Senior Delivery Business Partner

Job summary

Do you thrive on influencing senior leaders and strengthening confidence in the delivery of complex, high-profile programmes?

Are you passionate about improving how government delivers – using insights, assurance and collaboration to drive real outcomes?

If so, this role offers a unique opportunity to shape delivery confidence across some of the departments most critical programmes.

Our department is at the heart of the government's agenda for change. We are focused on building good homes and strong communities where people can live, work and thrive right across the United Kingdom.

Working within the Central Delivery Unit (CDU) part of the Commercial Directorate, you will be at the heart of a highly visible and influential team, working closely with senior leaders and delivery professionals across MHCLG’s most critical projects.

As a Senior Delivery Business Partner, you will act as a trusted advisor and critical friend to leaders of Major Programmes, ensuring delivery confidence and alignment with organisational priorities.

Operating at the heart of the CDU, the role provides targeted, tailored interventions to support successful delivery of the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) and departmental priority projects.

Job description

• Advise and Challenge: Act as a critical friend to programme leaders, offering guidance and constructive challenge. Provide tailored interventions to unblock issues and drive delivery success.
• Engage and Influence: Build strong relationships with senior leaders and delivery teams across programmes. Collaborate and network across CDU, NISTA, Strategy, Portfolio Management Offices, Subject Matter Expert’s and project delivery professionals to support a joined-up and coherent delivery system and to share best practice.
• Monitor and Report: Analyse performance data and identify risks early to maintain delivery confidence. Present clear, actionable reporting linking milestones, financials and outcomes.
• Champion Improvement: Promote robust processes, standards and lessons learned across all programmes. Drive continuous improvement beyond governance compliance to achieve better results.
• Build Capability: Assess skills and capability gaps and signpost to specialist support where needed. Foster a culture of learning and collaboration to strengthen delivery capability.

Person specification

• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the ability to influence at senior levels.
• Ability to analyse complex data and turn insights into clear actions.
• Proven experience in major project delivery and portfolio management.
• Experience in implementing and embedding quality assurance and governance frameworks, with knowledge of government programme standards and assurance processes.
• Inclusive leadership and people management skills, with experience developing high‑performing teams.
• Proactive, adaptable and committed to personal and team development.
• Exposure to Government Major Project Portfolios (GMPPs) and either holding, working towards, or willing to achieve professional accreditation such as Project Delivery Practitioner or the Project Leadership Programme (PLP).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,106, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £20,309 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 Staff Benefits Scheme, Childcare Vouchers, 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 , Strengths

Stage 1: Sift

• Experience: (Lead): Describe a time when you supported a major programme or portfolio to improve delivery confidence or performance.

• Behaviour: Seeing The Big Picture

• Behaviour: Leadership

• Behaviour: Working Together

• Behaviour: Delivering at Pace

• Behaviour: Communicating and Influencing

There is a 250-word limit per question.

When writing your application, remember:

• the assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially

• do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers

• if talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!)

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

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

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: Communicating and Influencing, Leadership, Seeing The Big Picture

• Strengths: The strength-based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.

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

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 04/05.

Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 18/05 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

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

• 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

• Appeals and Complaints

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 : Sarah Pepper
• Email : Sarah.Pepper@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.