About the job

Job summary

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales. We help the sector build trust and confidence with customers, the environment and wider society: keeping water flowing, bills affordable and helping ensure the health of our rivers and waterways.

We're looking for a Programme Management Specialist to join our PMO team. The PMO team sits within the Office of the Chief Executive directorate, which is a group of cross cutting teams that work with teams across the whole of Ofwat. PMO play a key role in optimising the use of our valuable resources and our ability to achieve Ofwat's strategic goals. Our governance framework upholds robust analysis and decision-making, ensuring Ofwat's reputation remains strong.

You can find out more about why you should join Ofwat, our strategy, values and our framework for success in the attached Information for Candidates Pack.

Job description

This is an interesting role providing the opportunity to support a wide variety of work across Ofwat. You will partner with Directorates to ensure their programme of work and projects are structured appropriately and flexibly to reflect the changing needs of the organisation, enabling the delivery of Ofwat’s strategy.

You will scrutinise and challenge the way directorates manage their work, help them to prioritise the investment of resources and budgets, and support the implementation of outcome focused plans in an agile and flexible manner. You will also establish effective mechanisms for managing interdependencies between policy areas and directorates and contribute to the development of knowledge share best practice at Ofwat.

You will need to be a champion of effective risk management and have the ability to mitigate risks effectively, enabling informed decision-making. You will also enjoy problem-solving with the ability to proactively anticipate and identify potential issues and opportunities.

Ofwat is a learning organisation, and you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and experience, and to consolidate your skills set.  We have a well-supported, agile working environment, and have a trust-based culture intended to help empower you and enable and support you to succeed within Ofwat. 

Key Deliverables

In this role you will be expected to: 

• Planning - Provide support on the development of plans that will ensure Directorate objectives are Implement and maintain appropriate systems to enable effective planning and scheduling and maintain Directorate planning, capturing assumptions and identifying dependencies.
• Governance & Reporting - Utilise Ofwat's Governance Framework and reporting regime. Support reporting for the Directorate and wider Senior Leadership Team and provide analysis of performance at Directorate level for Support the timely and accurate reporting of integrated assurance plans and milestones to support Directorate / Board level assurance activities.
• Risk Management - Implement the system for facilitating the identification, analysis and monitoring of risks and issues. Produce periodic and ad-hoc risk and issues reports and undertake risk analysis in accordance with our strategic risk management strategy. Maintain Directorate risk register.
• Stakeholder Management - Identify and manage stakeholder relationships and highlight need for senior level support. Manage Ofwat and external relationships as appropriate.
• Workforce Planning - Assist with workforce planning, providing information for effective decision making.
• Budgetary Monitoring - Monitor Directorate spend and contribute to the compilation of budgets and the development of business cases where
• Assurance - Ensure Directorate activity has appropriate levels of assurance for the complexity of the work undertaken.
• Dependencies - Maintain Directorate dependencies and build dependency management into the Directorate's governance cycle.
• Benefits Management – Help in the establishment of a benefits management strategy taking into account the wider organisation strategy and objectives.
• Team development - Provide advice on planning / governance Help and support the wider  team and actively support the development of the  profession be active in helping to develop across Ofwat.
• Administrative - Ensure Directorate / governance tasks are carried out efficiently.

Person specification

To be successful in this role you will need the below essential experience, skills, knowledge and attributes:

Experience, skills and knowledge 

• Lead Criterion: Project management or PMO related experience including a knowledge of project management methodologies, governance frameworks and best practices.
• Resource management experience including the ability to balance and optimise resource investments across multiple directorates or projects.
• Risk management experience with the ability to identify, analyse and mitigate risks to ensure successful outcomes.
• Analytical and decision-making skills, including understanding strategic implications of decisions and making connections between different work areas.
• Excellent problem-solving skills - proactive approach in identifying and addressing potential issues.
• Experience of working flexibly and collaboratively with multidisciplinary and multi-organisational team.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.

Attributes 

• Delivers Outcomes
• Creates Clarity
• Makes Relationships Count
• Committed Learner

Attributes as per Ofwat's Framework for Success for Senior Associate grade. You can read more about Attributes here.

Benefits

Why You Should Join Us: 

We’re forward-thinking, creative, innovative, and ambitious. We constantly push the boundaries and embrace new ways of working.  

With us, your work matters, your voice is heard, and your impact is felt. Ours is a culture of trust, flexibility, autonomy, collaboration, and innovation. We all want positive change for water customers, the environment, and the future of water.  

But for us, change is more than what happens on the outside – we’ve always pushed boundaries internally, too. From becoming the first Civil Service organisation to achieve ‘Smarter Working’ status, to gaining our prestigious ‘Smarter Working Maturity’ award, we’ve consistently demonstrated our commitment to embracing innovative ways of working. Our people do their best work when given freedom over where, when, and how they work. Which is why we trust our teams to balance meaningful collaboration in the office with the flexibility of working from home. 

You will also benefit from:

• Excellent employer pension contributions of 28.97% (around £10,690 to £13,900 per annum for this role). You can find further details about pension schemes under Terms and Conditions in the Candidate Pack.
• 27.5 days leave (25 days annual leave + 2.5 days privilege leave) increasing to max 32.5 days with each year of service, plus bank holidays
• Access to exclusive discounts on a variety of goods and services, including retail 
  outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership.
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay.
• Enhanced sick pay.
• Regular development opportunities.
• Health and wellbeing initiatives.
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel.
• Cycle-to-work scheme.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

How to apply

Apply through the Civil Service Jobs website where you’ll be asked to create an account and complete an application form (CV and personal statement). If you’re unable to make an electronic application, please contact recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk and we will support you in completing your application.

Please ensure you have submitted your application in full ahead of the deadline listed below. Unfortunately, we won't be able to consider late applications.

Selection timetable

• Closing date: 23:55 on 21 July 24
• Sifting: WC 22 July 24
• Interview date(s): WC 05 Aug 24

Assessment process

Sift Stage

At sift stage we assess your application against key essential skills, experience, and knowledge, listed in the professional requirements section above. In your application, please state clearly how your skills, experience, and knowledge meet the essential criteria.

In the event of receiving a large number of applications, a pre-sift may take place on just the following lead criterion: 

• Project management or PMO related experience including a knowledge of project management methodologies, governance frameworks and best practices.

In your personal statement, please tell us how your skills and experience meet the lead criterion, with examples if appropriate. 

Interview Stage

We will assess your Experience, Skills and Knowledge as well as Attributes (set out in the professional requirements section) at Interview Stage.

You can read more about Attributes in Ofwat’s Framework for Success.

As part of the interview process, we may require a short presentation. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates upon invitation to interview.

Please note that the interviews will be conducted via video conferencing software such as Microsoft Teams.

If you have any queries about any aspect of this role, selection process, or you require any reasonable adjustments please email recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk.

Please read the attached "Candidate Information Pack" for details on terms and conditions.

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.