Crown Commercial Services (CCS) is the largest public procurement organisation in the UK.

As a trading fund and executive agency of the Cabinet Office, we implement procurement policy on behalf of the government.

We use the collective buying power of our customers and our commercial expertise to help public sector organisations achieve value for money and provide great outcomes for taxpayers.

On behalf of Crown Commercial Services, we are looking for a Head of PMO (Inside IR35) for a 6-month contract. This is a hybrid working contract (two days per week office based - locations include Liverpool, Norwich, Birmingham, Newport or London).

Job Purpose:

Are you an experienced Leader within the PMO space looking to implement your skills and experience into a newly formed function within Crown Commercial Service?

This role will be a critical position accountable for the monitoring, governance adherence and reporting processes for a portfolio of change across People, Process, Technology & Data at an enterprise level.

A key function which is being delivered as part of our exciting digital directorate transformation programme shaping the way effective change is delivered and managed within the organisation.

The role will be pivotal requiring leadership collaborating with both the internal Digital Teams, Portfolio & Investment Management and wider business leaders.

An exciting opportunity to shape how change is managed and delivered in Crown Commercial Service within this new function.

As a Head of PMO, your main responsibilities will be to:

• Design and lead a PMO function, including project support officers (PSO) and PMO analysts to work with the business to collect and collate the reporting requirements for portfolio assessment.
• Lead and embed the PMO process and reporting etiquette for CCS across the enterprise. Working with priority projects to ensure we have a proportionate approach to Programme Management, established at pace.
• Set the long-term ambition for PMO in CCS with a roadmap for delivery that balances the demands and priorities of CCS with continuous improvement of PMO as a CCS function.
• Be an enterprise leader for CCS, working with colleagues in all Directorates to embed the principles of good project management in a way that balances the demands of stakeholders with the drive for consistency and quality in reporting.
• Identify, develop, and champion the use of best practice project management standards and processes. Providing a Centre of Excellence including tools, templates, benchmarks and best practice. Provides direction and guidance to the project team.
• Collaborate with peers in Project Management, Investment Assurance and Change Management to ensure a consistent approach and single voice for change in CCS.
• Support Project Managers deployed to support change projects across the enterprise with the identification, recruitment, development, deployment and reassignment of resources throughout the project lifecycle.
• Provide succinct and relevant evidence/data to aid strategic decision making by SRO/ExCO with respect to change in CCS, providing insight and advice where necessary.
• Work with our Finance team and Project Managers to ensure consistency in agreed budgets for projects and/or programmes and forecast actual costs against them.
• Mandate and monitor the project team on the use of appropriate tools and techniques for managing stakeholder relationships. Provide assurance to the Head of Projects on the effectiveness of stakeholder management within Projects.
• Establish and maintain the project processes and standards for managing risks and issues. Provide assurance to the project manager on the effectiveness of Risk and Issue management arrangements.
• Ensure appropriate governance is in place across projects in readiness for external reviews e.g. Gateway Reviews at appropriate points in the project lifecycle. Monitor and report on the effectiveness of these controls and track the implementation of any recommendations made by external reviews.
• Maintain and capture the Change Control Process for projects and/or programmes supported by the relevant Project Manager and/or SRO.
• Establish and operate project controls on behalf of the project manager, reporting on project progress and status to appropriate bodies. Identify common capabilities and opportunities for linking up, re-using and sharing of methods and resources between projects and programmes. Ensure learning from experience is disseminated across the organisation.
• Procure and manage a service delivery partner to provide PMO support for CCS. Working with our Transformation delivery partner and Internal Contract Management Team to ensure a robust tooling and reporting system is in place for PMO.
• Budget responsibility for the team and for outsourced PMO tooling and analysis.

You'll have:

• Proven track record of running a Portfolio Office or strategic PMO running high value and complex programmes/projects
• Leading a team in a fast-paced working environment
• Excellent communicator - able to write succinctly and persuasively, adapting the writing style for briefings and papers based on the intended audience up to the Executive level.
• Strong collaborator, focused on working effectively with others, supporting colleagues and achieving success as a team.
• Ability to confidently engage with colleagues at all levels, with the diplomatic ability to influence others and the ability to mediate disagreements and negotiate agreeable resolutions.
• Working towards or attained two of the following qualifications/memberships: Managing Successful Programmes Practitioner, P3O Practitioner, Management of Risk Practitioner, Management of Portfolios Practitioner

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

At CCS, we actively support, promote, and celebrate our differences for the benefit of our employees, suppliers, and customers. CCS is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. CCS believes that diversity and inclusion is critical to our success, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people.

Disability confident 

As a member of the disability confident scheme, CCS guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group.

Armed Forces Covenant

Crown Commercial Services guarantees to interview veterans or spouses / partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates / military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".