About the job

Job summary

Ofgem, the UK's independent energy regulator, safeguards electricity and gas consumers by promoting affordability, reliable supply, and sustainability. It oversees market development and competition while implementing government programmes and maintaining independence within UK and EU legal frameworks. 

As part of our commitment to innovation and excellence, Ofgem is seeking a PMO Manager within the Low The Low Carbon Regulated Asset Base (LC RAB) team responsible for project management duties including planning, reporting, and governance.

The LC RAB team is a collection of high performing, collaborative, and flexible staff, working across a number of new and exciting policy areas. Our work is excitingly varied, from advising the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), and His Majesty's Treasury (HMT) on regulatory and strategic issues, developing new approaches to financing large scale energy investment, regulating new energy technologies and services, to developing policy crucial for meeting our decarbonisation goals.  

The team’s remit currently includes Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), New Nuclear, and Hydrogen (H2) Transport. We are currently recruiting for a PMO manager to support the project manager function across the LC RAB team with an initial focus (but not limited to) on the H2 Transport programme. This PMO Manager role will benefit for a general understanding and/or experience/exposure of energy/government policy programmes.  

If you are passionate about the energy sector, share our commitment to sustainability, and are ready to take on the challenges of a fast-paced environment, we invite you to be a part of our team. Together, we will shape the future of energy policy and contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive society.

Join us in making a meaningful impact on the energy landscape and be a driving force behind the transition to a low-carbon future.

As part of our flexible resourcing model, you will have the opportunity to work on diverse projects, supporting your career and personal development goals. Your first deployment will be within the The Low Carbon Regulated Asset Base team. 

Job description

With the LC RAB team your responsibilities will include:

• Leading on project manager and coordinator functions such as actively developing and maintaining programmes/plans, risks/issues registers and other project management tools. Coordinating multi-disciplinary teams, outputs/outcomes, benefits and lessons learned. Developing best practice project management tools, templates, and benchmarks against industry standards.
• Governance. Ensuring appropriate internal and external governance is in place, regularly reviewed and the team adhere to it. Being proactive and forward thinking to be able to anticipate what the team/programmes will require and come up with ideas and ultimately collectively agreed solutions.
• Reporting (internal and external). Including monitoring project progress, data gathering, preparation and presentation of information in our different team sessions and governance boards.
• Stakeholder engagement and communication. Building and maintaining positive/collaborative working relationships with internal and external stakeholders including influencing and consensus-building skills. Being a skilled collaborator and possess strong communication abilities, essential for effective teamwork and project articulation.    
• Organisational tasks: overseeing business and administrative support functions including meetings coordination, minutes/actions and other wide team coordination activities.

 

Purpose

The energy market situation in recent months is unprecedented. The record increase and volatility in global gas prices has put the energy market under severe strain and is putting upward pressure on customers’ energy bills. Now more than ever we need to go further and faster in pursuing the country’s climate goals and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels to protect ourselves from similar future price shocks. Such challenging times require bold action. We are looking for people to meet the challenges we face head-on, and help us deliver a greener, fairer energy system. You will be someone who: - Thrives in a flexible fast-paced environment with a proven background of delivering benefits for consumers, communities, or society in a role across: a range of project management methodologies including waterfall and agile, digital transformation, commercial analysis, compliance and risk management. - Champions our culture of inclusion and encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of our colleagues, fuelling our innovation and ensuring we best represent the consumers and the communities we serve.

 

Key Responsibilities

Within the wider Ofgem organisation your responsibilities will include:

• Project manage a programme of work within either a Central PMO function, portfolio or team setting.
• Establish and maintain up-to-date delivery plans, identifying and managing milestones, creating visibility of key decision points and dependencies within the central planning tool.
• Responsible for ensuring the organisations project management processes are followed and all required project documentation in maintained including business cases, project initiation documents.
• Ensure there is a clear up to date picture of resource needs across the Portfolio by maintaining the central Resourcing Tool.
• Deliver accurate and timely reporting for senior colleagues, programme SROs and decision makers as required.
• Ensure effective risk management and assurance processes are in place, and a drumbeat for the regular review of risk across the Portfolio feeding into and adhering to the central risk processes.
• Overall responsibility for engaging with and providing information, as required, to the central PMO team.
• Actively engage with the wider Project Management and Delivery professional network to ensure sharing of best practice, building of capability, and promote continuous improvement.

Person specification

Role Criteria

Essential

• Experience in project management or a qualification, for example one or more of the following (LEAD):
  • PRINCE2 Practitioner
  • Managing Successful Programmes Practitioner
  • Agile Project Management Practitioner
  • Management of Risk Practitioner
  • P3O Practitioner
  • Managing Successful Programmes Advanced Practitioner
  • APM Project Management Qualification
  • APM Chartered Project Professional
  • Project Leadership Programme
  • APMG International Project Planning and Control Foundation
  • APMG International Project Planning and Control Practitioner
• Proven experience in working in a PMO function/portfolio management (LEAD)
• Experience in developing delivery plans, including clear and transparent work objectives, milestones, and success metrics
• Skilled collaborator and strong communicator
• Excellent stakeholder management, negotiation and influencing skills at senior levels
• Experience of a range of project management techniques, including agile and waterfall

Desirable

• Experience of shaping and delivering projects or workstreams
• Experience of managing IT/digital projects or working within a digital portfolio.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,498, OFGEM contributes £8,774 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.

When you press the ‘Apply now’ button, you will be asked to complete personal details (not seen by the sift panel), your career history and qualifications.  

You will then be asked to provide a 1250 word ‘personal statement’ evidencing how you meet the essential and desirable skills and capabilities listed in the role profile. Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your supporting statement, how you meet each of the essential and desirable skills and capabilities. 

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expect all candidates to abide by these principles. Ofgem take any incidences of cheating very seriously. Please ensure all examples provided are of your own experience. Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant applications will be withdrawn from the process. 

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.