About the job

Job summary

The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1500 people. We play a critical role in protecting public health and consumers’ wider interests in food across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our vision is an important one - to drive change, delivering “food you can trust” and working towards a healthier and more sustainable food system.

We are a small department with a big mission: to make sure that food is safe, it is what it says it is, and to support work to make food healthier and more sustainable. With so much on our plate, it’s important that we are as effective as possible in our efforts to deliver “food you can trust”.

We are looking for a Head of Project Delivery Function who can ensure the delivery of priority programmes while continuing to improve our project delivery capability as an organisation. As a key member of the Strategy division’s senior leadership, your work will impact not only the organisation’s output but also the safety of food across the UK.

Job description

You will lead project delivery across the FSA, championing best practice that will improve our capability, and working alongside colleagues in other government departments to ensure that the FSA’s input to their projects is felt.

You will be passionate about identifying and developing project delivery talent, helping our people to make the most of their skills while pushing forward valuable work that impacts consumer wellbeing. You’ll be skilled at building learning opportunities for teams and individuals alike that reflect the organisation’s business needs. As you seek to increase project delivery capability across the organisation, you’ll work with your colleagues in the Strategy directorate to build a better, more effective and efficient FSA.

If you are experienced at delivering strategic change and are a confident communicator who can help those around them understand our work and how it can be delivered more effectively, this is an opportunity to make a tangible impact that will help us better protect the food we eat each day.

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £63,949, Food Standards Agency contributes £17,842 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 and Experience.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. 

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

Technical: You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role. 

• APM Chartered Project Professional

or

• accredited senior practitioner within the government project delivery profession (or committed to working towards it).

or 

• Appropriate Portfolio / Programme management qualification (e.g. one of the following):
• Project Leadership Programme
• Management of Risk Practitioner.
• Managing Benefits.
• Managing Successful Programmes Practitioner / Advanced Practitioner
• Management of portfolios practitioner
• P30 Practitioner

If you cannot answer yes to this question – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

Essential criteria

Experience

• Lead criteria: Extensive experience of delivering complex large-scale change initiatives to deliver strategic change, including the proportionate application of PPM tools, processes and controls.
• Self-motivated leader with evidence of leading a Project Team or Project Delivery Function, including, demonstrating the ongoing development of a team / individuals.
• Experience of working with internal and external stakeholders at senior levels on cross cutting projects - ensuring engagement in planning and implementation.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to communicate complex issues orally and in writing to a wide audience, including the ability to effectively advise and influence senior managers through verbal and written briefings.

Lead Criteria An initial sift may take place on just the identified Lead Criteria indicated.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Experience requirements of the role and Civil Service Behaviours Level 4.

Behaviours

• Seeing the Big Picture (Assessed via Seen presentation)

Full details of the positive indicators being assessed for the Behaviour can be found in the Candidate Pack.

Experience

• Extensive experience of delivering complex large-scale change initiatives to deliver strategic change, including the proportionate application of PPM tools, processes and controls.
• Self-motivated leader with evidence of leading a Project Team or Project Delivery Function, including, demonstrating the ongoing development of a team / individuals.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to communicate complex issues orally and in writing to a wide audience, including the ability to effectively advise and influence senior managers through verbal and written briefings.

Assessment exercise

As part of the interview process, you will be asked to prepare a seen presentation. Further information will be provided to you on the invitation to interview email.

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 17 March 2024 (23:55)

Sift: Expected to take place during week commencing 18 March 2024

Final panel interview: Expected to take place during week commencing 8 April 2024

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application.)

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

The FSA is dedicated to a policy of equal opportunity for all.

Being truly reflective of our society and building a culture where everyone can perform at their best is critical to the work of the FSA. We are looking to recruit from the widest possible talent pool and encourage candidates to apply from a diverse range of backgrounds. We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer and are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment and selection process and beyond. All appointments are made on merit.

Please be assured that diversity or socio–economic information requested during the course of your application plays absolutely no part in our selection processes and is not seen by anyone assessing applications.  Any information provided is anonymised and used for statistical purposes only.

We actively review the deployment of talent on a periodic basis in the interests of optimising personal development and the achievement of business plans.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare.

Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Candidates that do not pass the interview, but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not hold a licence to sponsor any visa applications and we are unable to provide any advice about visas.

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.