CSM Programme Support Officer

About the job

Are you ready to support one of the most ambitious transformation programmes in Defence? Corporate Services underpin the daily operations of 250,000 people across Defence. From payroll to procurement, these services are critical to mission success. MOD is modernising HR, Finance, and Commercial services through policy, process, organisational, data, and systems transformation, aligned with the Government Shared Services Strategy. More information on the Shared Services agenda can be found through this link: A Shared Services Strategy for Government - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Our ambition is to:

• Enhance user experience through simplified processes, intuitive systems, and responsive support.
• Enable data-driven decision-making using Oracle ERP, HCM, and EPM technologies, integrated analytics, and AI.
• Improve productivity and efficiency by automating transactions, optimising shared service centres, and reducing costs for reinvestment into frontline Defence.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is seeking a proactive and detail-oriented Programme Support Officer to support the Corporate Services Modernisation (CSM) Programme, a top strategic priority for Defence.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Role summary:

As Programme Support Officer, you will be part of the Central Programme Office, reporting to a G7 Programme Delivery Manager. You will work across the CSM Programme to support effective RAID management and integrated scheduling, helping ensure risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, milestones and delivery interdependencies are captured, tracked, escalated and reported clearly.

You will use tools such as JIRA and Microsoft Project (MSP) to manage RAID logs and schedules, and collaborate with programme teams, delivery partners, and senior stakeholders to maintain a clear and accurate view of delivery progress and risks.

Role Responsibilities

Programme coordination and prioritisation

• Support the Programme Delivery Manager and wider Central Programme Office to coordinate programme activity, track priorities and maintain oversight of key work packages.
• Manage action trackers, follow up outstanding actions and report exceptions where delivery activity is off track or requires escalation.

RAID and dependency management

• Support the maintenance of the central RAID log for the CSM Programme, ensuring risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies are accurately recorded, assessed and updated.
• Work with project teams and delivery partners to identify, validate and escalate RAID items, ensuring appropriate owners, mitigations and resolution plans are in place.

Planning and scheduling

• Support the maintenance of integrated programme schedules, milestones and delivery roadmaps using tools such as Microsoft Project.
• Help identify cross-project dependencies, planning risks and delivery impacts, ensuring these are clearly captured and reported.

Governance and reporting

• Prepare programme-level outputs for governance forums, including updates on RAID, planning, milestones, delivery challenges, dependencies and decisions.
• Produce clear presentations, reports and briefings that enable senior stakeholders to understand progress, risks and areas requiring decision or intervention.

Stakeholder, workshop and partner engagement

• Coordinate PMO activity across programme teams, project PMOs, system integration teams and transformation delivery partners.
• Support workshops and meetings by preparing agendas, coordinating inputs, capturing records of actions and decisions, and following up agreed actions.

Tools, insight and continuous improvement

• Use tools such as JIRA, Microsoft Project and Power BI to support accurate tracking, reporting and programme-level insight.
• Support continuous improvement of RAID, scheduling and reporting processes so they are consistently applied across the programme.

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)

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

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability (750 Word count).

At sift, candidates will be assessed against their CV, Statement of suitability and the following:

Behaviours:

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating & Influencing
• Working Together

Technical Skills:

• Project Delivery Capability Framework - Risk and Issue Management

Project delivery capability framework - Government Project Delivery

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift will be conducted on statement of suitability only.

At interview, Candidates will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours :

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating & Influencing
• Working Together

Technical Skills:

• Project Delivery Capability Framework - Risk and Issue Management
• Project Delivery Capability Framework - Planning
• Project Delivery Capability Framework - Scheduling

Project delivery capability framework - Government Project Delivery

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.

There may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all DCS candidates that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example, in certain recruitment situations such as a high volume of applications, seasonal demand, or peak periods, the employer may wish to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both DCS and non-DCS applicants.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

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