About the job

Job summary

The Strategy and Change Directorate sits at the centre of NCA business, and works collaboratively with the whole Agency to design the Agency's strategy and sub-strategies; ensure alignment to the Strategy’s aims and deliverables through OKRs; provide business architecture and design expertise and direction for the NCA to deliver the Agency strategy and ensure coherence of existing design work; and keep oversight of the portfolio of the Agency’s Transformation and BAU programmes and projects.

As the most senior Planning specialist in the Agency, the post-holder will work as part the Investment Management Office, leading on portfolio planning and supporting programme planning. You will lead standard setting and assurance for all planning activities within programmes.

When working with a Programme, you will  provide clarity on key milestones to define what, when and how activities will be organised to ensure the outcomes of a project can be achieved, with the resources available.

You will lead on all aspects of project planning, which will include the development, updating and monitoring of plans and schedules. You will identify tasks, activities, interdependencies and outputs for the project and work with the project team to track and monitor progress against the plan throughout the life of the project.

You will be working with colleagues across the delivery profession – business design and architecture, portfolio management, change management and programme delivery. More broadly you will work with senior leaders and colleagues in Enabling Functions and Operations, such as HR, Communications, Intelligence, Investigations, policing communities, partner organisations and the wider cross government project delivery profession. 

Job description

You will have demonstrable experience of leading planning for progressively larger and more complex projects and programmes.

***To be considered, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance before commencing the role***

Person specification

• Delivery and leadership – Provide visible and effective leadership, lead the planning team and work with the project manager to deliver the business case benefits and outcomes. Develop clear vision and standards and champion the use of best practice project planning standards, tools and processes. Build strong networks both internally and externally.
• Project planning – Apply advanced knowledge in the discipline of planning for the analysis and successful resolution of risks and issues and identification of opportunities.
• Resources – Identify future capacity and capability needs of the project planning function and puts in place strategies to meet them.
• Stakeholder management – Build and maintain external networks to access technical and professional best practice.
• Project performance and controls – Analyse performance data, looking at trends to identify areas for improvement and collaboration, and selecting appropriate methods and tools to resolve them.
• Guidance and support – Provide specialist advice and support to ensure successful delivery of projects. Provide guidance and advice to the Project Manager during project initiation on selection of planning approach, tools, processes and proportionality. Identify and lead the introduction of best practice planning processes, tools and templates, using industry standard best practice as a benchmark. Build planning capability.
• Contribution to the Profession – commit to personal development, provide support, guidance and coaching to the team, promoting effective individual and team performance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,179, National Crime Agency contributes £18,948 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.

If you wish to apply for this vacancy, you must submit your application by 23:55 on Sunday 21st January 2024. 

You will be asked to complete a CV as part of the application process,  Please see the candidate information pack for more information.

Please note depending on the volume of applications a Longlist at sift may be conducted on following criteria:

• Experience of leading, planning, and scheduling for progressively larger and more complex and high-value projects.

Candidates must pass this criteria for their application to be progressed.

A panel will then assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the Entry Criteria section.

Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.

Sift results are expected to be released w/c 12th February 2024. 

Interviews will take place throughout February 2024 - locations to be confirmed. Please be advised that the type of interview (eg. virtual/face-to-face) may be subject to change and successful candidates will be notified of this prior to attending. However the interview is conducted, the interview criteria will remain as shown on page 17 of the Candidate Information Pack.

The above sift and interview dates are an indicative timeline.

Should you be successful at sift but cannot attend on the interview date(s) listed the recruitment team cannot guarantee an alternative date. Please contact the recruitment team.

You will then be asked to attend an interview in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence.  

A presentation will be required at interview on Seeing the Big Picture and Leadership the details of which will be provided to those successful at shortlisting.

Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates.

Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Any instances of plagiarism including copying of examples/answers from internet sources will result in a withdrawal of your application. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving internal candidates. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants.

Multi-Location

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Please be aware that you can be posted to any location that you put in your preferences. If you would only like to be posted to one location, please confirm one location only. If you are posted to a location that you have requested and you do not accept that location, you may not be offered another role.

Please note, only advertised location can be offered. Notes populated in a free text box will not be taken into consideration.

Near Miss

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in the NCA which may be at a lower grade, but have a potential skills match.

Hybrid Working

Here at the NCA we have a hybrid working arrangement in place enabling officers to work a proportion of their role remotely. Eligibility and the degree of home working will vary depending on the requirements of the role. Further details can be discussed at offer stage.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. As part of our application process you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process that you may need. If you have a disability or long-term condition (a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long term effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities protected under the Equality Act 2010) and need us to make any adjustments or do anything differently during the recruitment process, please let us know by emailing ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk, 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:

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.

Please contact us by emailing ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk or calling 0117 372 0000 as soon as possible before the closing date if you wish to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying.

Inclusion and Accessibility

The NCA embraces and values diversity in all forms. Being truly reflective of the communities we serve and building a culture where everyone can perform at their best is critical to leading the UK’s fight against serious and organised crime – something which affects us all. We want to recruit and retain the very best and broadest diversity of officers so the NCA welcomes applications from individuals from all backgrounds.

We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

VETTING REQUIREMENTS SC

All security clearances require you to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK.

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.

Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

If you require SC clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements.

Checks will be made against:

•   Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
•   UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records.
•   Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
•   Security Services records

We encourage all candidates to thoroughly review the candidate pack which explains the role further before submitting an application.

If you have any specific queries about the role that are not covered by the candidate pack, please contact:

ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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.