About the job

Job summary

The Government People Group exists to work with departments, professions, and functions to build a modern, effective Civil Service.

We support the government workforce with the right skills and capability. We are working with leaders to get the right people in the right jobs, with the right skills and continuous learning to excel in their roles.

We provide leadership, and in turn, create leaders with exceptional line management capability across departments, influencing partners in the wider public sector and beyond. This involves getting our retention and reward strategy right, to nurture specific skills, and create pride and resilience in our workforce.

Our role is also to provide system leadership across central government in pulling together back office services. Collectively, we help support the Cabinet Office’s priority to drive efficiencies, and reforms that will make government work better, to ultimately provide a better service to the public.

Putting the right people, with the right skills, in the right roles is essential to building an effective Civil Service. This role provides a unique opportunity to be part of the transformation currently taking place in the way that the Civil Service recruits people, by supporting the delivery of a future recruitment offer that will harness the power of technology to enable a more efficient and effective recruitment journey.

The Recruitment Transformation team is high profile within the Civil Service, and our work frequently gets referenced and discussed at the highest levels of government including with Permanent Secretaries, Ministers, and in Parliament. Our success will ultimately impact the lives of over a million applicants who apply for our jobs each year, as well as making significant improvements for the half a million civil servants who need to hire new people or find their next role.

Job description

The Recruitment Transformation team manages a portfolio of programmes, projects and initiatives, including the ‘Applicant Tracking System Replacement Programme’. This programme is included in the ‘Government Major Projects Portfolio’ (GMPP) and is therefore subject to additional oversight and scrutiny by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA).

We therefore need an experienced Programme Manager, with strong knowledge and experience of GMPP reporting and governance requirements, to join our team and support the delivery of this important programme while also maintaining oversight of the rest of the portfolio.

You will lead a small team including a Planning Manager and a Risk Manager, and you will be part of a wider team that includes a Benefits Manager and other PMO, Communications, and Strategy roles.

Key responsibilities:

You will be responsible for developing robust approaches to programme management, based on best practice and meeting relevant controls and reporting requirements, including:

• Responsibility for managing the programme plan, and ensuring resourcing is appropriately aligned to deliverables.
• Working with project and work-stream leads to understand and incorporate planning assumptions and dependencies into the overall plan.
• Reporting progress on deliverables, risks, and issues appropriately and effectively. 
• Working with the programme Benefits Manager to ensure benefits can be tracked against planned delivery activities. 
• Managing the programme board and portfolio board, and ensuring that we comply with all relevant governance and reporting requirements.
• Line management responsibility for a small team that will support the delivery of the work.

Person specification

You will need demonstrable experience of working on complex, multi-year programmes as part of a programme team, ideally in the category of Digital or Technology delivery. You will be highly organised with the ability to quickly understand issues and requirements, set direction, and lead others to drive change. 

You will need the skills and expertise to support the programme Senior Responsible Owner and Programme Director by establishing and implementing the necessary governance processes and controls, and identifying and managing risks and issues.

You will need to work well as part of a team and also on your own initiative, varying your approach to the circumstances and challenges as they arise. Our portfolio uses both Agile and Waterfall project management methodologies, within the overall framework of ‘Managing Successful Programmes’, so you’ll need experience of both.

You will need to be comfortable presenting to senior management boards and committees, and you will need to work with stakeholders such as the IPA and Treasury on controls and governance activities. 

Essential skills and experience: 

• Experience of delivering projects or programmes within the ‘Government Major Projects Portfolio’ (GMPP) and complying with the relevant Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) requirements.
• Knowledge of both Agile and Waterfall project management methodologies. 
• Experience of senior stakeholder engagement within a complex delivery environment.
• Strong leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills.

Desirable experience: 

• Experience of digital or technology projects or programmes.
• Relevant planning, APM or MSP qualifications would be beneficial.

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £53,400, Cabinet Office contributes £14,418 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, Experience and Technical skills.

Application process

This vacancy uses Success Profiles and we will assess your experience and skills in relation to the requirements of the role as set out in the job description. You will need to complete the online form and provide a CV and a Personal Statement for the role setting out how you meet the essential skills and experience detailed in the advert (no more than 750 words).

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be undertaken using the CV only.

Selection process
A sift will be conducted on the CV and Personal Statement. Candidates successful at the sift stage will be invited to interview. At the interview, you will be assessed on four Behaviours, one Technical Skill, and three Strengths

Expected timeline (subject to change)
Expected sift date – w/c 26th February
Expected interview date/s – TBC
Interview location - Video Interview

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Cabinet Office 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

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 cabinetofficerecruitment.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 interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional. 

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. 

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service /Disclosure Scotland 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. 

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

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

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

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

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.