Assistant Programme Manager

The locations for this role are Newport & 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.

Job Summary

Shape the Future of England and Wales Through Data That Matters

At the Office for National Statistics (ONS), our work helps shape decisions that impact millions of lives. We are looking for talented project professionals to join us in one of two exciting and high-profile roles, both offering the opportunity to lead nationally significant programmes that support the production of trusted official statistics.

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 Programme Manager, you will lead a portfolio of interconnected projects and business change activities, ensuring they deliver successful outcomes and realise strategic benefits for the organisation. Operating across a variety of programmes, you will play a pivotal role in turning organisational ambitions into measurable results, overseeing delivery from inception through to implementation.

You will be responsible for establishing effective governance and assurance frameworks, managing risks, issues and dependencies, and ensuring the organisation is prepared to adopt and embed change. Working closely with project leads, subject matter experts and senior stakeholders, you will develop business cases, secure resources and maintain alignment across complex workstreams.

Leading multidisciplinary teams, you will provide direction, support and development opportunities while fostering strong relationships both internally and externally. You will oversee planning, scheduling, resourcing and delivery activity, ensuring programmes remain on track and benefits are realised.

Using data, digital tools and strategic insight, you will monitor performance, inform decision-making and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and outcomes. This is an exciting opportunity to lead large-scale programmes that vary in size and complexity, influencing decisions that help shape the future direction of the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Develops and secures approval for the business case in collaboration with project leads and subject matter experts (SMEs).
• Identifies and manages stakeholder relationships, highlighting the need for senior-level support. Appropriately manages internal and external relationships.
• Provides direction and guidance on development to the team.
• Secures resources and direct planning, scheduling, resourcing, and estimating for complex and large-scale programmes.
• Oversees risk and issue management, ensures mitigations are in place and resolved through negotiated agreements.
• Ensures customer benefits are realised by planning and designing outputs that meet programme requirements.
• Maintains the overall integrity and coherence of the programme and governance frameworks to support each project. Plans programme assurance activities.
• Communicates the vision and translates it into delivery objectives for the team. Leads the programme to deliver the business case benefits and outcomes.
• Works with project leads and the business to ensure dependencies are actively managed. Acts as an arbiter and enforcer, resolving issues between various programme elements.
• Uses digital tools to analyse data to ensure alignment with strategic objectives and improve efficiency. Uses data insights to make high level decisions to ensure programmes stay on track and deliver outcomes.
  
  

As a Programme Manager, you will lead a portfolio of interconnected projects and business change activities, ensuring they deliver successful outcomes and realise strategic benefits for the organisation. Operating across a variety of programmes, you will play a pivotal role in turning organisational ambitions into measurable results, overseeing delivery from inception through to implementation.

You will be responsible for establishing effective governance and assurance frameworks, managing risks, issues and dependencies, and ensuring the organisation is prepared to adopt and embed change. Working closely with project leads, subject matter experts and senior stakeholders, you will develop business cases, secure resources and maintain alignment across complex workstreams.

Leading multidisciplinary teams, you will provide direction, support and development opportunities while fostering strong relationships both internally and externally. You will oversee planning, scheduling, resourcing and delivery activity, ensuring programmes remain on track and benefits are realised.

Using data, digital tools and strategic insight, you will monitor performance, inform decision-making and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and outcomes. This is an exciting opportunity to lead large-scale programmes that vary in size and complexity, influencing decisions that help shape the future direction of the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Develops and secures approval for the business case in collaboration with project leads and subject matter experts (SMEs).
• Identifies and manages stakeholder relationships, highlighting the need for senior-level support. Appropriately manages internal and external relationships.
• Provides direction and guidance on development to the team.
• Secures resources and direct planning, scheduling, resourcing, and estimating for complex and large-scale programmes.
• Oversees risk and issue management, ensures mitigations are in place and resolved through negotiated agreements.
• Ensures customer benefits are realised by planning and designing outputs that meet programme requirements.
• Maintains the overall integrity and coherence of the programme and governance frameworks to support each project. Plans programme assurance activities.
• Communicates the vision and translates it into delivery objectives for the team. Leads the programme to deliver the business case benefits and outcomes.
• Works with project leads and the business to ensure dependencies are actively managed. Acts as an arbiter and enforcer, resolving issues between various programme elements.
• Uses digital tools to analyse data to ensure alignment with strategic objectives and improve efficiency. Uses data insights to make high level decisions to ensure programmes stay on track and deliver outcomes.
  
  

Person specification

Essential Skills Criteria:

• Experience of successfully leading a complex programme planning function for a major programme, including leading others in both waterfall and agile delivery methods and managing dependencies and change. (Lead)
• Experience of working collaboratively with a diverse range of policy, design, architecture, operational and IT delivery teams to refine, develop and assure delivery plans and resolve complex problems.
• Ability to lead and facilitate complex negotiations whilst maintaining relationships, accommodating differing views and priorities, and influencing peers and senior leaders to achieve an outcome.
• Outstanding stakeholder management and communication skills, with an ability to influence constructively and command confidence at all levels. with experience and evidence of providing insightful reporting and clear briefing on complex issues to senior stakeholders.
• Portfolio planning, including maintaining an integrated portfolio delivery map, identifying and managing interdependencies, and ensuring plans remain aligned to strategic priorities while responding effectively to change, uncertainty, and competing demands.
• Inspiring, motivating and leading people, providing clear direction where uncertainty exists, role modelling the appropriate behaviours and challenging inappropriate behaviour.
  
  

Desirable Qualifications

Any of the following qualifications would be advantageous for the role, but we welcome applications from candidates who can demonstrate equivalent experience or capability:

• PRINCE2 Practitioner
• Agile Project Management Practitioner
• APM Project Management Qualification
• APM Practitioner Qualification
  
  

We encourage applicants who have relevant experience, transferable skills, or are working towards these qualifications.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
  
  

Technical skills

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

• Frameworks & methodologies -Working : Project Delivery Capability Framework
• Risk & Issue Management -Practitioner : Project Delivery Capability Framework
• Stakeholder engagement -Practitioner : Project Delivery Capability Framework
  
  

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.

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.

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.

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.
  
  

Application Process

Number of Stages: 4-stage process

Stage 1: Work history, CV, skills and experience

Stage 2: Personal Statement

Stage 3: Question

Stage 4: Interview

Stage 1 – CV

The assessment process at stage 1 will be based on your work history, CV, skills and experience.

Stage 2 – Personal Statement

A personal statement is required at application stage, the maximum wordcount allowed is 750 words, which should not be exceeded. You should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed below (criterion 2-6 from the Person Specification). As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

• Experience of working collaboratively with a diverse range of policy, design, architecture, operational and IT delivery teams to refine, develop and assure delivery plans and resolve complex problems.
• Ability to lead and facilitate complex negotiations whilst maintaining relationships, accommodating differing views and priorities, and influencing peers and senior leaders to achieve an outcome.
• Outstanding stakeholder management and communication skills, with an ability to influence constructively and command confidence at all levels. with experience and evidence of providing insightful reporting and clear briefing on complex issues to senior stakeholders.
• Portfolio planning, including maintaining an integrated portfolio delivery map, identifying and managing interdependencies, and ensuring plans remain aligned to strategic priorities while responding effectively to change, uncertainty, and competing demands.
• Inspiring, motivating and leading people, providing clear direction where uncertainty exists, role modelling the appropriate behaviours and challenging inappropriate behaviour.
  
  

Stage 3 - Question

500 word answer to the following question which is aligned to the Lead Essential Criteria

Criterion 1:Experience of successfully leading a complex programme planning function for a major programme, including leading others in both waterfall and agile delivery methods and managing dependencies and change. (Lead))

Question : Please describe one example where you led the planning and delivery of a complex programme through a period of uncertainty, change or ambiguity.

In Your Response, Tell Us:

• What the programme was seeking to achieve.
• How your leadership influenced the people involved and contributed to the outcome achieved.
  
  

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be undertaken using the lead Essential Criteria, which you will address through Stage 3 of the process. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to interview.

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

When a high volume of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted. Candidates will be invited to interview based on their merit order, with those achieving the highest scores being prioritised. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass will be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.

Stage 4 – Interview

If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert.

You will be required to provide a 5 minute presentation at interview. The presentation topic will be emailed to candidates who have passed the initial online application stage, 1 week prior to interview. This presentation will assess candidates against the Success Profiles Technical skill Stakeholder Engagement.

Interviews will be carried out Via Ms Teams.

Our main locations are Newport (South Wales) and Titchfield.

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.

Important Dates:

The Sift will be conducted from Monday 28 September

Interviews will be conducted from Monday 19 October

Dates are subject to change.

For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment.

Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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).

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 : recruitment operations
• Email : recruitmentoperations@ons.gov.uk
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitmentoperations@ons.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 recruitment.complaints@ons.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission