Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
AI Infrastructure Project Manager
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Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford
Job Summary
DSIT
At DSIT we’re all about improving people’s lives by maximising the potential of science & technology.
We accelerate innovation, investment and productivity through world-class science, research and development.
We use technology for good by ensuring new and existing technologies are safely developed and deployed across the UK, with the benefits more widely shared.
We are driving forward a modern digital government which gives citizens a more satisfying experience and their time back.
We do all this to enable the Government’s 5 national missions: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower, taking back our streets, breaking down barriers to opportunity and building an NHS fit for the future.
Above all, we focus on improving people’s lives. Whether it’s researching new treatments for disease, developing better batteries, reducing burdens through better public services, keeping children safe online, and much more, outcomes for citizens are at the heart of what we do.
Our Inclusive Environment
We offer flexible working benefits, employee well-being support and a great pension. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.
Find Out More
We regularly run events where you can find out more about the department and tips for the application and interview process. You can sign up for upcoming events here: https://forms.office.com/e/Jae3B4w7xm
You can also follow our LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/dsitcareers/
Job Description
Realising the full potential of artificial intelligence depends on the infrastructure we build to support it. Compute – the processing power behind every AI breakthrough – is far more than a technical resource; it is a critical enabler of scientific excellence, industrial competitiveness, and sovereign capability.
The Government has committed to implement the recommendations from the AI Opportunities Action Plan, that includes the expansion of AI Research Resource (AIRR) capacity by at least 20 times by 2030 – as compute needs grow, such expansion is critical if the UK is to keep pace. We have already started delivering on this in launching the Isambard-AI supercomputer at Bristol, building on the Dawn facilities at Cambridge. These form part of the AIRR, a national cluster of advanced computers that will provide world-leading AI specialised compute capacity to public researchers, academia, and industry.
We are looking for two experienced and highly organised Project Managers to lead project management within this major national programme focused on the development, deployment, and governance of AI infrastructure.
You will oversee the planning, execution, and delivery of projects within our AI infrastructure portfolio. Your work will be critical to ensuring our infrastructure investments are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with strategic goals. With AI infrastructure as the backbone of modern AI systems, you will be working at the intersection of technology, public interest, and geopolitics to shape the future of AI infrastructure ecosystems. This is a complex and exciting programme with substantial commercial, policy and programme delivery opportunities.
As a Project Manager for this AI infrastructure programme, you will:
- Thrive in a fast-moving environment, creating direct and high impact outcomes.
- Enjoy cross-functional collaboration with technical, analytical, commercial, delivery and policy colleagues to drive infrastructure initiatives from concept to completion.
- Be skilled in instigating and maintaining structure and project management discipline.
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Person specification
Key Responsibilities
- Create and lead a programme of projects to deliver the agreed outcomes within time, cost and quality constraints.
- Build project and programme plans and apply appropriate project principles to deliver stated objectives. Track and report delivery against milestones.
- Coordinate the development of business cases for AI infrastructure investments.
- Identify and monitor project risks and issues. Develop mitigating actions and escalate, as appropriate.
- Ensure benefits are identified, understood, measured, tracked and owned. Ensure appropriate Benefits Realisation Strategy is in place.
- Provide key reports and support effective governance and decision making.
- Develop and maintain effective communication with your team and wider stakeholders, building collaborative relationships.
Essential Criteria
- Track record of successfully delivering large and complex projects to a high standard from project initiation to close.
- Proven experience in identifying risks, assessing impact, and developing mitigation strategies.
- Adept at managing change; adjusting plans as project evolves.
- Proven skills at prioritizing tasks and meeting deadlines under pressure.
- Strong communication, with skills in clear and concise communication with stakeholders – identifying and managing diverse needs and expectations.
- Proven experience in navigating government business case development and assurance processes
- Hold a recognised Foundation or Practitioner qualification in Project Management, such as APM PFQ or PMQ, Prince2, Agile PM, and/or NISTA accreditation or similar.
Desirable Criteria
- Proven experience in navigating commercial issues and government procurement exercises
- Knowledge of AI infrastructure policy issues and ability to quickly understand technical information and apply to policy questions and programme design.
Qualifications
A recognised Foundation or Practitioner qualification in Project Management/ Project Delivery qualification such as APM PFQ or PMQ, Prince2, Agile PM, and/or NISTA accreditation or similar.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
- Managing a Quality Service
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Risk and Issue Management
- Governance
Alongside your salary of £44,620, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £12,926 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:
- A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
- Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
- An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
- Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
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Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Please use your personal statement (in no more than 500 words) to describe in 500 words how you meet the essential criteria for this role.
Applications will be sifted on CV and Personal Statement.
In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the CV only.
Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
The interview will consist of behaviour and technical questions.
Link to the technical/professional competency framework that candidates will be assessed against, for their reference: https://projectdelivery.gov.uk/government-projects-academy/project-delivery-capability-framework/
Sift and interview dates
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Further Information
Reasonable Adjustment
We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.
Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DSIT Candidate Guidance. A DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.
We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.
Candidates who meet the minimum benchmark may be placed on a Reserve List for consideration for similar roles, including those at a lower grade. Candidates who narrowly miss the benchmark and are not placed on the Reserve List may still be considered for an offer in a similar role at a lower grade.
Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
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