Overview
The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) is an Agency of the Scottish Government. Our principal role is to administer the pensions for employees in the National Health Service, Teachers’, Police and Fire-fighters’ pension schemes in Scotland. The Agency administers these public service pension schemes on behalf of Scottish Ministers to over 640,000 members with annual payments of over £3.7 billion. You will work as part of our Operational Transformation Team, a passionate and highly motivated group of individuals supporting the successful development and implementation of new SPPA products and processes. You will play a pivotal role in ensuring that the change activity we undertake is planned, managed, coordinated and communicated to meet the needs of our clients and staff. In doing so, you will manage one member of staff, ensuring all project requirements and governance activities are successfully delivered.
Responsibilities
* Ensure appropriate governance arrangements are in place and are operating smoothly, with SROs and relevant Groups receiving meaningful and timely reports which support effective decision making and delivery of measurable benefits and improvements.
* Act as a role model for portfolio, programme and project hygiene, providing support to project teams on planning, resource forecasting, change control, milestone management and risk, and issue and dependency identification and management. Ensure standardised documentation is accurate, high quality, relevant and timely.
* Develop a suitable library of tools and processes in areas such as RAID, quality and benefits management and work closely with project teams to embed high standards of portfolio, programme and project management across the SPPA. Provide constructive challenge to ensure delivery of milestones and achievement of outcomes.
* Lead and coordinate portfolio, programme and project assurance activities (e.g. Gateway and audit) and contribute to the management of related frameworks and standards.
* Support the Head of Operational Transformation (jobshare) in preparing timely and meaningful advice to the Chief Transformation Officer and Chief Operating Officer, ensuring emerging issues and risks are escalated as required.
* Build cohesion and resilience within the PMO, supporting the personal development of one team member and ensuring they contribute fully. This role also has line management responsibility attached.
Qualifications
PMO Managers should have or be closely working towards a professional level qualification, such as APM’s PMQ or Axelos’ P3O qualifications. We will support the successful candidate on their development journey.
Success Profile and Technical Skills
Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of skills, experience and behaviours candidates will be assessed on.
* Lead Criterion: Benefits Management - Benefits management is the ability to identify, quantify, map and track project benefits to justify investment in the project, and to provide assurance that the benefits identified can be realised - Practitioner.
* Governance - Governance is the ability to clearly define roles, responsibilities and accountabilities and establish controls and approval routes appropriate to each stage of the project to monitor project progress and compliance - Expert.
* Risk & Issue Management - Risk and issue management is the ability to systematically identify and monitor risks and issues, planning how to mitigate / respond to those risks and issues and implementing the responses - Practitioner.
Practitioner - The position holder knows what needs to be done to deliver programmes/projects and has experience of doing it successfully. They can be expected to work with experts in the field and policy teams to implement and maintain PPM processes, artefacts and able to report and present on the programme/project delivery.
Expert - The position holder requires to have extensive knowledge and experience of performing in a Project Delivery capacity. By their expertise, they can improve processes and structures to reduce risk or support greater delivery, and could be expected to train and supervise the work of others, building their capability in the process.
Experience
Proven experience of managing and supporting complex projects, defining and maintaining delivery standards, engaging stakeholders at all levels, and leveraging digital tools such as MS Project, JIRA, and ClickUp to support project delivery.
Behaviours
* Managing a Quality Service - Level 3
* Communicating and Influencing - Level 3
You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here.
How To Apply
Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 1,000 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the skills, experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above.
In the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted using the CV and Supporting Statement on the Lead Criterion Benefits Management as listed above.
Candidates who pass the initial sift will have their applications fully assessed against all remaining criteria outlined in the Success Profile above.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application but all statements and examples 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, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.
If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and presentation. Assessments are expected to take place via MS Teams.
Assessments are scheduled for w/c 6th October however this may be subject to change.
About Us
The Scottish Public Pensions Agency is an Agency of the Scottish Government. Our principal role is to administer the pensions for employees in the National Health Service, Teachers’, Police and Fire-fighters’ pension schemes in Scotland for over 500,000 key workers. The Agency administers these public service pension schemes on behalf of Scottish Ministers with an annual pension spend to over 200,000 pensioners to the value of more than £2.5 billion.
* SPPA Careers | SPPA (pensions.gov.scot)
* Civil Service Nationality Rules
Working Pattern
Our standard hours are 35 hours per week. We offer a range of flexible and hybrid working options, with two days minimum working on site at SPPA. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us.
Security Checks
Successful candidates must complete the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), before they can be appointed. BPSS is comprised of four main pre-employment checks – Identity, Right to work, Employment History and a Criminal Record check (unspent convictions).
You can find out more about BPSS on the UK Government website, or read about the different levels of security checks in our Candidate Guide.
Equality Statement
We are committed to equality and inclusion and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation.
Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.
Further Information
Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website.
Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.
Apply Before: 14th September 2025 (23:59)
Seniority level
* Mid-Senior level
Employment type
* Full-time
Job function
* Project Management and Information Technology
* Industries
* Government Administration
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