PMO Manager (G7) - Cross-Government Programme

Summary

• Sector/Organisation Type: Central Government
• Contract: Interim, Full-time
• Start: 05/10/2026
• Duration: Until 29/01/2027 (4 months)
• Rate: £500 per day (Umbrella/Ltd)
• Hours: 7.4 hours per day
• Location: Remote (UK-based)

Overview

• Join a high-profile, cross-government programme focused on the UK's sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) arrangements with the European Union.
• Support a strategically important and fast-paced programme requiring extensive collaboration across government, policy, operational and corporate teams.
• Provide programme-level oversight across five distinct projects, each with its own project management arrangements.
• Lead and support governance, reporting, assurance and programme delivery activities across a complex portfolio of work.
• Work closely with senior stakeholders, including Director and Deputy Director-level leaders, to support effective decision-making and programme delivery.
• Ensure robust governance, risk management and reporting arrangements are in place and operating effectively.
• Play a key role in maintaining coordination, delivery momentum and programme assurance across multiple workstreams.
• Build strong working relationships across internal teams and external government stakeholders.
• This is not a policy role and is best suited to experienced PMO, programme management and project delivery professionals.
• We are specifically seeking candidates with a strong background in PMO or programme delivery within UK government.

Key responsibilities

• Provide effective support and assurance to the Programme SRO and senior leadership team.
• Lead programme-level governance, including Programme Boards, Delivery Boards and associated decision-making forums.
• Oversee programme reporting, ensuring delivery remains aligned to agreed outcomes, milestones and timescales.
• Develop and maintain the overarching Programme Plan, coordinating inputs from multiple project teams.
• Manage programme-level RAID logs, ensuring risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies are effectively monitored and escalated.
• Implement and maintain proportionate programme controls, reporting and assurance arrangements.
• Support robust decision-making through clear, accurate and timely management information.
• Build effective relationships across internal teams and external government stakeholders.
• Ensure alignment between project, programme and wider portfolio governance arrangements.
• Support the development of business cases and associated programme documentation.
• Lead and coordinate programme resources to ensure delivery objectives are achieved.

Essential skills/experience

• Demonstrable PMO, programme management or project delivery experience within UK government.
• Recognised project or programme management qualification (e.g. MSP, PRINCE2, AgilePM, APM or equivalent).
• Significant experience delivering across multiple projects within a programme environment.
• Proven experience leading programme governance, reporting, assurance and decision-making forums.
• Experience developing and maintaining programme plans, milestones and delivery reporting.
• Strong RAID management experience, including risk escalation and dependency management.
• Experience supporting Senior Responsible Owners (SROs), Directors and Deputy Directors.
• Ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments and influence across organisational boundaries.
• Strong communication, planning and organisational skills.
• Experience providing assurance and maintaining delivery momentum across complex programmes.

Desirable

• Active SC Clearance, or previous SC Clearance that can be reactivated.
• Experience supporting major cross-government programmes and portfolios.
• Knowledge of UK-EU, regulatory, trade or policy-related programmes.
• Experience supporting business case development and approvals processes.
• Familiarity with government programme and portfolio management frameworks.

What to do now?
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