Job Description

Details

Reference number

325531

Salary

\xc2\xa339,100 - \xc2\xa342,300

A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Job grade

Senior Executive Officer

GPA SEO National

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

GPA - Capital Projects

Type of role

Governance
Project Delivery
Property

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Compressed Hours

Number of jobs available

1


Contents

• Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information

Location

Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham
About the job

Job summary

The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.
To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community. The Government Property Agency is changing the way the Civil Service works and is at the forefront of Government\'s transformation agenda; reshaping the relationship civil servants have with their place of work. The Agency is central to the delivery of key Government policies including moving 22,000 Civil Service roles out of London by 2030 and tackling climate change by contributing to the Net Zero agenda. To do this we are delivering a major change programme across the UK and consolidating our portfolio in order to save \xc2\xa31.4 Bn over 10 years. Beyond the bricks and mortar, the GPA is about providing great workplaces for our people. Through programmes like Hubs, Whitehall Campus and Smart Working you will be in the vanguard of creating model working environments and promoting flexible working practices. This is an ambitious and exciting task, for which we need innovative people, with strong commercial acumen, who are passionate about visualising and implementing customer needs. Launched as an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office in 2018, we\xe2\x80\x99re a relatively new department and we are growing fast so we also need people who thrive in ambiguity, can adapt quickly to change and are comfortable stepping outside of their remit to drive outcomes.

Job description

The Capital Projects team delivers the Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus property programmes that sit within the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). Supporting these programmes is the Capital Projects Portfolio Management Office, whose role it is to define and maintain standards for project management whilst building central capabilities, methods, processes, and in-house standards for the future. The post holder will work with stakeholders to ensure all aspects of project schedules are developed and managed effectively. The post holder will work with project teams to ensure all aspects of the projects are defined. This includes ensuring clarity on key milestones to define what, when and how activities will be organised to ensure the outcomes of a project can be achieved, with the resources available. They will lead on all aspects of project planning, which will include monitoring and driving the development and updating of project schedules.

Person specification

Key Responsibilities:

• Day-to-day management and implementation of the Capital Projects Planning Standards;
• Provide expert advice on schedule management across the portfolio;
• Support capability building and the use of best practice in planning and reporting;
• Challenge and test project assumptions to ensure that plans are realistic and achievable;
• Develop work breakdown structures, quality criteria, product descriptions and monitoring strategy;
• Support the project managers to identify options to optimise delivery through resource smoothing, resource levelling and rescheduling of activities;
• Ensuring project and programme schedules are baselined as soon as possible to bring these under change control;
• Responsibility for reviewing, updating and managing the planning guidance and processes including associated tools and training;
• Monitor and analyse information, reporting progress, slippage and highlighting areas of risk and opportunity to the Planning and Controls Lead;
• Support the Project Manager in preparing and updating the schedule elements of the Business Cases.

Essential:

• Experience of working as a project planner or from holding a role in a project or programme team with demonstrable relevant knowledge of planning;
• Well-developed project and programme management skills: being organised and disciplined, showing attention to detail, and following up doggedly to ensure the right results;
• Experience of working on a major government programme or within a similar environment;
• The ability to see the bigger picture, with a strong understanding of both the business and wider political landscape (including the stakeholder environment) and the impact of both on the delivery of directorate, organisational and government objectives;
• Ability to operate calmly in a fast paced, rapidly changing and complex environment, operating across multiple and varied priorities to enable the delivery of outcomes;
• They will have good ability to resolve conflict, bringing together differing approaches to schedule management, bringing to colleagues\xe2\x80\x99 attention the wider impacts if not resolved in a collaborative manner;
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills;
• An excellent communicator, with the ability to develop and maintain trusted relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including those at senior level;

Qualifications

2 recognised project, programme or portfolio management qualifications or memberships including any of the following:
Managing Successful Programmes Practitioner;
PRINCE2 Practitioner;
Managing Successful Programmes Advanced Practitioner;
APM Practitioner Qualification;
APM Registered Project Professional;
Project Leadership Programme.

Desirable qualification:
APM Chartered Project Professional (APM ChPP) Standard

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Customer Perspective
• Commercial Acumen
• Property Market Knowledge
• Innovation

Benefits

Alongside your salary of \xc2\xa339,100, Government Property Agency contributes \xc2\xa310,557 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%
• Generous annual leave

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities and wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and well-being and aim to create a sense of belonging in a workplace where everyone feels valued. The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission\'s recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme (RIS) to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window). Sift The sift is due to take place week commencing 27th November 2023. As part of the application process, you will be asked to include a CV and a 750-word personal statement. The personal statement should then align with the person specification. Interview Applicants successful at sift will be invited to interviews, which are due to take place week commencing 4th or 11th December 2023. You must be willing to travel to any of the GPA locations for your interview. If you are unable to attend a face to face interview due to extenuating circumstances, we advise that you reach out to the recruitment admin team to find out if alternative means can be arranged prior to submitting your application. At interview, applicants will be scored against 3 behaviours - Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, and Delivering at Pace. Interview questions will be a blend of Behaviour, Experience, and Technical (core skill) questions. Further Information A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.
However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant\xe2\x80\x99s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying. Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return. New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. Any move to GPA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk Reasonable Adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Contact Government Recruitment Service via Insert email address@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the \xe2\x80\x98Assistance required\xe2\x80\x99 section in the \xe2\x80\x98Additional requirements\xe2\x80\x99 page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you\xe2\x80\x99re deaf, a Language Service Professional. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the \'Contact point for applicants\' section.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission\'s recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• 
  Name :
  Martyn Trembath
  Email :
  martyn.trembath@gpa.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• 
  Email :
  gparecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact HR@gpa.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission:
Click here to visit Civil Service Commission