Project Support Officer

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is the department for economic growth. We support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. Our Mission is to: 

• Redraw our rules to ensure businesses thrive, markets are competitive and consumers are protected.
• Secure investment from UK and international businesses.
• Advise, support, and promote British businesses to grow and export.
• Open up new markets for businesses by removing barriers and striking trade deals.
• Promote free trade, economic security and resilient supply chains.

DBT is a great place to work. We support one another, share our successes and challenges, empower staff to be their best and provide opportunities to build careers. We embrace continuous learning, smarter working and diversity and inclusion. We embody the Department’s Spirit, Excellent, Connected, Confident and Collaborative, working as One DBT. We value diversity in all its forms. 

Project Delivery and Change Directorate and its Flexible Resource Pool 

Almost all government policy is delivered through projects or transformation programmes. Thousands are carried out each year to improve the UK’s infrastructure, transform public services, safeguard national security and boost international trade and we are no exception, we use projects and programmes to further DBT’s objectives and to make DBT a great place to work for our people.  

In our projects, we are clear about the importance of bringing together project delivery – with its structures, processes and tools to guide change – and effective change management – with its focus on people and ensuring that changes are embraced and used effectively.

At the heart of our Project Delivery and Change Directorate, we have established an internal pool of experienced project delivery and change professionals who we are deploying to deliver business critical projects. 

This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious and talented candidate with a strong interest and/or experience of working in the Project Delivery profession, to become part of DBT’s FRP. The candidate will have an opportunity to support the delivery of critical projects and programmes.

The aim of the Pool is to: 

• provide PD and Change support to priority programmes within DBT.
• ensure DBT has the right capability inhouse to deliver key projects, reduce recruitment issues and reliance on contingent labour.  
• provide PD&C Professionals better access to career development and progression.

The Pool will offer successful applicants’ exposure to a range of challenging projects across DBT to build capability, experience and technical skills.  We will also provide access to a range of informal professional career development opportunities and continuous professional development (CPD).

We will hold a reserve list of candidates to fill roles that are the same or very similar roles for 12 months.  Please note that once on the reserve list, if you refuse the offer of 2 roles you will be removed from the reserve list. 

Please note that the successful candidates will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.

As a member of the Project Delivery & Change Flexible Resource Pool you will work on a variety of projects for up to 12 months at a time. During this time, you could be required to take on some of the following roles (as set out on page 121 of the Project Delivery Capability Framework) 

• Delivery – Create and lead the project to deliver the agreed outcomes within time, cost and quality constraints. 
• Stakeholder engagement – Carry out stakeholder mapping to identify key stakeholders and work with the project to develop a stakeholder engagement strategy.  
• Governance – Provide key reports and support effective governance and decision making. 
• Risks and Issues – Engaging with stakeholders to identify, monitor and key risks and issues for the Project.  
• Resources – Leading on identifying and managing resources to deliver the project.  
• Benefits Realisation – Ensure benefits are identified, understood, measured, tracked and owned.  
• Business Case – Co-ordinate development of Business Cases.
• Financial control – Track delivery of projects spend and provide progress report to senior management.  
• Assurance – Support appropriate assurance to provide independent assessment and confirmation that a project is on track.  
• Change Management – Ensure effective Change Management processes are in place. 
• Project Performance & Controls – Build Project Plan and apply appropriate project principles to deliver stated objectives.

Essential Criteria 

• You will have previous experience working on a project or in a project management environment. 
• You will have previously worked in a fast-paced environment. You will have practical experience of actively managing project risks and issues and be able to make decisions. 
• You will need to be flexible and willing to move between different projects in DBT. In return, the PD&C Pool will support with talent management and 5 days of continuous professional development (CPD) to build your capability.  
• You will have previous experience of managing stakeholders to deliver project outputs.
• You will hold a formal project management qualification(s) at Foundation level (e.g. Prince2, Association for Project Management) as defined in the Government Project Delivery Capability Framework found on Gov.uk.

Desirable Criteria  

• You will hold a formal project management qualification(s) at Practitioner level (e.g. Prince2, Association for Project Management) as defined in the Government Project Delivery Capability Framework found on Gov.uk.

Personal Attributes & Skills

• It is essential that the successful candidate has good experience of delivering projects within time, cost and quality constraints.  
• You will have a proactive approach to developing productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, bringing people together to benefit projects.   
• You must be able to engage, motivate and coach others as well as acting as a role model, to inspire and empower others. 
• In return, we will offer you exposure to a range of challenging projects in different areas of an organisation at the heart of the Government’s international agenda. You will receive support and mentoring as well as ongoing formal and informal opportunities to continue your personal and professional development.  

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Presentation will be required based on the Project Delivery Capability Framework

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.

Job contact :

• Name : Lucy Riggs
• Email : pdrecruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dbtrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk