About the job

Job summary

The Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) is a part of the Ministry of Defence responsible for the procurement, in-service support, and disposal of the UK’s nuclear submarines. Our work is of unparalleled strategic importance nationally and internationally, ensuring the security of the UK’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent, and delivering some of the most technically complex programmes in defence.

Here you’ll find a community to belong to – whether that’s alongside project teams with a shared vision or as part of an employee network of like-minded individuals. We believe that, by celebrating different backgrounds and perspectives, together we’ll achieve the extraordinary.

Discover more about our work:

We offer 25+ days’ holiday, flexible and hybrid working, enhanced parental leave schemes, shopping discounts, and an exceptional employer pension contribution of around 27%, to help work work for you.

For security reasons this role is open to sole UK nationals only. A ‘sole UK national’ refers to an individual who holds citizenship solely in the UK, without dual citizenship or nationality from another country. We’re unable to offer visa sponsorship.

This role requires you to have lived in the UK for the last 5 years and obtain Security Check (SC) security clearance. Clearance must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you have been recruited for. If it isn’t obtained or is obtained but with caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role, any conditional offer made to you will be withdrawn. Obtaining SC security clearance can be a lengthy process, and we reserve the right to withdraw any conditional offer made if the necessary security clearance isn’t obtained within 12 months.

Job description

Are you a Project Manager excited by the opportunity to shape and define the project delivery of some of the biggest and complex defence programmes in the UK today? The Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) are currently seeking enthusiastic and driven Project Managers to join our team at HMNB Devonport.

Want to hear what one of our Level 3 Project Managers thinks of their role?

‘What we do as project managers is key to successful and timely delivery of safe and effective equipment to Front Line Commands and their service personnel. Every day we play a functional part of making this happen, and that is ultimately what is important. The breadth of experience that you gain here is so wide due to the diversity of delivery that we do. The additional benefits are also great: flexible working hours and a generous pension scheme for example.’

Growing your career as part of the SDA, we will provide you with the diverse opportunities at the forefront of ensuring the delivery of crucial and significant projects. This could include supporting Disposal, the Transition into Service and In-Service support of submarines and infrastructure in HMNB Devonport. You will be supported by your manager and wider team to achieve your career goals and aspirations with mentoring available to fulfil your potential and funding for industry-recognised qualifications.

Working at Devonport, the largest naval base in Western Europe, you will be able to witness first-hand the output of your project. All whilst utilising and developing your knowledge and experience in line with business needs to support our armed forces. If you have the pride, passion and commitment, with the drive to develop your skills and experience of leadership and delivering successful outcomes, then you will find yourself in good company in the SDA.

At the SDA, we champion flexible ways of working. Regular in-person attendance is required to promote the benefits of face-to-face collaboration alongside flexibility of hours to support work-life balance. Initially, you may be expected to attend more frequently to familiarise yourselves with the site, the team, and your role.

What you’ll be doing

• Responsible for leading, managing and developing multidisciplinary teams covering a range of subject areas within associated semi-complex projects, multiple simple projects or complex control accounts.
• Accountable for the delivery of their projects' outputs within the performance/cost/time envelope for a semi-complex project, multiple simple projects or complex control accounts.
• Responsible for ensuring the most cost-effective and efficient means of delivery, whilst mitigating risk and leveraging opportunities.
• Support an open, honest, no blame culture. Actively highlighting failures and shortfalls positively and drawing through LFE into the project or control account, advising on mitigations and engaging with OBI owner to mitigate wider occurrence.
• Responsible for embedding and adhering to all governance and policy and enable the required compliance throughout their team, ensure appropriate challenge and gain approval to deviate when necessary.
• Regularly meet the customer to understanding the objective, requirements and the means of acceptance in line with the MoD's Operating Model and Defence Lines of Development.
• Responsible for discharging the intelligent customer role on behalf of the SDA, through effective engagement, management and oversight with industrial partners

Person specification

To be successful with your application, you'll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:

• Manage a small to moderate project team to deliver projects/outputs.
• Experience in managing a project to delivery outputs and outcomes.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and building positive working relationships to benefit project outcomes.
• The ability to solve problems, evaluate options and find the most beneficial solution.
• Knowledge of project management practices, methodologies, tools, and techniques to contribute to successful project.
• Ability to be resilient in an ever-changing environment as well as applying new innovative ideas and solutions, prove concept and follow through to implementation.

In addition to the responsibilities above, the following technical competences and behaviours will be assessed at interview:

• Controlling a Project Practitioner
• Stakeholder Management
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,600, Ministry of Defence contributes £11,502 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

Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:

1. Pre-sift - We will check that you meet any essential or eligibility criteria that are listed in the Person Specification section of this advert. On your CV, please clearly show how you meet the essential criteria.
2. Sift - Your CV will be assessed against the following categories, using a simple numerical scoring system: Key Achievements; Relevant Experience; Applied Knowledge and Skills

Please follow our guidance on CV writing for best chance of success.

3. Interview - If you're invited to interview, you'll be assessed against the Sift categories listed above, as well as the Technical Competences and Behaviours listed in the Person Specification section of this advert.

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

Open to UK nationals only.

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.