UK Ministry of Defence
Head of P3M Profession, Defence Nuclear Enterprise
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MOD Abbey Wood, Bristol, BS34 8JH, MOD Main Building, London SW1A 2HB
Job Summary
The UK’s nuclear deterrence strategy is founded on maintaining a minimum credible, independent nuclear capability assigned to NATO’s defence, delivered continuously at sea by the Royal Navy for over 50 years. This mission remains critical to national security.
The Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) achieves this through the Defence Nuclear Organisation (DNO) and Royal Navy, supported by the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Sheffield Forgemasters, and key suppliers such as BAE Systems, Babcock, and Rolls Royce. The DNE encompasses the full lifecycle of nuclear deterrence capabilities, involving highly complex projects that require collective scientific, technical, and delivery excellence.
Operating as an integrated team, the DNE portfolio includes submarines at various stages—operational, in production, and conceptual—alongside supporting systems like nuclear propulsion, the Trident missile and warhead, and submarine combat systems. This requires the safe stewardship and through-life delivery of complex programmes and support operations at pace.
The Head of Portfolio, Programme and Project Management (P3M) Profession is a senior leadership role within the Submarine Delivery Group of the DNO. This role is responsible for establishing and sustaining a coherent, enterprise-wide P3M capability across Defence, industry, and partners. It ensures consistent, effective systems—people, standards, processes, and tools—are in place to manage the portfolio’s scale and complexity.
Key responsibilities include securing the right skilled personnel, embedding robust standards and processes, and providing tools and information for sound decision-making. The role oversees performance, delivers second-line assurance, and drives professional standards, ensuring the P3M workforce is compliant, adaptable, innovative, and capable of meeting evolving demands.
Success requires visible, credible leadership that exemplifies excellence, simplifies delivery, and promotes continuous improvement. The leader must operate confidently at senior levels, influence across organisational boundaries, and inspire the P3M Profession. They must attract, develop, and retain a diverse, capable workforce while fostering a unified culture across MOD, government, and industry.
Credibility as a P3M professional is essential, alongside the ability to define and embed standards consistently, build strong relationships, and align enterprise efforts. Ultimately, the role demands a decisive leader who takes accountability, translates strategy into sustained delivery, and cultivates an inclusive, high-performing environment.
Job Description
Overall Purpose of the Job
The role reports to the DNO’s Enterprise Portfolio Director and is responsible for:
- Leading the P3M (Portfolio, Programme and Project) Profession across the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) to ensure confidence, consistency and capability in delivery.
- Setting, owning and assuring enterprise-wide P3M standards, aligned to MOD and wider Government policy.
- Driving simplification and standardisation of ways of working, ensuring a coherent and proportionate delivery system across the portfolio.
- Leading the enterprise assurance rhythm, including second line of defence, to enable consistent, risk-based oversight and strengthen confidence in delivery.
- Leading enterprise workforce strategy for the P3M Profession, ensuring the right capability, capacity and skills are in place to meet DNE priorities.
- Building a high-performing, inclusive and collaborative enterprise culture, enabling effective delivery across Defence, industry and partners.
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The post holder will also support the development of the P3M profession across the Ministry of Defence (MOD), supporting MOD’s Head of Profession to help shape the approach to Project Delivery in defence; they are also the main responsible for applying PD policy from Defence and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) into the DNO.
Key Responsibilities
As Head of the P3M Profession, you are accountable for the leadership, development and continuous evolution of the profession across the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE). This includes:
- Setting and delivering the strategy for the P3M Profession, ensuring capability development aligns with organisational priorities and wider Defence objectives.
- Shaping and delivering the enterprise work plan, including setting standards, defining governance, and contributing to Defence-wide P3M professional frameworks.
- Providing visible, credible leadership to the P3M community, building confidence through clear communication, engagement and professional identity.
- Role modelling professional excellence, driving high standards, simplifying how we deliver, and enabling innovation in the development and application of P3M capability.
- Building strong relationships across professions, policy, assurance and delivery communities, ensuring alignment and consistent, proportionate application of P3M standards across the enterprise.
- Leading enterprise workforce planning and strategy for the P3M Profession, including capability assessment, supply and demand analysis, talent pipelines, and informed resource allocation aligned to DNE priorities.
- Strengthening specialist capability and developing the talent pipeline, including project management and project controls expertise, early-career pathways, mentoring, and accreditation.
- Acting as an ambassador for the P3M Profession, promoting a strong, inclusive community and attracting, developing and retaining diverse talent.
Person Specification
Please provide evidence of the following criteria in your Supporting Statement:
Essential Criteria
- Extensive experience delivering complex P3M leadership across the full delivery lifecycle, including the ability to identify, manage and rationalise interdependencies in highly complex environments.
- Proven ability to define, lead and implement strategy that improves P3 performance and builds sustainable capability across individuals and teams to meet organisational and Defence priorities.
- Strong influencing and stakeholder leadership skills, with a track record of working across organisational boundaries and with senior leaders to shape decisions and resolve delivery challenges.
- Demonstrable success in leading large-scale business change, managing ambiguity and driving improved outcomes across complex delivery organisations.
- Experience of building and leading inclusive, high-performing cultures, with a clear commitment to Diversity and Inclusion and its role in enabling effective delivery.
- Recognised professional credibility as a P3M leader.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience as a NISTA project reviewer (or equivalent)
Memberships/Qualifications
- Chartered Project Professional qualification from the Association for Project Management
Evidence of the Qualification/Licence/Membership will be required at interview. All qualifications/licences/memberships declared must be held at point of application and be in date.
Qualifications
- Chartered Project Professional qualification from the Association for Project Management
Memberships
- Chartered Project Professional qualification from the Association for Project Management
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Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £81,000, Ministry of Defence contributes £23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides here.
Learning and Development
- Tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Discover My Benefits
Please follow the link to visit the Discover My Benefits site which showcases the benefits and discounts offered when working as a civilian for the MOD: https://discovermybenefits.mod.gov.uk/civilian/
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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection Process Details
To apply for this role please provide your CV and personal statement through the application steps on the CS jobs website.
All Applications Must Include The Following
- A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
- A separate Supporting Statement (1250 word limit) providing clear evidence of how you meet the Essential Criteria laid out in the Person Specification
Shortlisting
All applications will be reviewed by the selection panel who will consider the evidence provided by the candidates against the essential criteria to determine a shortlist.
Due to the volume of the applications we receive we will not provide feedback to applicants who are unsuccessful at the shortlist stage.
Assessment
Candidates shortlisted will be invited to an interview which will include the requirement to prepare a presentation for which they will normally be given at least one week’s notice of the subject.
Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates.
Interview Panel
- Claire-Marie Simpson (Enterprise Portfolio Director)
- Ian Craddock (Chief Operating Officer, Submarine Delivery Group)
- Jayne Stone (DNE HRBP Hd)
Relocation Allowances
This post does not offer any assistance with Relocation Allowances.
London locations may attract an allowance of £3,300 per annum.
Sponsorship
Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.
The sift will be completed within 10 working days of the vacancy closing date. Interviews will be held on a date to be confirmed.
Probation Period
All employees joining Ministry of Defence who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a 6-month probation period (unless otherwise advised) effective from the employment start date.
Visa Sponsorship
The Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a
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