Programme Manager

• Strong track record of leading governance and assurance frameworks across programmes or portfolios
• Experience of working closely with a PMO to drive effective reporting, controls, assurance and performance management
• Track record of securing project approvals, including developing 5 case model business cases in collaboration with project leads and subject matter experts.
• Working knowledge of scheduling, budgeting and cost management, business change and implementation, change control, assurance, risk and benefits management.
• Significant demonstrable experience of overseeing project delivery through Project Managers or equivalent roles
• Ability to manage complexity, including dependencies, risks and competing priorities across a programme and/or portfolio
• Experience of providing constructive challenge and holding delivery teams to account

Qualifications

• Managing Successful Programmes (MSP)
• A recognised project management qualification such as; PRINCE2 Practitioner, Project Leadership Programme (PLP), APM Practitioner or equivalent.
• Membership of the Government Property Profession or Government Project Delivery Profession.
• A recognised Property Accreditation (or working towards) at Chartered, Certified or Fellow grade (RICS, IWFM, CIOB, CEng, CEnv, RTPI, RIBA) or APM Chartered Project Professional ChPP.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Knowledge of RIBA stages and property project lifecycle.
• Knowledge of governance, assurance and reporting activities within a typical monthly programme management cycle.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,375, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 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).

• 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%

• Flexi Time Policy. Our Flexi-time policy allows you to vary your hours from day to day, within the requirements of your role, to suit your needs and to offer a better work/life balance.

• Leave. If you work full time at Defra you are entitled to 25 days’ leave (rising, over 5 years, to 30 days’). If you work part time it will be pro-rated.

• Privilege day. You are also entitled to a privilege day off in May to mark the King’s birthday (date varies), plus time off for the 8 public holidays a year.

• Career breaks. We recognise that your work-life balance can extend beyond the short-term to the longer-term, and to support this you are able to apply for career breaks. These are unpaid extended breaks from work, granted at the discretion of the department.

• Volunteering leave - 3 days paid volunteering leave every year (pro-rata). Once you have passed probation.

• Season ticket loan – for an interest free season ticket loan, if you have worked within the Defra for more than three months. This can be used to purchase train and bus season tickets, as well as station car parking.

• Tenancy deposit loan – for an interest free loan, to assist you in meeting the deposit costs for your privately rented home.

• Salary advances and loans for other circumstances – for salary advances and loans in the following circumstances: for new entrants, for the purchase of bicycles, holidays and religious holidays.

• Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme – Since the closure to new entrants of the employer childcare voucher scheme, the government introduced the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. In this scheme, working parents open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 a year for each child or £4,000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare.

• Support to buy a bicycle – we run two schemes that can help you buy a bicycle for your commute:

  • The Cycle to Work Scheme – you can apply for a bicycle for your commute, up to the value of £6,000, which is recovered from you through salary sacrifice, as a tax-free benefit. At the end of the repayment period, you have the option to buy the bike if you wish, saving around 30% of the original cost.
  • Bike loan – if you are not eligible to apply for the Cycle to Work Scheme, you can apply for a loan of up to £1,000 towards the cost of a bike using the Bike loan scheme. This however is not a salary sacrifice scheme.

• High-street and online discounts. Offers through SmartSpending™ which is accessed through the StaR platform. Accessible 24/7, you can save at hundreds of top retailers.

• Maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave. We offer generous maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave – a total of 52 weeks leave to look after your new baby, regardless of your length of service. Most mothers are entitled to 39 weeks of paid leave, and a further 13 weeks of unpaid leave. Most partners are entitled to 15 days of paid paternity leave. Shared parental leave arrangements are in place, allowing parents to divide their leave with each other.

• Professional Membership. Defra group will fund one professional membership for each permanent employee which is relevant to their role.

• Eye care scheme. If you use a computer screen in connection with your job, we will pay for a regular eyesight test, and you may also be entitled to help towards purchasing new glasses, if they are needed for computer use.

• The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a free 24/7 confidential telephone advice service, available to all of our staff throughout the year.

• Civil Service Sports Council. The opportunity to join the Civil Services Sports Council.

Application Process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement & behaviour statements.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Sift

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted on the Lead Behaviour - Leadership

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Sifting will take place w/c 21st September