The post holder will be responsible for senior leadership and delivery of the Bedford Visitor Attraction Programme. This role will report directly into the Senior Responsible Owners (SCS2) and will manage a team of c.11 members of staff, task managing a further 7 functional specialists. Job Responsibilities include : Strategic Leadership: Provide a clear vision and strategic direction for the programme, aligning it with departmental and ministerial priorities. Inspire, motivate, and develop a high-performing programme team. Programme Delivery & Governance: Assume ultimate accountability for the successful delivery of the programme's scope, outcomes, and benefits. Establish and maintain robust governance and assurance frameworks in line with the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). Stakeholder Engagement: Build and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of senior stakeholders, including Ministers, other government departments, very senior industry partners, and the public. Expertly navigate the landscape to unblock issues and maintain programme momentum. Risk & Opportunity Management: Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate programme risks and issues. Champion a forward-looking approach to identify opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and enhanced benefit delivery. Team & Capability Building: Lead and manage a significant team of civil servants and contractors. Champion professional development and build programme and project management (PPM) capability within the team and the wider department. About the Team Universal Destinations and Experiences (UDX) have announced a multi-billion-pound investment in a major new theme park and resort in Bedfordshire in a move that represents a significant vote of confidence in the UK visitor economy and creative industries. This transformative investment, which is set to deliver one of Europes largest visitor attractions drawing 8.5m visitors a year, will bring nearly 20,000 jobs during the construction period, with a further 8,000 new jobs across the tourism and creative industries when it opens in 2031. Situated within the OxCam Arc development area, the investment is intended to kickstart wider investment and economic development in the region. DCMS is leading the Governments delivery programme to maximise the benefits from the investment in terms of jobs, skills, infrastructure and supply chains working alongside colleagues in Departments for Business and Trade, Transport and the Office for Investment. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to join a team, which now looks to deliver this major investment programme and meet a key government growth mission of Kickstarting Economic Growth. Person specification The Ideal candidate will have the following skills and experience Essential Requirements Leadership: a confident, empowering and highly organised leader, who can set strategic direction and lead effectively through ambiguity and uncertainty, whilst motivating and developing diverse teams, ideally in a major programme environment. Communicating and Influencing: excellent communication, negotiation and influencing skills, building and maintaining positive relationships with internal, and particularly, external stakeholders, partners and colleagues. Working Together: able to create and gain approval of activities across organisation and public/private sector boundaries. A diplomatic leader able to seek a path forward through complex programmatic activity. Delivering at Pace: able to proactively identify and remove major obstacles, manage complex risks, and demonstrate the personal resilience to see long-term, challenging work through to completion. Making Effective Decisions: able to make strategic choices that align with organisational priorities, dealing competing demands. Ability to synthesise evidence from multiple sources, seek out expert advice, and apply sound political judgement to arrive at well-reasoned conclusions. Desirable Skills Experience of leading a major project. This role requires the occupant to have completed the Major Projects Leadership Academy (MPLA). If you have not already completed the MPLA, you will be supported to achieve this in role. An understanding of the visitor economy landscape. Benefits Alongside your salary of 81,000, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes 23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. Were committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include: Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 30 days after 5 years service A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice 3 days of paid volunteering leave Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay generous paternity and adoption leave Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year Occupational sick pay Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more! Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary. Those applying for SCS roles should refer to the candidate information pack for more information on terms and conditions. Things you need to know Selection process details To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the essential requirements for the role : A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form. A Statement of Suitability (max 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. For the shortlist, we will select applicants who demonstrate the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application and how this meets the essential requirements. In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application. Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise. As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above. 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 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 the Civil 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 : SCS Recruitment Team Email : scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : scsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Further information If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Commissions Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact the Head of Resourcing at recruitment.team@dcms.gov.uk, in the first instance. Attachments 20250729 Programme Director (SCS1), Bedford Visitor Attraction Programme - DCMS SCS Candidate Information Pack.pptx Opens in new window (pdf, 6408kB) Programme Director, Bedford Visitor Attraction Programme DCMS Accessibility Pack (2) Opens in new window (docx, 31kB)