Head of Infrastructure Delivery and PMO

Universal Destinations & Experiences (UDX), a division of Comcast NBCUniversal, is building a world class theme park and resort in Bedford, after the UK government agreed a package of support to unlock this £6.4bn inward investment. Opening in 2031, the park will become the UK’s most popular visitor attraction with an estimated 8.5m visitors a year, supporting the creation of 8,000 new jobs and delivering an estimated £50b in economic benefits.

Bedford Visitor Attraction Programme is the DCMS-led programme to support delivery of the park by UDX, and its supporting infrastructure, and facilitate cross-government collaboration with local authorities across the region to ensure the wider benefits are realised.

This includes supporting delivery of new slip roads from the A421 by National Highways, a new railway station at Wixams by Network Rail, adoption of new local roads by the local highways authority and delivery of other key local infrastructure by UDX.

You'll be joining us at an exciting time, leading an innovative and ambitious team to embed disciplined delivery and collaborative behaviours to ensure successful delivery of the programme.

You’ll also make an active corporate contribution in support of DCMS’ wider Project Delivery and Major Events directorate as part of our leadership team.

We currently have around 100 project delivery professionals within DCMS and around 18,000 working across Government. These colleagues work as project, programme and portfolio managers or in specialist roles such as risk and issues managers and project planners.

A career in the Government Project Delivery Profession enables you to make a difference; improving our public services while building and developing your professional skills. Your career here could take you from climate change projects to building new hospitals or schools to equipping our armed forces. The variety and significance of roles is unparalleled.

Our mission is to attract and retain the best individuals by providing a rewarding career, supporting continuous professional development through our robust learning offering which includes accredited and apprenticeship qualifications, and shaping our community in a way that you can all feel inspired by.

For more information on the Project Delivery Profession, please see the Project Delivery Capability Framework which has been created to support the development of all project delivery professionals across government.

The Head of Infrastructure Delivery and PMO is responsible for driving delivery excellence, effective governance and evidence-based decision-making to support effective delivery of this infrastructure.

You'll play a critical leadership role in coordinating interfaces and managing dependencies across government departments, arm's length bodies, local authorities and industry stakeholders to identify and overcome barriers that could impact successful delivery.

By fostering a culture of collaboration, transparency, accountability and continuous improvement, you'll help teams identify and manage dependencies, robustly analyse and mitigate risks, resolve cross-cutting delivery challenges and create greater confidence in delivery.

Leading a team of six members of staff and functional specialists, you will:

• Build and maintain strong working relationships across our delivery partners and wider stakeholders, developing practical solutions to complex challenges and fostering collaborative delivery approaches that derisk and accelerate infrastructure delivery
• Improve delivery confidence through robust planning and scheduling, dependency management, risk and issue management, stakeholder engagement, governance and assurance, and reporting
• Produce high-quality reports and briefing materials for governance boards and committees to drive data-led decision-making and provide risk-based assurance
• Lead, develop and motivate a multidisciplinary team, creating an inclusive and high-performing culture and building programme and project management capability by promoting continuous improvement and innovation.

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.

To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the experience success profile:

• A Behaviour Statement of 250 words which will be assessed against the behaviour success profile: Managing a Quality Service
• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
• A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates.

For the shortlist, we will select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the behaviour statement. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.

For support in writing your application and interviewing, please refer to the ‘Application and Interview Guidance’ document attached to the job advert.

The interview process will assess behaviours, technical skills.

The behaviours to be tested at interview are:

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

You will also be required to prepare a scenario-based task that will assess your project delivery technical skills. Full details of this, including the topic, length of time, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview.

Your interview will take place via Microsoft Teams.

Further Information

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

Any move to Department for Culture, Media and Sport 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

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the ‘Candidate Information Pack’ attached.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If the vacancy is offered as FTA/Loan, existing Civil Servants must join on a Loan basis only. Prior agreement to be released on loan must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process.

In order to request an adjustment, please:

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or a verbal test rather than a written one.

Alternatively, contact the Government Recruitment Service via dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any of the attachments, please contact us. Contact details can be found in the 'contact point for applicants' section of the job advert.

Vetting

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

Feedback

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