Planner at Office for National Statistics in United Kingdom

About the job

• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

The locations for this role are Newport and Titchfield (Fareham).

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.​

The induction process for the role will be conducted in person.

About the job

Job summary

At the Office for National Statistics (ONS), our work helps shape decisions that impact millions of lives. We are looking for a talented project professional to join us in the Census 2031 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.

Your work will support delivery of this transformational project that will shape how we understand and support our nation's future. You'll be part of a team that ensures everyone is counted—and every voice is heard. We're building a culture that values collaboration, fresh thinking and respect for diverse expertise. Whether you're a seasoned professional or bringing new perspectives, you'll be part of a team that welcomes bold ideas, works transparently and thrives on solving complex challenges together.

You'll join a growing community of Census Project Delivery professionals - delivering projects that span multiple disciplines, partners and stakeholders, with the opportunity to influence decisions that will shape the successful delivery of Census 2031. Few projects offer the same scale, visibility and opportunity to contribute to a national endeavour that impacts every person and community across England and Wales.

Job description

As a Planner within the Census Directorate, you will play a pivotal role in supporting the successful delivery of high-profile projects and programmes that underpin the collection and production of essential statistics. Working closely with a wide range of stakeholders, you will develop, maintain and monitor detailed plans and schedules, ensuring that activities, resources, dependencies and milestones are clearly defined and aligned to strategic objectives. Your work will provide the structure and insight needed to enable effective decision-making and ensure projects remain on track to deliver expected outcomes.

You will collaborate with project and programme teams to identify risks, dependencies and opportunities, tracking progress throughout the project lifecycle and providing timely reporting on performance against agreed plans. As a planning specialist, you will champion planning standards and best practice, adapting approaches to meet the needs of complex and evolving work programmes. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the successful delivery of work that has a direct impact on the quality and accessibility of statistics used to inform government, businesses and the public.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing visible and effective leadership to the planning team, collaborating with the Project Manager to deliver the benefits and outcomes outlined in the business case, developing a clear vision and standards, championing best practice in planning tools and processes, and building strong internal and external networks.
• Applying advanced planning knowledge to analyse and resolve risks and issues, while identifying opportunities that support successful delivery.
• Identifying future planning capacity and capability requirements and implementing effective strategies to meet these needs.
• Building and maintaining external networks to access and apply technical and professional best practice.
• Analysing performance data to identify trends, opportunities for collaboration and areas for improvement, and using appropriate methods and tools to address them.
• Providing specialist planning advice and support to enable the successful delivery of projects and programmes, advising Project Managers during initiation on proportionate planning approaches, tools and processes, introducing best-practice templates aligned with industry standards, and building planning capability across teams.
• Using digital tools to analyse and validate data, developing and maintaining robust plans, using data insights to forecast timelines and resource requirements, and providing Project Managers with evidence-based insights into potential risks, delays and opportunities.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Expertise in planning, with the ability to define the fundamental components of a project in terms of its scope, deliverables, dependencies, time scales, resource requirements and budget.
• Expertise in scheduling, with the ability to develop, produce and maintain schedules for activities that take account of dependencies, resource requirements and constraints in order to enable the efficient realisation of benefits.
• Ability to inspire and motivate their own team, providing clear direction in line with corporate strategy.
• Ability to work with ambiguity, able to feel comfortable making decisions and setting direction without having the full picture and take proactive steps to reduce ambiguity across the programme workstreams.
• Ability to establish and manage stakeholder relationships, with a proven track record of effectively communicating with technical and non-technical stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience in creating, managing and maintaining the plans for a GMPP or equivalent programme.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Planning - Practitioner: Project Delivery Capability Framework
• Scheduling - Practitioner: Project Delivery Capability Framework
• Resource Management - Working: Project Delivery Capability Framework

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,861, Office for National Statistics contributes

£16,472 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.

ONS are committed to flexible ways of working that support a healthy work-life balance. ONS has already considered how this job could be right sized for applicants working flexibly and we are happy to explore options with you about working part time, in a job share or flexibly, in line with our hybrid working policies.

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.

Security Clearance

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.

If you are unsure that you meet the eligibility above, please read the information available on Gov.uk on this link , or contact the recruitment email on the advert before applying to discuss, as failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected and any offer of employment being withdrawn.

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.

Visa Sponsorship

ONS may be able to provide visa sponsorship where the role meets ONS sponsorship criteria and all relevant Home Office requirements. Applicants must hold, or be eligible to obtain, the right to work in the UK before employment commences.

Right to Work and Nationality Requirements

To work at ONS, applicants must meet the Civil Service nationality requirements, satisfy UK right to work requirements and, where applicable, meet the relevant security clearance requirements.

If you are unsure whether you meet the appropriate right to work or security clearance eligibility criteria, please refer to the guidance on Gov.uk or contact the recruitment email provided in the advert before applying . Failure to meet these requirements will result in your application being rejected and employment offers being withdrawn.

Application Process

• Number of Stages: 3-stage process
• Stage 1: Application
• Stage 2 : Competency Questions
• Stage 3: Interview
• Stage 1 – Work history, skills and experience

The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, skills, experience, and the competancy questions. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.

Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.

Stage 2 - Competency Questions

As part of your personal statement, you will need to answer the three questions below. You may use up to 500 words for each response .

Your answers will be assessed as part of the selection p