Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Child Maintenance Service - Modernisation Project Manager
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Locations
Birkenhead - Great Western House, Woodside Ferry Approach, Birkenhead, CH41 6DA
Dudley - Waterfront East, Level Street, Dudley, DY5 1XA
Falkirk - Callendar Boulevard, Callendar Business Park, Falkirk, FK1 1XT
Hastings - Havelock Road, Hastings, TN34 1BG
Leicester - Crown Building, 60 Wellington Street, Leicester, LE1 6DS
Newcastle - Benton Park Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE7 7NE
Plymouth - Clearbrook House, Bickleigh Down Business Park, Plymouth, PL6 7TN
Please note that for candidates requesting to work in Newcastle, this role is based at Benton Park View and will relocate to 1 Pilgrim Place in Newcastle city centre by the end of 2027.
Job Summary
Family separation is never easy. The Child Maintenance Service helps parents, who are unable to make a private financial agreement in support of their child(ren)’s living costs, ensure and at times enforce, the legal responsibility to provide financial support. Our mission is to ‘get money to children’ because it makes a real difference to children’s lives.
Child Maintenance Service is not only undergoing a significant period of change as we drive forward our transformation agenda, but in tandem, we continue to deliver a politically significant and fundamentally crucial service to millions of separated families around the country who depend upon the work we do. Our story over the last two years is one of impressive progress and improvement.
Despite the progress we’ve made, we are unashamedly ambitious about what more we can achieve and the difference we can make for the families who need us. Child Maintenance Service is an amazing place to work. Walk into any one of our service centres and you will be overwhelmed by the passion and commitment that our people have for supporting our customers.
Job Description
The Project Manager will have accountability and responsibility to:
- Manage project(s) using appropriate techniques and governance arrangements.
- Identify and evaluate project risks and issues, ensuring risk is controlled through implementing and monitoring appropriate risk management plans and escalation is completed in a timely manner.
- Engage effectively with project stakeholders, developing and managing stakeholder communications plans.
- Build and manage project team, including engaging specialist/supplier/commercial expertise as appropriate.
- Planning, development and implementation of all requirements, and the production of project documentation.
- Identification and management of all impacts to ensure the projects’ objectives meet the needs of the business.
- Ensuring monitoring of progress to plan, and reporting through existing programme governance structure.
- Awareness of other DWP and CMS initiatives and requirements to inform any required contingency planning.
- Commissioning and monitoring delivery of work from various areas of the business and suppliers.
- Effective and creative implementation and landing of changes into CMS Operations.
- Delivery of all requirements/products to adhere to the DWP Change Lifecycle to ensure the successful continuation of the project.
- Preparation of a project communication strategies to ensure that all appropriate areas of the business are fully informed and engaged.
- Line management of project & programme/project support colleagues providing coaching, advice, input and support through all stages of the project lifecycle.
There will be some business travel mainly between key DWP/Government sites in the future but not currently.
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Person Specification
Essential Criteria
This is what you will be assessed against, and should align your personal statement to. Your evidence will be assessed against the following essential criteria. You must ensure you provide specific examples to demonstrate these criteria in your personal statement. Candidates will be able to demonstrate the following:
- Significant experience in the delivery of complex projects, with particular emphasis on the management of multiple suppliers and stakeholders in both business change and IT projects (Lead Criteria).
- Experience of delivering to challenging deadlines, demonstrating the ability to effectively prioritise using evidence available and engagement with stakeholders.
- Experience of governance and risk control frameworks with experience of engaging with high-level governance forums and the management and appropriate escalation of risks.
- Strong planning and organisational skills, including ability to translate high-level plans into detailed working level plans.
- Strong inclusive leadership including the ability to build high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams with colleagues from across large organisations as well as suppliers.
- You possess strong analytical skills with a proven ability to persuade and influence decision-making.
- A passion for transforming the service we deliver to customers, improving efficiency and achieving best value for the taxpayer.
Desirable Criteria
- PRINCE2 Practitioner, APM practitioner or possess equivalent qualifications.
- Experience of working within large complex organisations.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £57,946, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £16,786 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).
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Working for DWP will include benefits such as learning and development tailored to your role, an environment with flexible working options, a culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
Annual Leave
- 23 days annual leave rising with service to 30 days, plus public holidays.
Flexi Time
- Access to flexible working hours scheme will be available.
Hybrid Working
This role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work.
If a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for the role and for you, you will normally be required to spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted working hours from your DWP office.
If you have a disability, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that may affect your ability to meet the minimum office attendance requirement, please discuss this with us using the contact details in this advert.
Working Hours
The Department’s Contracted Working Hours Are
- Monday to Friday: 07:45 to 20:00
- Saturday: 08:45 to 17:00
Employees are contracted to work a set number of hours per week within these timeframes.
For full-time employees, this is 37 net hours per week (equivalent to 42 gross hours, including meal breaks). For part-time employees, the number of hours will be proportionally less, based on their contract.
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Employees are expected to work the full number of hours for which they are contracted.
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, Strengths and Experience.
Eligibility
Visa Sponsorship
For these vacancies, we strongly recommend that applicants consult with an immigration specialist or qualified advisor to assess their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship before deciding to apply. Please note that while we consider sponsorship requests in accordance with current DWP guidance and Home Office policy, sponsorship cannot be guaranteed.
Location
Applicants should only apply for roles where they can reasonably commute to and from their selected home office location daily.
Selection Process Details
As part of the application process, you will be asked to submit a CV and 1250-word Personal Statement.
Important Information Regarding Anonymisation
When completing your application form, CV and personal statement you must remove any personal details that could be used to identify you. This includes name and contact details which might usually appear on a CV or personal statement.
Failure to do so will result in your application being withdrawn.
Personal Statement
Write an evidence-based statement demonstrating your suitability for the role, reflecting on the essential criteria outlined in the Job Description.
Your evidence-based statement should be no longer than 1250 words. Avoid generalised claims – focus instead on specific examples that highlight your achievements. For each example, explain the context, the challenges you faced, the actions you took, and the outcomes you achieved.
Sift
The sift panel will assess your evidence-based statement to evaluate your experience, skills, and knowledge against the essential criteria outlined in the job advert. To progress to the next stage of the application process, you must provide clear and sufficient evidence demonstrating how you meet these criteria.
If we receive a high volume of applications, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead criterion: Significant experience in the delivery of complex projects, with particular emphasis on the management of multiple suppliers and stakeholders in both business change and IT projects.
CV
Your CV is for reference/context only and is not scored, put the main content of your evidence and skills in your personal statement.
Interview
The interview will assess your behaviours and strengths.
A presentation will also be assessed.
For the purposes of the selection process, the Lead Behaviour will be Leadership.
Your interview will be conducted by video (MS Teams).
Approximate Campaign Timeline
- Sift Period: 11 - 21 August 2026
- Interviews: 7 -
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