About the job

Job summary

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are the public sector’s property valuation experts and advisers. We offer access to a whole host of learning and development opportunities to support your career development.

We’re looking for talented people who are eager to contribute to vital public services and assist us to deliver taxation and benefits support to the government and local authorities. Your skills and experience will enable us to provide an efficient, effective service right at the heart of the public interest.

At the heart of the agency, we are committed to providing our people with a work environment which is accommodating and accessible to all and which values diversity and inclusion in everything we do.  We encourage our people to bring their whole selves to work by providing a culture that values different perspectives to help tackle complex problems, promote innovation and deliver stronger decision making in a safe and supportive environment. We therefore welcome applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds to join our organisation and enable us to be representative of the communities we serve.

Our people have the freedom to manage their own diaries and are empowered to deliver under their own autonomy. We trust our people and look forward to welcoming your skills into the VOA community.

Job description

The Portfolio Support Officer sits within the Transformation Team which has been established to manage a single, consolidated portfolio covering all transformational change activity across the VOA.

There are three functional areas within the team: Portfolio Development, Portfolio Delivery and Portfolio Management. This role sits within the Portfolio Management function.

The purpose of the Portfolio Support Officer is to support the Head of Portfolio Office in managing delivery, including co-ordination, planning, control, reporting and analysis.

The role will include, considering best practice delivery frameworks, compliance, and locally agreed practices to support the Agency in ensuring optimal delivery of the Valuation Office’s strategic objectives. This will also be achieved through the analysis of a range of information sources and engagement with programme and project stakeholders.

This role will also provide opportunity to acquire formal project delivery qualifications and accreditation with support from the VOA.

Key responsibilities

• Co-ordinate reporting from programmes and provide analysis of performance to inform management decisions.
• Support the definition, implementation, and on-going management of the agreed assurance approach/plan for all agreed programmes and projects.
• Undertake planned health checks/assurance reviews on portfolio/programmes, detailing areas of risk and recommendations.
• Ensure programmes are following the agreed project management framework, using the standard project tools and templates.
• Support the maintenance of the Portfolio roadmap and critical path to monitor progress to include dependency management.
• Identify and analyse Portfolio and Agency transformation risks and issues, monitoring and reporting them in line with standards.
• Establish and maintain relationships with key stakeholders within the Transformation Team for effective stakeholder management.

Person specification

We are seeking a self-motivated Project Delivery professional who can work independently to support the team to successfully deliver the VOA’s Transformation Portfolio. As a Portfolio Support Officer, strong organisational abilities are necessary in order to complete tasks to deadline’s whilst working remotely within a geographically distributed team. The successful candidate will have excellent attention to detail so that reports and records are accurate and up to date and usable by anyone on the team. The successful candidate must also have the ability to effectively collaborate with team colleagues, delivery leads and senior leaders to develop strong relationships across traditional boundaries.

Essential Criteria

• Experience of working and managing risks in a project, programme, or portfolio management environment.
• Experience of collating and analysing information and data to provide insight and support decision making.
• Experience of forming programme or portfolio reports, ranging from programmes level reports and artefacts, through to Portfolio wide analysis.
• Excellent communication skills, and experience of team working in order to build relationships with diverse stakeholders and deliver results through collaboration.
• Ability to plan, prioritise and control workload to deliver results to agreed timescales.
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Excel, Word and Outlook.
• To hold or be willing to work towards the following: Prince 2 Practitioner, APM qualified, P3O or equivalent certifications.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,036, Valuation Office Agency contributes £9,190 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, Strengths and Experience.

If you can meet our person requirements above we are keen to hear from you. 

To apply for this post, you must complete an online application with the following: 

A CV setting out your previous skills and experiences.

A Personal Statement (maximum 750 words) Examples of evidence that demonstrates against the essential criteria.

Sift - 30th January 2024

Please note these dates are provisional and may be subject to change.

We will assess you on your CV and Personal Statement.

In the case of a large number of applicants, the lead essential criteria will be sifted. The candidates will then go through to full sift or to interview.

Interviews - 19th February 2024

Please note these dates are provisional and may be subject to change. These will be confirmed should you be invited to interview.

Interviews are currently taking place using Microsoft Teams Video. We will provide more detail if you are shortlisted for interview.

We will assess you on the Behaviours listed in the job description and Strengths.  

At the interview, the panel can then probe further and ask applicants to provide further specific examples that show how they best demonstrate their skills. 

Behaviours 

The distinguishing Behaviours (the required skills, knowledge and behaviours) for this role are set out in the Civil Service Behaviours Framework 2018 (Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) and should be referred to when making this application.  

You are required, under the Behaviours approach, to describe how you have dealt with a specific situation. 

You must give evidence of your knowledge, skills and behaviours and how you have applied this, such as what you did or said and how you interacted with other people. 

When you are giving your examples, do not spend too many words on description and background information. Avoid using general or unspecific statements. Instead say what the situation was, what you did what your thought process was and so on.

Further Information

We would welcome applications for part time hours, however please note this would need to be a minimum of 30 hours per week.

Any move to VOA 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  

VOA employees only:  If you are currently in receipt of DTA as a result of a VOA office closure/restructure and it is agreed for you to take up this role in your current location, you may continue to receive DTA for the remainder of the period you can claim for.  Please check with the Vacancy Holder on preferred locations for this role before you apply. 

The VOA is an office-based organisation, however as all of our roles have aspects which can be completed from home, all colleagues have the ability to work a hybrid working pattern. The amount that colleagues work from home or office is defined by several factors including the nature of the work they carry out, the needs of their stakeholders, their development needs and personal circumstances such as caring responsibilities. To learn more about the hybrid working arrangements that could be available in this role, please contact the vacancy holder. 

Pre-employment Checks 

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.  

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter.

Reasonable Adjustment 

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.  

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:  

Contact Government Recruitment Service via voarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.  

Complete the “Assistance required” 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 an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.  

Terms & Conditions

Voluntary terms apply. 

Reserve Lists 

If we have more successful candidates than available vacancies, we will hold a 3-month reserve list as standard.

During that time, we may use the list to fill the same, or similar roles with closely matching essential criteria, without further testing of merit. Any appointments from the Reserve list will be made in strict merit order.

Starting Work 

The successful candidate will normally take up duty within one month from notification of successful completion of pre-employment checks.

Applying 

All applications for these vacancies must be made online. There are limited exceptions to this. Paper applications will only be considered if you have a disability that will prevent you from applying online. If this is the case, please email voarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk 

Once you have submitted your application it cannot be amended; only submit your application when you have completely finished and answered all the relevant questions.  
Please note that late applications will not be accepted. 

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. 

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. 

Concerns/Complaints 

The Valuation Office Agency’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition.  
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or if you feel the recruitment has been conducted in such a way that conflicts with the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, you may make a complaint, by contacting the Central Recruitment Team at the following address  resourcingteam@voa.gov.uk 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint you have the right to complain to the Civil Service Commissioners. 

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.