages.

You should also submit a Statement of Suitability (maximum 250 words) outlining how your experience meets the essential criteria. We are particularly interested in your experience delivering projects, or defined workstreams within a larger programme.

Please clearly describe your role and contribution in the examples you provide, and consider using the STAR (link) format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your response.

In the event of high application volumes, an initial sift may be carried out using evidence provided within the CV against the lead criterion only. Applications not meeting this requirement may not be progressed further.

Please note: We review all applications manually; no automated or algorithmic sifting is used.

Interview

If successful at sift, you will be invited to attend a remote interview via Microsoft Teams. The interview will be assessed against the Civil Service Success Profiles Framework and the Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF) at SEO level.

Interview format

We use a blended interview approach, combining different question types to assess a full range of skills and experience.

This will include:

Experience based question on your experience in delivering projects, or defined workstreams within a larger programme.

Behaviour questions on the following:

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

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

Strength based question

These explore how you naturally approach work, what you enjoy doing, and where you perform best. Please note that this question is not shared in advance.

Practical assessment: Technical skills

As part of the interview, you will present a short 5-minute presentation designed to reflect key aspects of the role. You will be provided with pre-reading ahead of your interview and can choose to present either verbally or with a slide deck (maximum of 3 slides). The panel will follow your presentation with a brief Q&A.

This assessment will assess how you apply your experience, approach decision-making, and demonstrate your delivery style in a practical, role-relevant context.

You will be expected to align your answers to the Project Delivery Capability Framework at SEO Level Project Manager SEO - Government Project Delivery (link)

Further information on the relevant frameworks and the required standards for this SEO

post can be found at:

Project Manager SEO - Government Project Delivery (link)

Success Profiles - GOV.UK (link)

Travel requirements

This role is advertised nationally; however, the successful candidate will be expected to travel for ad hoc project meetings and to support project implementation. Travel and accommodation costs incurred for official duties will be fully funded by HMCTS in line with departmental policy.

About our benefits

We reward our people for their hard work and commitment. We have a number of family friendly and flexible working polices that will help you achieve a healthy work-life balance. In addition, we offer a range of employee benefits which include generous annual leave, a highly competitive contributory pension scheme, childcare benefits, season ticket and bicycle loans.

Proud to Serve. Proud to keep justice going.

Technical Skills

As part of the interview, you will present a short 5-minute presentation designed to reflect key aspects of the role. You will be provided with pre-reading ahead of your interview and can choose to present either verbally or with a slide deck (maximum of 3 slides). The panel will follow your presentation with a brief Q&A. This assessment will assess how you apply your experience, approach decision-making, and demonstrate your delivery style in a practical, role-relevant context.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Please refer to the Technical Skills section in the Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,914, HM Courts and Tribunals Service contributes £12,432 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).

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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, Experience and Technical skills.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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 : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk
• Telephone : 0345 241 5359

Recruitment team

• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and 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: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/19260?entityId=19260