Job Description
Estates Delivery Officer
Location: Central Manchester
Salary: £44,044
Flexible Working: We recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance, which is why we offer flexible working options, including compressed hours and remote working. Please note this role requires a minimum of 3 days per week in the office, with flexibility to work from home 1-2 days per week on average. Additionally, occasional travel to sites across the UK will be required.
About Us
GCHQ is an intelligence, cyber, and security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting-edge technology, ingenuity, and partnerships to identify, analyse, and disrupt threats. Working with our intelligence partners MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber-attacks, and espionage. At GCHQ, you’ll do varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.
The Role
As an Estates Delivery Officer, you’ll lead on small, high-impact capital projects, bringing structure and clarity to our growing portfolio. Your role will ensure timely, budget-friendly delivery while maintaining the highest standards of security and quality, guaranteeing that the benefits are fully realised.
This role offers you the exciting opportunity to take on meaningful responsibility and accountability, and to develop your leadership skills, with the potential to advance into larger, more complex projects over time. You’ll operate confidently in secure environments and articulate plans effectively to a varied range of stakeholders, from senior leaders to technical specialists. As part of a well-established and growing team, you’ll contribute to delivering critical infrastructure that supports national security, making a tangible impact on the built environment and the people who rely on it every day.
You’ll lead projects or workstreams from start to finish, coordinating timelines, budgets, and stakeholder engagement and expectations to ensure outcomes align with operational needs. Proactively identifying, and resolving, and managing risks will be crucial to maintaining momentum and ensuring timely delivery. Collaboration with internal and external stakeholders will be essential to meet project objectives while upholding the highest standards of security and confidentiality. Building and maintaining effective collaborative partnerships with customers, suppliers, and service providers will foster collaboration and trust throughout the project lifecycle.
While this role does not currently include line management responsibilities, there may be opportunities to take on people management and mentoring as part of future development. Regardless, you will play a key role in supporting team delivery and contributing to a collaborative, high-performing environment. Drawing on experience in construction or project management, you will apply best practice principles to every stage of delivery, from planning and procurement through to implementation and review.
About You
Bring your broad mix of experience and expertise in project and delivery management, security, facilities management, stakeholder engagement, business change, and employee experience to achieve outstanding results. With a solid foundation in project management, you can confidently define and deliver outcomes in a structured and organised way, while supporting the development of others through thoughtful task planning and team leadership. Your ability to achieve high-quality results with agility, focus, and drive will be key to your success in this role.
Understanding customer needs and translating them into effective project outcomes is essential. Your interpersonal skills will help build trusted, productive relationships with both colleagues and external partners. With a collaborative mindset, you’ll actively seek out diverse perspectives, foster meaningful partnerships, and shared insights that drive innovation and continuous improvement.
We’re looking for talented professionals with project management experience, ideally with a background in construction, estates, or facilities management. You may have worked as a Construction Manager, Quantity Surveyor, Site Manager, or in a role involving building infrastructure. Familiarity with Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)® methodology and National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) standards is desirable.
Being a self-starter with excellent time management skills and a positive, can-do attitude is crucial. Your ability to work independently and take initiative will be matched by your enthusiasm for shaping the physical environments that support our workforce. Whether managing office refurbishments or overseeing new construction projects, you’ll help create inclusive, future-ready workspaces that enable our teams to focus on protecting national security.
As part of a team of like-minded professionals, you’ll contribute to the delivery of transformational projects using established project management and construction principles. Your interest in the built environment and commitment to delivering meaningful change will make you a valuable asset to our team.
Rewards and Benefits
You’ll receive a starting salary of £44,044 plus other benefits including:
* 25 days annual leave, automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years of service, and an additional 10.5 days of public and privilege holidays.
* Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme.
* Interest-free season ticket loan.
* Excellent pension scheme.
* Cycle to work scheme.
* Facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bars (at some locations).
* Paid parental and adoption leave.
We’re Disability Confident
GCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain, and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident Leader, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, will be offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. (this is known as Offer of Interview). To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:
* You must meet the minimum pass mark for question 1 which explores your motivation to work for the organisation and this particular role.
* You must meet the minimum pass mark for question 2 which explores your skills and qualities for the role.
* You must meet the minimum pass mark for question 3 which explores your experience of delivering outcomes and managing risks.
What to Expect
Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:
* Application sift: looking at your motivation, skills and experience for the role.
* Online interview, which will include technical and competency-based questions.
* If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment.
Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process, including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.
Before You Apply
To work at GCHQ, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our eligibility criteria (Penna link to appropriate website Eligibility sections).
This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. Find out more about the vetting process.
The role is based in Manchester, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.
Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.