Senior Project Manager

Can you lead complex projects, keeping delivery on track while managing risks, resources and priorities?

Have you successfully worked with stakeholders and project teams to deliver change and achieve meaningful benefits?

Are you a confident and motivated leader who can inspire others and champion effective project delivery?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

You will join a dynamic project delivery team within DVSA, responsible for delivering medium to large-scale projects that support organisational priorities and improvements. Working collaboratively with project teams, subject matter experts, suppliers and senior stakeholders, the team ensures projects are effectively planned, governed and delivered to agreed standards.

The team plays a key role in managing risks, resources, dependencies, communications and benefits, while ensuring robust governance and assurance throughout the project lifecycle. You will also contribute to developing the wider Programme and Project Management (PPM) community, championing effective delivery methodologies and supporting the professional development of colleagues.

This is an opportunity to work in a collaborative environment where you can lead meaningful change, influence stakeholders and help shape successful project delivery across DVSA.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at DVSA:

Working for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency , Civil Service Careers

To manage the delivery of medium to large projects, major sub-projects of programmes or workstreams within projects. To support Programme Managers with significant and challenging Portfolio activities and to manage Delivery Teams providing specialist support, guidance and hands-on delivery across the DVSA Change Portfolio.

To understand and champion the use of DVSA’s preferred delivery methodologies, Governance and Assurance across the Change Portfolio, PPM Community and its wide range of stakeholders. To support the Head of Profession with the development and improvement of the Programme and Project Management Community by demonstrating and best practice and shared learning.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Leading medium to large projects in line with DVSA governance, assurance and delivery standards.
• Planning and monitoring project delivery, managing resources, risks, issues and dependencies.
• Producing key project documentation, including initiation documents, plans and closure reports.
• Providing clear project reporting to Project Boards and senior stakeholders.
• Leading, motivating and developing project teams, providing direction, support and guidance.
• Building strong stakeholder relationships across teams, suppliers and delivery partners.
• Managing change, communications and benefits to support successful project outcomes.
• Championing project delivery best practice, supporting capability across the PPM community.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills set out in the Civil Service Line Management Standards.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

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.

How to apply:

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's skills and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift of CV and personal statement

Stage 2: Interview

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (1250-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:
• Considerable experience of successfully delivering projects and/or programmes, including business change.
• Applying project delivery methodologies, including managing risks, benefits and change.
• Experience producing key project documentation including business cases and reporting for governance boards such as Project or Programme Boards.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to engage confidently at all levels.
• Proven leadership experience, with the ability to direct, motivate and support project teams to deliver successful outcomes.

The sift will take place from 19/10/2026

Stage 2: Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Behaviours – Leadership, Changing & Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating & Influencing
• Technical – Risk & Issue Management (Level: Working), Planning (Level: Working)

Technical skills will be assessed against Government Project Delivery Profession – Capability Framework Project Manager SEO - Government Project Delivery

The interviews will take place week commencing 09/11/2026

This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change

Further information on the selection process

We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert or the information on our website, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.

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.

All external applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

• Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour
• Threats or acts of violence
• Illegal activity or substance misuse
• Sexually explicit material
• Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle - it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

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