Delivery Manager

Job summary

GDS exists to help government make brilliant public services that empower people in the UK. We work at the very centre of government to drive digital transformation, focused on users. We build and maintain common platforms, products and tools for others to use and create great public services that are accessible, inclusive and easy to use. We also work with departments to identify patterns, share learning and create change to make government more efficient.

Our teams are organised around delivering on our priorities. These are:

• making it easier for people to find what they are looking for on GOV.UK
• building common service platforms to make it simpler and cheaper to build quality digital services
• promoting agile, user-centred design practices both in the UK and across the world

GOV.UK is the groundbreaking single website for the UK government with more than 700,000 pages, 30 million monthly users, and home to hundreds of vital public services. As a Delivery Manager, you will lead one or more multi-disciplinary teams to research, design, build and ship major changes to GOV.UK. Your team will be part of the award-winning GOV.UK programme, and will be empowered to improve the way the people interact with the government at national scale.

The GOV.UK team’s mission is to make it simple for everyone to interact with government. GOV.UK is part of everyone’s lives in the UK, from registering a birth to starting a business. Our priorities are to ensure more people get what they are eligible for, the public is better informed, and that digital government is joined-up. GOV.UK’s recent work to help people find support with the cost of living is a great example of this, and you can read about some of the GOV.UK team’s other work on the Inside GOV.UK blog.

GOV.UK is currently one of the top 25 most visited websites in the UK, and it’s our responsibility to be iterating and improving all the time as technology and user needs change. This role includes opportunities to experiment with new technologies and platforms with the potential to transform how the public interacts with GOV.UK. 

GOV.UK aims to set the bar for the user experience and accessibility of public services internationally. Our work has been recognised with D&AD wins for design, the Horace Hockley award for our work on the Coronavirus pandemic, and multiple Women in Tech Excellence awards. This is grounded in a culture of user-centred working and investing in our team’s expertise. You will be line managed by an experienced delivery leader, able to access professional training of your choice, and peer-learning through a GDS community of more than 30 delivery managers.

The GOV.UK programme is part of the Government Digital Service (GDS). GDS also works on a wide range of products that help government build better public services. These include shared platforms for payments and notifications, a government-wide design system, and new unified digital identity product. As a result, there’s a range of opportunities to learn about and work on different kinds of products as your career develops. Our CEO Tom Read’s blogpost is a good overview of what GDS works on.

Job description

We’re looking for someone who has a track-record of leading successful user-centred, product delivery teams in an agile environment. You’ll be guided by the fundamental principles of putting user needs first, focusing on delivery and outcomes over process, and being open and collaborative.

You’ll be working in a growing cross-functional team. You’ll also be working with stakeholders both internal and across government to understand needs and to deliver new capability.

You’ll be core to making decisions that build a high performing team, adept at breaking down barriers for your team, and both planning at a higher level and getting into the details to make things happen when needed.

As a Delivery Manager you’ll:

• create great agile working environments
• make sure teams and programmes understand their mission, vision and goals, and that these align across the organisation
• communicate and visualise progress towards these goals
• manage and address risks, issues and dependencies
• engage with key stakeholders on delivery progress and challenges
• continually improve delivery methods and approaches to team working
• encourage the team to be self-organising 
• help teams organise themselves and plan their work, ensuring they deliver products and services that actually meet users’ needs 
• help teams focus on defining and meeting agreed goals
• ensure teams clearly communicate their plans through recognised agile practices
• identify the people/skills/resources that teams need to deliver to the agreed goals
• facilitate an inclusive team environment where innovation and challenge are welcomed from all colleagues
• identify and communicate risks, issues, dependencies and blockers

Person specification

We are interested in people with experience of:

• using agile practices to ensure the iterative and timely delivery of products and services that serve real user needs 
• facilitating effective workshops which give a voice to all participants and provide concrete outputs that enable delivery 
• leading successful high functioning multidisciplinary delivery teams which are aligned to the organisation’s strategic priorities and the needs of stakeholders
• actively tackling impediments, risks and blockers, and communicating and escalating where necessary

Benefits

The benefits of working at GDS

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
• an extra day off for The King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• paid volunteering leave
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

GDS offers hybrid working for all employees. This means that everyone does some working from home and also spends some time in their local office. You’ll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs.

Any move to Government Digital Service 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

Things you need to know

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a 60 minute video interview - as part of the interview process there may be a presentation task to be prepared and presented during the interview.

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• delivering at pace
• changing and improving
• leadership
• making effective decisions
• developing self and others

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Digital, Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework for the Delivery Manager role:

• agile and Lean practices
• commercial management
• communicating between the technical and non-technical
• financial management
• life cycle perspective
• maintaining delivery momentum
• making a process work
• planning
• team dynamics and collaboration

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.

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