Programme Management Officer

Daily Rate

£600 - £650 per day umbrella

Location

Part remote, expectation is ideally 1-2 days in the office at Guildhall, Shrewsbury but this is negotiable.

Contract

6 months with review for extension

Working Hours

Monday-Friday 9 to 5

About the Role

Opus People Solutions are recruiting on behalf of Shrewsbury Council for a Programme Management Officer (PMO) to deliver the Councils Improvement Plan and Transformation Programme while implementing consistency and best practice to how they manage programmes and projects across the Council. Immediate priority and focus will be on leading the implementation of a new structure and developing the roles and approaches associated with that. The role is part remote with an expectation of ideally 1-2 days in the office at Guildhall, Shrewsbury but this is negotiable.

Purpose of the Role

The postholder will lead a Community of Professional Practice to bring together those with skills and expertise to prioritise resources, ensure effective governance, and raise awareness of council-wide project and programme delivery.

The postholder will be required to develop effective whole system working and relationships with both internal and external partners as well as wider stakeholders, to monitor and leverage interdependencies, co-create shared outcomes, while monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of programme outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Lead and shape the Programme Management Office (PMO) to create a centre of excellence that will devise and deliver the transformation programme and overarching programme plan, while supporting and monitoring wider project management activity.
• Manage the PMO human resource, both by direct line management and through a matrix management model, in line with Council policies and procedures, ensuring they are supported to work at high-standards, and be exemplars in the demonstrating the behaviours and values expected.
• Develop and embed the Project Management Framework including methods, tools and templates to ensure projects and programmes being managed are delivered in accordance with these standards.
• Oversee and be accountable for the management of risks and issues emerging from projects and programmes, and effectively escalating these as required to the relevant managers, leaders, or teams.
• Lead the continuous improvement of project and programme management practices and standards, through the development of key skills and capabilities, ensuring they meet organisational needs.
• Introduce digitisation and automation to reduce administrative requirements, while supporting the development of dashboards and other tools to raise awareness and transparency of projects and programmes along with their outcomes.
• Take a strategic or ‘balcony view’ across all projects and programmes to identify and address interdependencies, remove duplication, and align all activity to the strategic objectives of the Council in support of the Shropshire Plan.
• Develop strong relationships with key enabling services to ensure that adequate resources can be identified and ‘woven together’ as required, in a planned and supportive way, to ensure the timely delivery of projects and programmes.
• Act as a trusted advisor and offering a consulting service to identify opportunities, supporting the development of projects and programmes, and overseeing a ‘gateway process’ to prioritise activity and maintain a pipeline of ongoing continuous improvement and transformation that is adequately resourced.
• Working with internal colleagues and project or programme sponsors, to oversee a schedule of ‘health checks’ and ‘deep dive reviews’ to ensure projects and programmes are conforming to corporate standards and delivering against their agreed scope and plans, sharing lessons learned and adapting tools and approaches to address them.
• Manage the PMO budget, while working with project and programme sponsors, as well as colleagues in finance, to maintain oversight of project and programme budgets to ensure these are monitored and reported on as outlined within the agreed framework and standards. Oversee or manage commissioning, procurement, and contracting arrangements required to deliver the outcomes required of the PMO or the projects and programmes it manages.
• Work strategically as part of the OCE leadership and closely with other OCE leads to help be the best we can in enable the success of the organisation and to deliver The Shropshire Plan.