Job summary
The Prime Minister?s Office enables the Prime Minister to deliver the Government?s overall priorities and to communicate the Government?s policies to Parliament, the public and international audiences.
From the Policy Unit, Press Office, Switchboard and Custodians to the Events & Visits team and the Private Office support; the diverse No.10 team draws on varied expertise from across the Civil Service and beyond.
The teams come together to deliver excellent service to the Prime Minister while also making No.10 a great place to work.
No.10 North is focused on delivering good growth in every postcode and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to thrive, no matter where they live.
No.10 North is the Prime Minister?s centre for devolution, place and local growth. Based in Manchester and working across the United Kingdom, it connects places directly to the centre of government.
It brings together local leaders, HM Treasury and other government departments to resolve problems that no single organisation can solve alone.
Job description
The Strategy and PMO team provides the leadership, governance and coordination backbone of No.10 North.
The team supports senior leaders, drives strategic planning, oversees programme delivery and ensures the organisation remains focused on its priorities.
Working across governance, performance, business management, people and private office functions, the team coordinates activity across No.10 North and the wider Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, helping to turn ambitious priorities into effective delivery.
We are seeking an exceptional individual to lead the No.10 North Strategy, Delivery and PMO Team.
Working closely with the Director General, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister and the senior leadership team, the postholder will provide strategic leadership across planning, delivery, governance and organisational coordination, ensuring No.10 North operates as a coherent, high-performing organisation.
The role requires an individual who can combine strategic thinking with practical delivery, helping senior leaders navigate complexity, anticipate future challenges and maintain a clear focus on the Government's priorities.
Acting as a trusted adviser to the leadership team, the successful candidate will play a central role in shaping No.10 North's strategic direction and ensuring effective delivery across the organisation.
We are looking for someone who combines the strategic insight of a policy leader, the organisational grip of a chief of staff and the delivery focus of a senior programme leader.
You will be naturally curious about how government works, able to spot connections across complex issues and comfortable operating in politically sensitive environments.
You will understand how to support senior leaders effectively, when to challenge and when to facilitate, and how to build productive relationships across organisational boundaries.
Most importantly, you will be someone who can see around corners: anticipating issues before they become problems, ensuring commitments are delivered, and helping No.10 North maintain a clear focus on what matters most.
The postholder will lead a small team working across strategy, delivery, governance and PMO functions.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
Lead strategic planning across No.10 North, ensuring organisational priorities and activity are aligned with the Prime Minister's objectives and wider Government priorities.
Help shape organisational priorities and support senior leaders in making informed decisions within an often complex and ambiguous operating environment.
Develop a deep understanding of the strategic landscape across No.10, HM Treasury, MHCLG, OGDs, and the wider environment, identifying opportunities, risks and emerging issues that may affect No.10 North's objectives.
Supporting Senior Leadership
Act as a trusted adviser to the Director General and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, providing judgement, challenge and support across a broad range of strategic and operational issues.
Ensure senior leaders are equipped with the information, insight and briefing needed to engage effectively with ministers, senior officials and external stakeholders, and that they have confidence in the quality, timeliness and robustness of information provided to them.
Build and maintain productive relationships with special advisers, private offices and senior officials across Whitehall.
Delivery and Coordination
Oversee organisational planning, delivery tracking and performance management arrangements.
Foster a culture of accountability within No.10 North, ensuring commitments are delivered and deadlines are met.
Work closely with policy team leadership to ensure that key priorities, commitments and actions are translated into deliverable plans and monitored effectively.
Apply constructive challenge where necessary while maintaining strong and collaborative relationships.
Maintain oversight of cross-cutting activity across the organisation, identifying dependencies, bottlenecks and delivery risks, and providing clear forward visibility to leadership.
Anticipation and Risk Management
Identify emerging strategic, policy and organisational risks, challenges and opportunities at an early stage, helping leaders prepare for issues before they arise.
Ensure the organisation is looking beyond immediate pressures and maintaining focus on longer-term priorities.
Leadership of the Strategy & PMO Function
Lead and develop a small, high-performing team focused on strategy, delivery, governance and PMO.
Create a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement and high standards within the team.
Drive improvements in planning, reporting, governance, organisational performance and ways of working across No.10 North.
Ensure that structures effectively support organisational leadership.
Stakeholder Management and Influence
Develop and maintain excellent working relationships with policy teams across No.10 North to ensure a strong grip on delivery and buy-in to senior leadership priorities.
Build strong, trusted relationships across Whitehall, including the Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet, HM Treasury, MHCLG, and partner departments.
Influence effectively across organisational boundaries, often without formal authority, and represent No.10 North in senior cross-government discussions where required.
Exercise diplomacy, judgement and discretion in sensitive and politically complex situations.
Person specification
Essential skills and experience:
Candidates will be able to demonstrate:
Significant experience operating in a senior strategic role within government or a similarly complex environment.
Experience of supporting senior leaders, including Directors General, Ministers or equivalent senior stakeholders.
Strong understanding of how government operates and how priorities are developed and delivered across organisational boundaries.
Excellent strategic thinking skills, including the ability to understand wider political, policy and organisational contexts.
Experience coordinating activity across multiple teams and organisations to deliver complex objectives.
Outstanding judgement, influencing and relationship-management skills.
Demonstrable ability to anticipate emerging issues, identify risks and develop pragmatic solutions.
Experience building, developing and leading high-performing teams.
Exceptional communication skills, including drafting concise advice and briefing for senior audiences.
Desirable skills and experience:
Experience working closely with Ministers, Special Advisers or senior ministerial offices.
Experience supporting major organisational change, transformation or new organisational set-up.
Experience operating at the centre of government or within cross-government delivery environments.
Experience of strategy, delivery, performance management or PMO leadership.
Additional information
Office for the Prime Minister policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace.
For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%.
Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
Leadership
Seeing the Big Picture
Making Effective Decisions
Communicating and Influencing
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £71,734, Cabinet Office contributes £20,781 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Learning and development tailored to your role.
An environment with flexible working options.
A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.
Things you need to know
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience.
Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.
Application process
A candidate information session will be held on Thursday 5th November 2026, 11:30-12:00, on MS Teams.
You can join the session through this link: Candidate Information Session: Strategy and PMO , Join meeting in Teams , Microsoft Teams.
Further information
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Any move to Office for the Prime Minister 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed.
Nationality requirements
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)
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
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities.