Office for National Statistics
Programme Support Officer
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Job Title
This role is aligned to ONS hybrid working principles, which focus on attending the office with purpose. The postholder will be expected to contribute to the organisation’s overall 40% office attendance, in line with business and role requirements. This level of attendance will apply for most of the programme, although requirements may vary at different stages, with periods of increased or reduced on-site working in response to census priorities, delivery phases and business need.
Please refer to attachments below for terms and flexibilities.
The locations for this role are Newport and Titchfield (Fareham).
All colleagues on office-based contracts should be working primarily in their contractually allocated site for at least 40% of their working time. If you are not based at the Titchfield site, occasional travel will be required for workshops and planning activities.
The induction process for the role will be conducted in person.
Job Summary
Are you highly organised, proactive, and ready to support the delivery of a nationally significant programme?
We’re looking for a Programme Support Officer to join the Census 2031 team and play a key role in reporting across the programme.
Census 2031 represents our most ambitious data collection project yet – a once-in-a-decade opportunity to capture a complete picture of everyone living in England and Wales. Building on the digital success of 2021, we're pioneering new ways to reach every household and community, ensuring no one is left uncounted. This vital work will provide the foundation for policy decisions, resource allocation, and community planning for the next decade.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution, and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime, and migration.
Job Description
The role of the Programme Support Officer covers a diverse range of activities to support the delivery of the programme’s objectives. The Programme Support Officer enables the smooth running of the programme by supporting the Programme Manager/PMO Manager through the operation of programme management processes in one or more functional areas within the PMO eg Planning, Risk, Change Control, Assurance, Benefits etc. The Programme Support Officer also supports the Programme/PMO Manager through the co-ordination of business management actions and activities on their behalf.
Key Responsibilities
- Implements and maintains systems for effective planning and scheduling.
- Establishes and maintains project controls, keeping the project manager informed of the project status. Prepares project performance reports, presents statistics, and researches new information.
- Ensures that organisational tasks are completed efficiently. Manages and monitors project compliance with departmental policies and procedures.
- Manages professional relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, and serves as the lead contact for some external parties.
- Manages potential risk areas, working with risk managers and escalating issues when necessary.
- Collects and shares data in line with data standards. Uses data analytics and digital tools to compile and present project information that aids in monitoring progress and identifying potential issues.
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Person Specification
Essential Criteria
- Strong organisational and coordination skills, including supporting workshops, meetings and/or events, while managing multiple tasks and adapting effectively to changing priorities.
- Proven ability to communicate and engage effectively with stakeholders at all levels, while maintaining strong working relationships.
- Good understanding of project and programme lifecycles, showing awareness of how programme processes interact and follow established governance.
- Experience analysing and clearly presenting information, showing strong attention to detail and maintaining accurate documentation.
- Experience utilising digital collaboration and information-management tools, such as Confluence/Wikis or SharePoint.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Communicating and Influencing
Technical Skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Risks and Issue management - Working : Project Delivery Capability Framework
Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £34,587, Office for National Statistics contributes £10,019 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 Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.
Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.
Inclusion & Accessibility
At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.
As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.
If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.
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.
Security
For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.
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At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence:
- Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
- UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
- Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
- Security Services records
Application Process
Number of Stages: 3 stage process
- Stage 1: Civil Service Judgement Test
- Stage 2: Application
- Stage 3: Interview
Stage 1 - Civil Service Situational Judgement Test
Upon submission of Part 1 your application form you will be sent an invitation to complete Civil Service Situational Judgement online tests.
There will be full instructions on how to complete the test including an opportunity to practice before undertaking the actual test. These tests are not time limited.
If you pass the test for this vacancy, you will be invited to complete the final stage of your application, this is where you will provide information such as your work history, Skills and experience and Personal Statement / Statement of Suitability.
Stage 2 – Application
The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, skills, experience, and personal statement. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.
A personal statement is required at application stage, the maximum wordcount allowed is 1250, which should not be exceeded. You should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed in the person specification. As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.
We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need to go through a further selection process providing the role has the same behaviours, and essential skills.
When a high volume of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted. Candidates will be invited to interview based on their merit order, with those achieving the highest scores being prioritised. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass will be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.
Stage 3 – Interview
If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert.
Interviews will be held via Microsoft Teams.
Our main locations are Newport (South Wales), Titchfield and Darlington.
A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.
Important Dates:
- The closing date for the role is 08/07/2026 at 23:55. Please note, both the Situational Judgement test and written application (work history, qualifications and personal statement) will need to be completed by this deadline.
- The Sift will be conducted from Monday 20th July
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