Navy Command, Programme Manager

Job description

Job summary

At Navy Command, we lead, support, and sustain the Royal Navy across every theatre of operations. We coordinate the people, platforms, and missions that keep the Fleet ready for todays challenges and tomorrows opportunities. Together, we uphold centuries of naval tradition while driving innovation that ensures the Royal Navys readiness to protect our nation and secure our future.

As the authority for the Royal Navys nuclear submarine capability, the Submarine Directorate oversees one of the most complex and critical elements of UK defence. Covering everything from in - service management to long - term fleet modernisation, the directorate ensures the Submarine Flotilla remains safe, reliable, and ready to meet national security requirements.

You'll be based at HMNB Devonport, the largest naval base in Western Europe and a powerhouse of Royal Navy capability. It is home to amphibious ships, survey squadrons, submarines, and two-thirds of the frigate force. With its unique nuclear refitting facility, Devonport ensures the Fleet remains ready to support operations worldwide.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Are you an experienced programme leader ready to shape one of Defences most strategically important infrastructure programmes? This is a rare opportunity to play a pivotal role in the long-term transformation of HMNB Devonport, supporting the delivery of major infrastructure investment that will enable future submarine capability, strengthen national security, and support the Royal Navys operational outputs for decades to come. As Programme Manager, you will lead complex, high-value delivery across a diverse enterprise, working with senior stakeholders across Navy Command, Defence and industry to turn strategic intent into clear outcomes, effective governance, business readiness and lasting benefits.

What you will be doing:

Leadership, Vision and Team Direction

• Cascade the SROs vision and translate strategic intent into clear delivery objectives for the programme team, ensuring that individuals understand their contribution to programme outcomes, benefits and business readiness.
• Provide visible leadership across the integrated programme team, promoting a positive, inclusive and psychologically safe working environment that supports collaboration, resilience, innovation and delivery at pace.
• Inspire, motivate and engage programme and project teams across multiple internal and external stakeholders, empowering teams to take ownership within their area of expertise.
• Provide direction, guidance and coaching to the programme team and more broadly across the Project Delivery profession, supporting consistent application of programme management standards, frameworks, methodologies and good practice.
• Ensure performance is managed consistently and fairly, including Diversity and Inclusion principles, regular feedback, development planning and compliance with mandatory requirements.
• Identify and develop capability needs across the programme team, ensuring robust development plans are in place and that specialist skills,knowledge management and succession considerations are actively managed.
• Support the SRO and senior programme leadership to deliver departmental outputs with minimal supervision, escalating only where senior intervention is required to resolve strategic delivery.

Programme Strategy and Delivery Management

• Lead the programme to deliver the agreed business case outcomes and benefits, maintaining the overall integrity and coherence of the programme and ensuring that constituent projects remain aligned to programme objectives.
• Develop and clear programme business cases with project leads, subject matter experts, finance, commercial and other enabling functions, ensuring that investment decisions are evidence-based, proportionate and aligned to Government and departmental standards.
• Secure resources and direct planning, scheduling, resourcing and estimating activity for complex and large-scale programme delivery, working with project leads and enabling functions to identify gaps, constraints and options for resolution.
• Provide strategic advice and support to the SRO, Project Directors and wider programme stakeholders on delivery confidence, trade-offs, prioritisation, constraints, risks, issues, dependencies and opportunities.
• Exercise delegated authority on behalf of the SRO within documented programme tolerances and decision rights.

Governance, Assurance and Programme Controls

• Establish, maintain and continuously improve the programme governance framework, reporting regime and decision-making rhythm, ensuring that programme boards and senior stakeholders receive clear, timely and reliable performance information.
• Plan, coordinate and commission programme assurance activities, including gated reviews and independent scrutiny, ensuring that assurance is proportionate to programme complexity and aligned to key investment and delivery decision points.
• Oversee programme performance and controls across schedule, cost, risk, benefits, quality, dependencies, assumptions, issues and change control, ensuring that tolerances, escalation thresholds and decision routes are clear and actively used.
• Lead risk and issue management across the programme, ensuring that threats and opportunities are identified, assessed, owned and actively managed, with mitigations agreed through negotiation and escalated where necessary.
• Lead programme financial planning, forecasting and cost control, ensuring that expenditure, commitments, estimates and affordability are understood and managed within agreed delegations and tolerances. Work with finance, commercial, project and delivery leads to provide accurate programme-level financial information, support investment decisions and identify emerging cost pressures, opportunities and corrective actions.
• Work with commercial leads to ensure that commercial strategies, procurement activity, contractual dependencies and supplier performance are aligned with programme objectives, delivery priorities and the approved business case.

Business Change, Benefits and Stakeholder Engagement

• Manage programme dependencies across projects, business-as-usual activity and wider enterprise partners, brokering agreement between accountable parties and escalating where resolution cannot be achieved within the Programme Managers delegated authority.
• Establish and maintain the programme benefits-management framework, ensuring that benefits are defined, measurable and aligned to the programme business case. Secure named benefit owners and work with customers, business change leads and operational stakeholders to plan, track and report benefits realisation, ensuring that project outputs meet programme requirements and that benefits are embedded and sustained within the operating environment.
• Lead stakeholder engagement and communications activity for the programme, identifying stakeholder interests, influence and concerns, managing internal and external relationships, and highlighting where senior-level support is required.
• Ensure business change and implementation activity is planned from the outset, including business readiness, transition, adoption and sustainment considerations, so that programme outputs can be effectively embedded into the operating environment.

Person specification

To be successful with your application, you'll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:

• Leading complex, high-value programmes comprising interdependent projects and business-change activity, with clear evidence of delivering strategic outcomes and benefits.
• Providing visible senior leadership across multidisciplinary and matrix-managed teams, translating strategic intent into priorities and sustaining delivery through ambiguity and competing demands.
• Establishing and operating effective programme governance, assurance and controls across schedule, cost, risk, issues, dependencies, resources, benefits and change.
• Developing robust programme business cases and using evidence to advise senior decision-makers on investment, priorities, trade-offs, delivery confidence and corrective action.
• Building influential relationships across organisational boundaries and resolving complex stakeholder, dependency and delivery issues through collaboration, negotiation and escalation.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership

Technical skills

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

• P3M23 - Independent Assurance - Level 4 Proficient
• P3M24 - Business Case - Level 4 Proficient

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

• P3M23 - Independent Assurance - Level 4 Proficient

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 72,840, Ministry of Defence contributes 21,101 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).

• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years service
• Market-leading employer pension contribution of 28.97%
• Personal & professional development
• Alternative working patterns for many roles
• Access to a confidential, professional support service
• Discount schemes
• Bicycle / season-ticket loans
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption leave
• Special paid leave to volunteer (up to 6 days a year)

In Navy Command we believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference and youll be supported through your learning journey and your career. This can include working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking an apprenticeship as part of your role.

Youll have access to a variety of qualifications pathways ranging from GCSE/A-Level equivalent all the way up to masters degree, depending on your role, your previous skills and your experience. Some qualifications even include on-the-job training which means minimal disruption to your working day but maximum impact.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and working from home as part of a non-contractual hybrid working arrangement. All office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to site capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD workplace, will also count towards this level of office attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this and other flexible working arrangements may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

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.

Any move to MOD 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/ .

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Things you need to know

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.

As part of Defence Reform, Navy Command continues to review and evolve its Target Operating Model to support more agile ways of working. In this context, the role and responsibilities of this role may develop over time to reflect changing business priorities and opportunities.

At Sift,you will be assessed against the following;

• Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history and qualification details.
• Candidates will be required to provide a personal statement. This should be a maximum of 1000words that sets out your motivation for applying and shows how your skills and experience meet the essential requirements for the role.
• You will be assessed on the Civil Service profiles of Technical and Behaviours

Behaviours:

You will need to write a 250 word statement on the behaviour of: Leadership

Technical:

You will need to write a statement on the technical skill of: P3M23 Independent Assurance - Level 4 Proficient

At Interview, you will be assessed against the following success profiles:

Behaviour :

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the big picture

Technical

• P3M34 Business Case - Level 4 Proficient

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.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, 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 visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.
Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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
Open to UK nationals only.

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.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .

Apply and further information

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

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 : [email protected]
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application.If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: [email protected].

Attachments Navy Candidate Attraction Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 7954kB) Defence Civil Service Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1563kB) Portfolio_Programme_Project_Management Opens in new window (pdf, 1320kB) Navy Candidate Information Guide Opens in new window (pdf, 1513kB)