Programme Support Officer

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

• joining up public sector services
• harnessing the power of AI for the public good
• strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
• elevating leadership and investing in talent
• funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
• committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

Please note

Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the  Government’s announcement  on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.

Job description

About the team

GOV.UK One Login is the new straightforward, secure way to access a range of government digital services and is a critical programme within DSIT. The Programme Management Office (PMO) plays a vital role in supporting the successful delivery of GOV.UK One Login. We work collaboratively with teams across the department, providing the business support, governance and operational coordination that enable our colleagues to deliver their objectives.

Our team is responsible for a wide range of activities, including recruitment, onboarding and offboarding, finance, governance, business planning and stakeholder engagement. We are committed to continuous improvement, working together to develop efficient processes that support high-quality delivery in an Agile environment.

We're a supportive and inclusive team that values collaboration, innovation and professional development. You'll have the opportunity to build your skills, broaden your experience and contribute to work that makes a real difference.

Job Summary

Are you organised, proactive and passionate about helping teams deliver their best work? Do you enjoy building relationships, improving processes and keeping things running smoothly?

We're looking for a Programme Support Officer to join our Programme Management Office. This is a varied and rewarding role where you'll provide high-quality business and operational support across a range of activities that are essential to the successful delivery of our programme.

You'll work closely with colleagues and stakeholders across the department to coordinate recruitment activity, support financial and governance processes, manage shared inboxes and help deliver business priorities. You'll also contribute to improving the way we work by identifying opportunities to streamline processes and share best practice.

If you enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, managing a varied workload and supporting colleagues to achieve great outcomes, we'd love to hear from you.

Person specification

As a Programme Support Officer, you'll provide essential support to the Programme Management Office, ensuring business operations run effectively and efficiently. You'll coordinate a variety of activities, working with stakeholders across the department to provide excellent business support while maintaining high standards of governance and financial management.

This is a role where no two days are the same. You'll be trusted to manage competing priorities, work independently and collaborate with colleagues across a range of teams.

Your responsibilities may include:

• Supporting recruitment activity by coordinating recruitment processes and working closely with hiring managers and stakeholders.
• Coordinating onboarding and offboarding activities, ensuring colleagues have a positive and seamless experience.
• Managing shared inboxes, responding to enquiries and ensuring requests are dealt with promptly or directed to the appropriate teams.
• Supporting financial management activities, monitoring budgets and maintaining accurate financial records.
• Coordinating governance activities by organising meetings, preparing papers, recording actions and ensuring decisions are tracked through to completion.
• Maintaining programme documentation, trackers and management information to support reporting and informed decision-making.
• Building and maintaining strong working relationships with stakeholders across the department.
• Supporting the delivery of the programme’s business plan by coordinating activities and helping to achieve programme priorities.
• Managing competing priorities and delivering high-quality work to tight deadlines.
• Identifying opportunities to improve processes and supporting continuous improvement across the team.

Essential Criteria

We're looking for someone who has:

• Experience providing business, programme or administrative support within a complex environment.
• Experience supporting recruitment, onboarding, governance, finance or other business management activities.
• The ability to understand business priorities and contribute to the successful delivery of a business plan.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise work, manage competing demands and meet tight deadlines.
• Experience building positive working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail and experience maintaining accurate records and management information.
• A proactive approach to improving processes and solving problems.

You don't need to meet every requirement to apply. If you're excited about this opportunity and believe your skills and experience would help you succeed, we'd encourage you to submit an application.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £36,735, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes

£10,642 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 Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme , with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
• A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

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 and Experience.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please use your personal statement (in no more than 500 words) to demonstrate how your skills and background align with this person specifications in the advert.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement only.

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

The interview will consist of behaviour questions.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.

I nformation about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our  DSIT Candidate Guidance . A  DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.

We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

Candidates who meet the minimum benchmark may be placed on a Reserve List for consideration for similar roles, including those at a lower grade. Candidates who narrowly miss the benchmark and are not placed on the Reserve List may still be considered for an offer in a similar role at a lower grade.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you