About the job

Job summary

Have you considered a Civil Service career and the unparalleled opportunities it has to offer in a variety of significant roles, with the potential to change the nation and people’s lives for the better? The Army’s Programmes Directorate brings together our key change programmes to ensure they are delivered to performance, cost and time. We are committed to Project, Programme & Portfolio Management (P3M) and delivery. From every item of basic equipment to the most ground-breaking technology imaginable, every new project brings outstanding possibilities and challenges, and we’ll ensure you’re equipped to succeed, with extensive training and development opportunities. The Directorate consists of Civil Servants, military colleagues and contractors working closely to deliver the Army’s Modernisation Agenda. As PMO Lead, you will be working alongside a diverse team consisting of military and civilian team members to ensure the successful delivery of the programme through each of its critical stages. This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

This is an exciting time to join the Army Programmes Directorate as we are looking for Project Delivery Professionals to lead our Programme Management Offices. We are looking for experienced and motivated individuals in Project, Programme and Portfolio Management (P3M) disciplines who will lead and develop our teams.

The successful candidates will provide a controlled environment, producing evidenced based material for the Programme and its stakeholders. 

Collaborating with colleagues to ensure the right information is of the appropriate level of quality and available to the right people, in the right format, at the right time.

This in turn helps senior management make timely and informed decisions and, increase the level of benefit being realised through:

1. Clarity and control over the Programme and its projects and,
2. Minimising risk and uncertainty.

All of this will help us collectively increase confidence and buy-in from our stakeholders, support the realisation of benefits and achieve successes to celebrate.

This post provides the opportunity to develop professional skills and experience, with future opportunities to promote and progress within a developing P3M profession for both the Army TLB and wider Defence.

We will be looking to utilise a reserve list from this campaign. This means that high-calibre candidates will be contacted after the interview process to discuss similar opportunities in Army Programmes without the need to re-interview.

Director Programmes manages Project Delivery staff on a flexible basis to ensure programmes have the talent required to deliver outputs and maximise opportunities in support of skills development and wider career pathways. In common with all Programmes Directorate staff, the post holder may be redeployed flexibly within the portfolio as priorities change and programmes begin and end.

Person specification

You will build, develop, and lead your Programme Management Office (PMO) team whose purpose is to collaboratively support the Programme in being successful.  However large or small a task may seem, everything is important. 

Your PMO outputs will include:

• Oversight and leading on all programme delivery activities such as planning, coordinating, and monitoring the delivery of outcomes and outputs across the Programme.
• Engaging with stakeholders formally and informally in workshops, working groups and board meetings.
• Co-ordination of complex, cross cutting Programmes of work, through collaborative working with others.
• Working closely with the Army Programme Change Portfolio Office to ensure alignment with their policies, procedures, and processes.
• Supporting the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) and Programme Director as required.

Travel Requirements:

Post holders will be required to travel to the sites covered by the post and some visits may involve overnight stays. The most likely sites to be visited are:

• Army HQ, Andover, Hampshire
• MoD Abbey Wood, Filton, Bristol
• MOD Main Building, Whitehall, London
• Army & Contractor Sites

Successful candidates are required to hold at least one of the following qualifications listed below (or willing to work towards the qualification):

• Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Practitioner
• Agile Project Management and Practitioner (APMP)

Want to find out more?

We are holding a Q&A on Thursday 23 May, between 1215-1300; 

Microsoft Teams

Meeting ID: 340 790 567 398

Passcode: WgbmUH

Dial-in by phone

United Kingdom, London

Find a local number

Phone conference ID: 308 492 328#

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,670, Ministry of Defence contributes £15,570 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

At Application you will be assessed against the following:

Experience:

• Job History (CV)
• Full Qualification Details
• Personal Statement:

In no more than 1000 words, please demonstrate the following Essential criteria within your Personal Statement:

• Previous experience of leading in a Programme / Project Delivery environment.
• Preferable experience of high-complexity, high-risk programmes.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to adapt your communication style according to the audience, champion continuous improvement and build strong relationships with others.
• Highly motivated, organised, ability to react quickly and calmly to changing circumstances, and the ability to think imaginatively to deliver under pressure.

At interview you will be assessed against the above along with the following:

Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture

Technical:

At interview you will be asked to provide practitioner-level evidence of understanding and experience in the following competency as listed in the Project Delivery Capability Framework;

• 11 – Governance

Application sifting is scheduled to take place one week following the closure of the advert.

A minimum of 2 full working days’ notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavour to remain within this time-frame, but it can be subject to change due to business need.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

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 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.