Manchester
Job Summary
GDS
The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.
Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:
* Joining up public sector services
* Harnessing the power of AI for the public good
* Strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
* Elevating leadership and investing in talent
* Funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
* Committing to transparency and driving accountability
We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK's geospatial strategy and activity.
We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.
We're part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.
The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you'll be working with some of the world's most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.
Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation's highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.
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the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.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
for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Job Description
Public sector data has the potential to radically transform people's lives through boosting economic growth, underpinning ground-breaking research, improving the delivery of public services and fuelling cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) development and applications across the economy.
The National Data Library is a high profile, ambitious, manifesto commitment which intends to realise this potential through responsibly unlocking the highest-value public sector data for use by businesses, academia and the public sector.
We are looking for a dynamic and experienced PMO Manager to lead the programme management for the National Data Library and deliver our programme of work across multiple projects and workstreams.
The role requires a forward-thinking individual who can see the bigger picture, develop and deliver an insight-driven programme management approach, and foster collaboration across disciplines, departments, and sectors. The successful candidate will be instrumental in shaping how the programme achieves objectives and outcomes, building genuine partnerships across the department and beyond to ensure awareness, confidence and assurance in our delivery approach.
We value colleagues who embrace change, think outside the box, and thrive in a dynamic environment where responsibilities evolve with our ambitions. We welcome applications from the widest range of people of different backgrounds, cultures and experiences. If you're passionate about making your mark and flourishing in an atmosphere that champions fresh thinking and adaptability, we want to hear from you. This role is being advertised in Manchester, but existing DSIT staff based in other locations are able to apply and remain in their location.
This is an opportunity to help shape the high profile and ambitious manifesto commitment to establish a National Data Library (NDL). The NDL will transform the way the Government manages its data supporting the successful delivery of the AI Opportunities Action Plan (AIOAP); the blueprint for modern digital government; and the Government's missions on growth, clean energy, safety, opportunity and health.
The PMO Manager role covers a diverse range of activities to support the delivery of the programme outcomes. You will work closely with senior leaders and will need to be effective at building strong relationships across your own and other organisations to unblock barriers, influence stakeholders, and offer appropriate challenge.
You will be leading the business management and secretariat functions which require excellent organisation expertise. You will need strong interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively in a fast-paced environment and be comfortable leading complex pieces of work, across multiple projects and teams with a high degree of autonomy.
The role requires a forward-thinking individual who can see the bigger picture, develop and deliver an insight-driven programme management approach. Acting as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, you will help inform decision-making and enable successful delivery through evidence-based insight, performance data, and continuous improvement of delivery practices. You will use your strong technical skills in setting and maintaining project delivery standards, driving consistency in reporting, risk and issue management, resource planning, and benefits tracking.
You will also be logical in your thinking, able to problem-solve and manage priorities within tight deadlines while communicating effectively with a range of stakeholder across the programme. Being able to tailor your messaging and communication style to suit the audience is critical to success in this role.
You'll need to work closely with other G7 colleagues within the PMO and the NDL programme team as well as those in finance, HR and other programme teams where there is aligned work and/or dependencies.
This role is aligned with the PDCF PMO Manager Project Management Office (PMO) Manager G7 - Government Project Delivery.
Public sector data has the potential to radically transform people's lives through boosting economic growth, underpinning ground-breaking research, improving the delivery of public services and fuelling cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) development and applications across the economy.
The National Data Library is a high profile, ambitious, manifesto commitment which intends to realise this potential through responsibly unlocking the highest-value public sector data for use by businesses, academia and the public sector.
We are looking for a dynamic and experienced PMO Manager to lead the programme management for the National Data Library and deliver our programme of work across multiple projects and workstreams.
The role requires a forward-thinking individual who can see the bigger picture, develop and deliver an insight-driven programme management approach, and foster collaboration across disciplines, departments, and sectors. The successful candidate will be instrumental in shaping how the programme achieves objectives and outcomes, building genuine partnerships across the department and beyond to ensure awareness, confidence and assurance in our delivery approach.
We value colleagues who embrace change, think outside the box, and thrive in a dynamic environment where responsibilities evolve with our ambitions. We welcome applications from the widest range of people of different backgrounds, cultures and experiences. If you're passionate about making your mark and flourishing in an atmosphere that champions fresh thinking and adaptability, we want to hear from you. This role is being advertised in Manchester, but existing DSIT staff based in other locations are able to apply and remain in their location.
This is an opportunity to help shape the high profile and ambitious manifesto commitment to establish a National Data Library (NDL). The NDL will transform the way the Government manages its data supporting the successful delivery of the AI Opportunities Action Plan (AIOAP); the blueprint for modern digital government; and the Government's missions on growth, clean energy, safety, opportunity and health.
The PMO Manager role covers a diverse range of activities to support the delivery of the programme outcomes. You will work closely with senior leaders and will need to be effective at building strong relationships across your own and other organisations to unblock barriers, influence stakeholders, and offer appropriate challenge.
You will be leading the business management and secretariat functions which require excellent organisation expertise. You will need strong interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively in a fast-paced environment and be comfortable leading complex pieces of work, across multiple projects and teams with a high degree of autonomy.
The role requires a forward-thinking individual who can see the bigger picture, develop and deliver an insight-driven programme management approach. Acting as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, you will help inform decision-making and enable successful delivery through evidence-based insight, performance data, and continuous improvement of delivery practices. You will use your strong technical skills in setting and maintaining project delivery standards, driving consistency in reporting, risk and issue management, resource planning, and benefits tracking.
You will also be logical in your thinking, able to problem-solve and manage priorities within tight deadlines while communicating effectively with a range of stakeholder across the programme. Being able to tailor your messaging and communication style to suit the audience is critical to success in this role.
You'll need to work closely with other G7 colleagues within the PMO and the NDL programme team as well as those in finance, HR and other programme teams where there is aligned work and/or dependencies.
This role is aligned with the PDCF PMO Manager Project Management Office (PMO) Manager G7 - Government Project Delivery.
Person specification
Key Responsibilities
Programme Management Controls – establish and operate programme controls, reporting progress and status to appropriate bodies. Identify opportunities for collaboration, reuses and shares methods and resources between projects and programmes. Ensures learning from experiences is shared across the organisation.
Delivery Management – manage the PMO to support the NDL programme in achieving business case benefits and outcomes. Champion the use of best practice programme and project management standards and processes.
Risk and Issue Management – establish the processes to effectively manage risks and issues, ensuring that appropriate Risk, Assumption, Issue and Dependency (RAID) monitoring is in place to support programme managers in reporting and escalating as required by the programme governance framework.
Governance and assurance – leading and embedding the business management and governance processes required to ensure the compliant operational delivery of the programme objectives. Responsible for ensure secretariat services are provided as required.
Resourcing and budgeting - develop and agree project and programme budgets from the overall NDL SR2 settlement. Estimate and forecast costs against them, monitoring the actual against forecasts over the course of the programme. Participate in identifying, recruiting, developing, deploying and reassigning resources throughout the project lifecycle.
Benefits Management – support the development of mechanisms for tracking and measuring benefits. Collaborate with Programme and Project Managers to identify and track the benefits outlined in the business case.
Guidance and Support - identify, develop, and share best practices for project management processes, tools, templates, and benchmarks against industry standards. Provide direction and guidance to the project team.
Digital and Data -use digital tools to collect, store and analyse data to provide insights and support decision-making processes within the project management office.
As a line manager, you will be responsible for working with your members of staff to define their objectives, as well as managing their development and performance.
Essential Criteria
Proven PMO, project or programme management expertise in a high complexity delivery environment, including deploying effective management processes and techniques.
Demonstrating expertise in core PMO functions such as planning, reporting, resource management, benefits management, risk management, governance and business management.
Have strong experience with working with a broad and complex range of stakeholders, with the confidence to engage with senior officials. Demonstrating excellent interpersonal and communication skills, being able to tailor your approach to suit the audience and situation.
Managing, analysing and interpreting data, creating digestible and actionable reports for senior stakeholders.
Excellent verbal, written, and visual communication skills—adept at tailoring messaging for different audiences, including senior stakeholders.
Desirable criteria
Hold a Practitioner level qualification in Project or Programme Management, for example, APMP, MSP, PRINCE 2
Understanding of PMO tooling such as Jira, Confluence and Microsoft Office.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Delivering at Pace
* Changing and Improving
* Communicating and Influencing
* Working Together
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
* Governance
Alongside your salary of £55,403, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £16,050 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:
* A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
* Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
* A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
* An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
* Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
* A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.
Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home-based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and a number of behavioural statements.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Applications will be sifted on behavioural statements and CV.
In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the lead behavioural statement -
Delivering at Pace
Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
The interview will consist of behaviour, technical and strength-based questions.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Further Information
Reasonable Adjustment
We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.
Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DSIT Candidate Guidance. A DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.
We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants' section.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
A location-based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.
Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
Any move to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).
DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign.
DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.
However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre- stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.
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.
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.
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 the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
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 : Iain Algie
* Email :
Recruitment team
* Email :
Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance. 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 pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints.