Lead Delivery Manager

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (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

The GOV.UK One Login Programme represents a once in a generation opportunity to simplify and widen access to all digital government services. Sitting at the heart of the government, we are building one simple, safe and secure way for users to Log in and prove who they are that will work across all government services. 

GOV.UK One Login is being designed and built for the many, not the few. It will unite services across government, revolutionising the way government departments digitally interact with users. One Login will deliver an accessible and essential function that will change lives and help millions. We are an ambitious and visionary team.

Find out more at the GDS Blog.

Job description

As a Lead Delivery Manager at GDS you’ll:

• lead and motivate multiple multi-disciplinary teams, helping them organise and plan their work, ensuring they deliver products and services that meet users’ needs and key timeframes
• shape the programme of work by establishing how the team will work as a team of teams, encompassing internal staff and third party managed services
• identify the people, skills and resources that teams need to deliver to the agreed goals
• ensure teams understand their mission, vision and goals, and that these align across the organisation
• use your delivery expertise to actively manage risks, issues and internal & external dependencies across multiple delivery teams. You will act as an escalation point for risks raised by your delivery teams, supporting or intervening as necessary to enable prompt and effective management
• have accountability for your teams’ delivery plans, ensuring they have robust processes in place for refining and estimating work and that there is collective confidence in their ability to achieve their commitments
• ensure teams clearly communicate their plans and progress through them using recognised agile practices
• provide clear, timely and accurate reporting to the Head of Delivery and other key stakeholders to support a comprehensive view of the overall programme status form a strong partnership with your Lead Product Manager and Lead Developer counterparts to provide leadership & direction to your team and to effectively engage with and influence relevant senior stakeholders
• ensure the programme strikes the right balance of leveraging Managed Services to augment work, while ensuring long term knowledge retention
• assess the effectiveness across multiple delivery teams, engaging with and motivating teams in different ways depending on their needs, and facilitating collaboration across delivery teams as required
• actively participate in the Delivery Manager community, line managing, coaching, mentoring, learning, sharing and applying skills and knowledge to improve delivery capability

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have:

• a significant track record of successfully delivering difficult or complex digital programmes or portfolios of work, leading, coordinating and motivating multi-site / multi-disciplinary teams
• the ability to deal with difficult, ambiguous delivery challenges and drive them to to resolution
• a deep understanding of agile and lean methodologies and how they can be applied at scale to deliver products and services
• the ability to balance multiple priorities and teams working across complex products whilst delivering value
• Extensive experience matrix-managing multidisciplinary teams in a digital landscape

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £67,126, Government Digital Service contributes £19,446 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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

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 75 minute video interview to include a presentation

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.

Whilst 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 order to assist candidates with this role, we will be holding a virtual recruitment event on Tuesday 7th of January at 1:00pm 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.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is: a significant track record of successfully delivering difficult or complex digital programmes or portfolios of work, leading, coordinating and motivating multi-site / multi-disciplinary teams.

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

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
• Making effective decisions
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace
• Working together

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework. Please visit the link to see responsibilities and skill requirements.

• Agile and Lean Practices
• Planning
• Making a process work
• Maintaining delivery momentum
• Life cycle perspective
• Team Dynamics and Collaboration

Recruitment Timeline

Sift completion: W/C 13th January 2025

Panel interviews: W/C 20th January 2025

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: Occasionally, business pressures, priorities or critical delivery may mean that we move you into a different team or work area within GDS. This will always be within the same grade and discipline within which you were hired, but does mean that your focus or objectives may shift in order to deliver GDS business.

You may be aware that there are plans for the Government Digital Service (GDS) & the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) to move into the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT). This move is to bring together the digital transformation of public services into one core department. The move itself will offer huge opportunities whilst allowing DSIT to lead the way and drive forward the new Government's digital agenda. 

As the announcement is relatively new, we are awaiting more detailed information. Therefore, we encourage you to apply for this role, and will keep you informed with updated information throughout the application process. 

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