MDC Infra Performance Manager

Job summary

GPA

The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate.

We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.

Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading significant transformational programmes. We are also delivering cost-effective property services such as asset management, lifecycle replacement and workplace services.

Innovation and progress underpin our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. Our four core values are at the heart of everything we do. They shape our culture and guide how we work, lead and grow together:

• Striving for excellence - We always aim to deliver great results
• Empowering through respect - We insist on fair treatment for all, always
• Acting with integrity - We consistently do the right thing
• Succeeding together - We rely on each other to achieve success

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.

Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth.

We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.

Our strong emphasis on EDI is not just about driving inclusion across our organisation, it is also about ensuring our services meet the needs of government departments and the civil servants who use our spaces.

Job description

Manchester Digital Campus (MDC) is part of the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP), and is an exciting transformation across multiple Government departments, with significant ministerial, public, industrial and media interest.

A central Manchester brownfield development site will become the vibrant workplace for well over 8,000 people (including ministers) from the digitally focused departments. The new, bespoke buildings will be designed to support the transformation objectives, collaborative working across government and with industry, academia and the community. MDC will strengthen HMG’s skills, innovation and enable multi-department careers, whilst learning from and contributing to the exciting digital/AI sector in Manchester and the North West. It will directly support economic growth, skills, Civil Service reform (PAS) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is an exciting vision!

MDC is overseen by its policy sponsors (including Places for Growth and Government Digital/Data – in Cabinet Office and DSIT), together with the Departmental Partners transforming to use the new site. Having completed our Outline Business Case approval, and approaching our RIBA3 milestone (design complete), we are expanding the dedicated MDC team to match the growing workload. The MDC team is multi-disciplinary, matrix-managed from the GPA Directorates, and wider Government, but all dedicated to and passionate about our amazing programme. We pride ourselves on our inclusivity, curiosity to explore and solve problems, our openness to challenge and our commitment to delivering what's needed for the Civil Service’s future. MDC is GPA’s biggest delivery programme yet.

Specific security requirements have been set for MDC, and will be discussed with you during the recruitment process. Some posts require Developed Vetting before a candidate can start.

The MDC team are all expected to have a significant presence in Manchester (averaging at least 2-days a week). Regular travel is expected to attend GPA offices, and partner locations, especially London and occasionally Birmingham. The role involves hybrid working with an expectation of office/meeting attendance on three days a week or more as the project demands.

All MDC roles are being offered on a choice of permanent or initial 2-year loan basis to allow you to retain an initial link with your home department if preferable. The programme completes in 2032.

If you are interested at all in this role, but have a question, do please reach out.

GPA is seeking a high calibre and experienced Performance Manager for Manchester Digital Campus (MDC) Infrastructure (Infra) team, which is a large and complex project with elements of high security. This is a high-profile role with considerable delegated authority and accountability, supported by the MDC Infra Programme Manager. The MDC Infra Performance Manager is a key member of the management team responsible for ensuring optimum performance, quality assurance, good governance, and managing and reporting performance against the project’s time, budget and scope/quality metrics. They will establish a framework of authority, accountability and effective performance, and through illustrative dashboards, show performance against the approved baseline. This should ensure compliance with GMPP and GPA’s regulatory standards throughout the project's life-cycle. They will support the MDC Infra workstreams: Development, Procurement, Design, Security, Construction and Management, ensuring they are performing as a unit to achieve the MDC business and operational benefits. They will undertake continuous evaluation of suppliers and contractors’ performance against their contracts. This will include:

Performance:

• Establish clear, measurable KPIs and payments milestones.
• Oversee contractor performance using data to illustrate performance dashboards.
• Work with the Employer’s Agent to ensure all supplier deliverables adhere to the contract, achieve project milestones and regulatory standards, and deliver the clients’ requirements.
• Track the overall health of the project using quantitative and qualitative data from cost reporting, project reports and risk registers.
• Champion continuous improvement through collaborative planning, proactive management, and tracking and measuring deliverables.
• Identify delivery and operational blockers through root-cause analysis, and facilitate problem-solving workshops with the MDC Infra workstreams and suppliers.
• Act as an interface between the MDC Infra team, the clients and suppliers to build delivery confidence and manage expectations.

Governance:

• Manage the MDC Infra Exec, Infra Steering Group, Infra working groups and other meetings to support delivery and ensure good governance.
• Ensure MDC Infra supports MDC Programme governance activities in a planned, controlled and proportionate manner.
• Ensure MDC Infra workstreams and suppliers meet the time, cost and scope/quality in the MDC OBC, or any subsequent approved re-baseline.
• Ensure the MDC OBC business and operational benefits are realised.
• Ensure MDC Infra remains coherent with the MDC Programme governance framework.
• Support MDC Infra workstreams to manage and mitigate project risks.
• Ensure MDC Infra follows GPA standards and delivery best practice.

Assurance:

• Support planning, scheduling and management of assurance activities across MDC Infra at the major design stages and delivery milestones.
• Ensure assurance actions and recommendations are understood and accepted by the MDC Infra workstreams, and completed on time.
• Report the outcomes of MDC Infra assurance reviews to stakeholders, clients and GPA governance.
• Assure and challenge the MDC Infra workstreams’ understanding and adherence to GPA’s policy and processes.
• Provide help and guidance to the MDC Infra team on their personal and professional development.
• Collect and share lessons learned from MDC and other GPA projects.

As part of the leadership team the successful candidate will help create the culture for everyone to thrive in a matrixed, multi-disciplinary team. The MDC ways of working have been set out as:

• SRO and programme deliver for the whole system, part of all the departments involved;
• Collective, transparent delivery;
• Maximise HMG and UK Benefit;
• Digital and innovative by default;
• Psychological safety in all we do; and
• Robust, proportionate foundations.

Person specification

We are looking for a self-starter with a passion for assuring performance in construction who combines operational execution with strategic, data-driven foresight, and a focus on continuous improvement. The successful candidate will be a champion for data analysis, risk mitigation, delivery efficiency and compliance with safety and security throughout the project’s life-cycle.

Please be advised that the successful candidate for this role may be required to undergo Developed Vetting (DV) security clearance. By applying for this position, you agree to undergo this check should it be necessary.

Experience & Technical Skills

Essential criteria:

• Qualification in construction management, civil engineering, quantity surveying, or a related field.
• PPM skills - either APM/PPM qualification or demonstrable experience in a project management role.
• Recent, extensive and verifiable experience in client-side representation, commercial management, or project management within the large-scale construction or infrastructure sector.
• Well-developed negotiation, analytical problem-solving, financial forecasting, and a good understanding of construction contracts (e.g., NEC4, JCT TCC24).
• Management of financial information and analysis of data.
• Highly IT literate with a methodical approach to process and an aptitude for accuracy and attention to detail.

Desirable criteria:

• Qualified project or property professional (or working towards).
• Experience of having established and managed boards, drafted terms of reference, designed reporting and dashboard processes.
• Experience of working in or with the public sector property or construction/engineering project.
• Demonstrable experience supporting delivery of property projects.
• Experience working in multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience of project delivery.

Qualifications and Accreditations

The successful candidate will hold:

• A professional qualification in project or property - FAPM, ChPP, MRICS or MCIOB.Hold or be working towards one.
• A bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, construction management, quantity surveying, or a related field.

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving
• 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 £58,478, Government Property Agency contributes

£16,941 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).

• 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 employer contribution of 28.97%

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, factu