Head of Content Programme Delivery

Job description

As Head of GOV.UK Content Programme Delivery, you will be working closely with the Head of GOV.UK Content and Head of Content Development to establish a programme and portfolio function for GOV.UK Content at a critical time. You will be responsible for overseeing efforts to scale the team's capabilities, ensuring that we are managing our growth, benefits, strategic dependencies and outcomes appropriately and sustainably. 

Reporting to the Deputy Director for Content, you’ll be an integral member of the GOV.UK Content Leadership Group and the Heads of GOV.UK community, and will help set and assure direction and strategy for GOV.UK’s multi-disciplinary product feature teams.  You’ll be critical to enabling a step change in the GOV.UK Content publishing and operating model: reviewing the current model; setting the design direction; and implementing processes, systems and structures that will enable us to deliver our vision.  

• You will lead the delivery of a complex, ongoing programme of work, balancing maintenance and updating of a large content estate with strategic content improvement projects, in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders and across multiple channels
• You will be responsible for setting up systems to monitor and report overall progress against strategic plans, including designing, commissioning, and ensuring operational use of high level performance dashboards for GOV.UK Content, such as delivery effectiveness and performance against Objectives and Key Results.
• You will assess the current operating model and develop an evidence-based proposal for change to increase resilience and flexibility, implementing and running a staff engagement and change management process that ensures a smooth transition into the new operating model
• You will work with the content leadership team to evolve our governance model, identifying opportunities to embed transparency, innovation and accountability, and to ensure high-quality and timely decisions. This includes feeding into wider government governance structures and approaches as appropriate. 
• You will lead delivery of critical enablers, including strategic investment cases.
• You’ll be responsible for reporting on progress into appropriate governance structures; working closely with the Head of Delivery, Head of GOV.UK Content and Head of Content Development, and the Deputy Directors of GOV.UK.
• The successful candidate will be expected to confidently build strong relationships with key stakeholders within the Content and Content Development teams, and across GDS. They will routinely need to communicate credibly and authentically to senior audiences.
• You will design and implement a robust risk management process for the programme, feeding into wider GDS and DSIT processes as required.

As a Head of Content Programme Delivery you’ll:

• demonstrate a high level of programme and portfolio management skills and experience, with strong influencing skills
• be a strategic thinker, able to demonstrate a strong ability to deliver successfully in complex, large, uncertain, and highly visible problem spaces
• be an individual with strong interpersonal skills, used to managing senior stakeholders and accustomed both to adjusting programmes and initiating change
• have a high level of communication skills and emotional intelligence, and be adept in using a range of relationship management skills, such as active listening and coaching

A key part of the role is being a leader and being able to further develop your own skills and those of others by identifying and nurturing talent and potential, and successfully developing, coaching and mentoring individuals and teams. We want people who believe that how you work is as important as what you deliver.

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have experienced in:

• Strategic planning and delivery: you can shape and amend an established programme to deliver against a new strategic plan alongside delivery of significant current operational delivery. You’ve undertaken strategic planning, working with a range of stakeholders, to develop outputs that can be understood by specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Change management: you are proficient in developing and implementing change strategies, engaging stakeholders, and fostering collaboration to ensure smooth transitions. Skilled in clear communication, problem-solving, and delivering training to support teams, you use data-driven insights to monitor progress and adapt strategies for successful outcomes.
• Community collaboration and communication skills: you have a track record of understanding, managing and communicating between complex stakeholder groups, using influence and awareness to balance key priorities. You also have a thorough understanding and experience of collaborating with the variety of disciplines involved in digital and programme delivery. e.g. product management, policy, service design, user research, engagement, economist, commercial and legal.
• Agile and lean delivery practices: you are skilled in creating an environment that empowers teams to successfully deliver complex products and services within multifaceted, evolving contexts. 
• Making a process work: you are experienced at governing, creating and aligning teams, implementing the most effective programme and team structures for delivery and team health. You are confident to challenge and empower others to improve organisational processes where these impact the pace of delivery.
• Leadership and influencing others: you can form, collaborate and lead a senior team, taking an open and sharing attitude and are comfortable with uncertainty, accountability and with being the escalation point for internal and external issues. You have the motivation to influence and make positive changes to the organisation

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 employer contribution of 28.97%
• 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

This role is being advertised with Manchester or Bristol as a location. There is an exception to this, if a current London-based member of staff from Cabinet Office applies, and is successful, they would retain their London base for pay and allowance purposes.

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and for you to answer 2 knockout questions.
• a 75 minute video interview. Candidates invited to the interview will be asked to give a short presentation. Full details of the presentation will be made available to all shortlisted candidates at a later date.

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 order to assist candidates with this role, we will be holding a virtual recruitment event on Monday 31st March at 2:30 to 4:00 to go through the role in more detail. If you are interested in joining this event please e-mail: gds-recruitment@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk and a member of the team will send you an invitation to the event.

While we value the use of AI technology to enhance our daily work, we also value the personal touch and urge applicants to write cover letters without the use of AI to emphasise their own unique experiences.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is:

• have experience in leading large content design and/or publishing teams and operations to produce user-centred, data-informed and accessible content at scale.

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:

• Changing and improving
• Leadership
• Seeing the bigger picture
• Managing a quality service
• Delivering at pace

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 Programme 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

Recruitment Timeline:

Virtual Session: Monday 31st March - 90 mins - 2:30 to 4:00

Role closes: Sunday 6th April

Sift completion: Thursday 17th April

Interviews: Week commencing 28th April

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.

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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Other information

In January 2025, it was announced that the Government Digital Service (GDS) will move to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) as a part of a machinery of government change. This change aims to bring together the digital transformation of public services into one central department, presenting exciting opportunities and positioning DSIT to lead the government’s digital agenda.

This role is in scope to transfer to DSIT when the machinery of government change takes place.  As a result,  if you are successful and appointed by Cabinet Office to this role before 1st June 2025, your role will transfer from Cabinet Office to DSIT at the time of the relevant machinery of government change taking place. If your start date is after 1 June 2025, you will be appointed direct to DSIT and your appointment will be unaffected by the machinery of government change.  We are currently consulting with our Trade Unions on which policies, terms and conditions will apply on transfer.  The statement of changes applied to all other Cabinet Office staff will also apply to you if you are successful.

We encourage you to apply and look forward to reviewing your application. We will keep you updated throughout the process.

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.

DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home). 

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

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