About the job

Job summary

Do you have experience of delivering in a Project, Programme or Portfolio Management environment?

Are you curious to solve complex problems that enable delivery?

Do you thrive in a fast-paced and varied environment?

Are you a highly organised self-starter, with an eye for detail?

If so, this is an opportunity to use your skills to help improve the lives of millions of people.

DWP Digital is transforming DWP’s services by unlocking the potential of leading-edge technologies and ways of working.

With our partners, we’re focused on building and running innovative digital technology solutions that meet and respond to the changing needs and expectations of millions of people. We want to make it quicker, easier and less costly for DWP’s customers to get the support they need.

Portfolio Management is key within the department in ensuring that decisions surrounding the timing, structure and prioritisation of projects & programmes, are correctly planned, managed, tracked and fully compliant with the Digital and Technology Cabinet Office Spend Controls, Departmental and Digital Governance.

We have a number of vacancies in our central and functional Portfolio groups.

Job description

Within this role you will be responsible for assuring successful delivery of a portfolio of projects and programmes within the Digital Portfolio Management Function.

You will work across many aspects of Portfolio Management, understanding delivery trajectories, dependencies, risks and maintaining a strong awareness of the ‘bigger picture’ of DWP and Digital Group strategy.

You will build strong relationships as you liaise regularly with colleagues across Digital Group, Finance and Commercial teams in DWP, Cabinet Office and HM Treasury to deliver change, keeping our vital services and systems running for our customers.

You will help to ensure DWP and Digital comply and apply the Cross Government Control frameworks and our own internal Portfolio, Governance, Delivery and management frameworks and controls.

You will ensure that your portfolio of digital projects are planned, prioritised and effectively delivered.

This will include managing demand, tracking delivery progress against road maps, ensuring inter-dependencies are visible and delivered, preparing and analysing portfolio status reports, managing governance and assuring delivery of outcomes within your portfolio, supporting agile delivery teams in accelerating delivery, unblocking issues and ensuring proper controls and risk mitigation procedures are in place and across multiple projects within a portfolio.

You will be responsible for supporting the portfolio community professional capability build including line management and coaching.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include but are not restricted to, the following:

• Track a portfolio of digital projects on their delivery progress using defined methods for each programme, escalating issues and resource constraints as appropriate.
• Provide analysis and update reports on progress to members of the leadership team making recommendations identifying any potential issues within your portfolio.
• Build, maintain and manage long term strategic relationships, facilitating and influencing stakeholders through effective engagement and relationship management skills.
• Ensure compliance with standards and support adherence to all governance and assurance activity for the Service Teams or DWP Digital, ensuring all service standards are being met.
• Identify future risks and blockers, using tooling and information to spot planning and delivery risks, escalating to senior leadership as necessary.
• Support identification and prioritisation of new work that aligns to the department's digital strategy working across service teams to support impacting of new work.
• Support in the development of project business cases and monitor project benefits against the business case predictions, supporting operational managers to ensure plans, timescales and deliverables are aligned to expected benefits.

Person specification

When giving details in your employment history and personal statement you should highlight your experience in line with essential criteria below:

• Experience of either portfolio management or project management within a change or digital environment.
• Experience of building long term strategic relationship with stakeholders to facilitate and deliver business outcomes.
• Experience of analysing multiple information sources, producing reports appropriate for senior audiences, including making recommendations for changes.
• Experience of applying appropriate governance procedures including delivery assurance.
• Experience of tracking and reporting progress of digital delivery to senior levels, including identifying, managing and unblocking risks and issues.
• You should have or be working towards a recognised Portfolio or Project Management qualification (or equivalent – which you must state on your application) such as:
  - Management of Portfolios (MoP)
  - Prince2 Agile
  - Managing Successful Programmes (MSP)
  - APM PMQ (formerly APMP)
  - PMI Certification (PMP, PgMP, PfMP, CAPM, PSMP, ACP)

If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact Abs.ali@dwp.gov.uk.

Benefits

• An employer pension contribution of up to 27% For further information please click here.
• Annual leave rising up to 30 days, (based on your working pattern).
• Family friendly flexible working arrangements, such as hybrid working, job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Learning and development tailored to your role this could include industry recognised qualifications, coaching and mentoring.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join staff networks including: Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Salary Information

Pay for this role in London is from £45,724 to £47,986.

Pay for this role in National locations is from £40,201 to £43,347.

Our offer to successful candidates will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated at interview.

Existing Civil Servants who secure a new role on lateral transfer should maintain their current salary.

Existing Civil Servants who gain promotion may move to the bottom of the next grade pay scale or 10% increase in salary whichever would be the greater.

Location

Applicants should apply for suitable posts where they can travel to and from their home office location daily within a reasonable time.   

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed 

Hybrid Working

This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home.  This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

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.

Stage 1: Application

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete:

1. A Personal Details application form.

2. Your employment history detailing your responsibilities, skills, accomplishments, plus your qualifications and relevant training. Please copy this information into the box field provided.

3. Personal statement up to 1000 words.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

When giving details in your employment history and personal statement you should highlight your experience in line with essential criteria listed in the Person Specification.

The sift panel will use the information in your employment history and personal statement to assess your experience, skills and knowledge against the essential criteria above.

Important Information

• You will be asked to complete your employment history any information that you would customarily share on a CV should therefore be entered onto the application form.
• Personal details that could be used to identify you including your name, contact details and address must be removed for your application to be considered.
• If your employment history/personal statement contains any personal details your application will be withdrawn.

Stage 2: Interview

If you’re successful at sift stage you will be invited to a video interview via Microsoft Teams. There, you will be assessed against the following Behaviours and Technical Skills:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Relationship Management
• Portfolio Management

You will be asked to do a (5 minutes) presentation on a specific topic. Further details will be provided to candidates invited to interview. 

Interviews will take place from late-February 2024.

Sift and Interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

Find out more about Working for DWP

For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Reserve list candidates will be posted in merit order by location.

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action.

Reasonable Adjustment

At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via DigitalRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

For further information on reasonable adjustments, terms and conditions and how we recruit visit the How We Recruit page

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

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.

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.