Delivery Manager

Job summary

Are you excited by the opportunity to lead a varied service where cases can range from endangered animals and rare plants to antiques and protected wildlife products?Are you a resilient leader who can stay calm, make sound decisions and deliver results when faced with competing priorities and challenging situations?If so, we would love to hear from you!

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, because it helps us be more innovative and make better decisions.

We are dedicated to being an inclusive employer, offering equitable opportunities for all individuals. Our goal is to build a diverse workforce, and we hope to attract applications from all backgrounds and underrepresented groups.

Job description

We have an exciting opportunity for a Delivery Manager to join our team. You will lead the effective delivery of complex, technically detailed services supporting the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

This is a fascinating and varied work area where no two days are the same: with cases ranging from live endangered animals and zoo transfers to rare plants, antiques and products made from protected species. You will play a vital role in supporting conservation, enabling legal and sustainable international wildlife trade and help prevent the unlawful movement or exploitation of wildlife.

This is a dynamic role that offers the opportunity to work across a range of activities, with the flexibility to adapt to changing priorities and business needs.

The key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Lead through managers and specialist teams, setting clear expectations and creating an inclusive, collaborative and psychologically safe culture.
• Oversee the accurate and timely delivery of permits, certificates, customer advice and associated compliance activity.
• Line managing a team of around 11 team members, providing visible and inclusive leadership, setting clear expectations, managing performance and development, supporting wellbeing and ensuring the team has the capacity and support needed to deliver a high-quality service.
• Apply sufficient understanding of the CITES regulatory framework and operational processes to support consistent, legally compliant decision-making, effective quality assurance and the handling of complex or sensitive cases.
• Translate legislative, policy and digital change into robust processes, guidance, training and sustainable ways of working.
• Use detailed operational data to understand demand and capacity, identify emerging pressures and deploy people flexibly.
• Balance business-as-usual delivery with concurrent change programmes, making sound, timely decisions where priorities, timescales and stakeholder expectations conflict.
• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders and high-profile stakeholders across APHA, Defra group, Policy, Scientific, Legal and Digital teams, Border Force and other delivery partners, influencing decisions and representing operational delivery with credibility.
• Provide clear assurance on performance, risks, workforce and delivery impacts.
• Challenge constructively where proposals are not operationally viable and ensure operational teams are involved early in design and implementation.
• Continuously improve the service to support legal and sustainable international wildlife trade.

Person specification

We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate the following skills and experience:

• Demonstrable line management experience, with the ability to lead and support a sizeable team effectively. This includes setting clear expectations, managing performance and development, supporting wellbeing, addressing people issues appropriately and building an inclusive, engaged and effective team.
• Substantial experience of providing visible, inclusive leadership to a large and diverse workforce, including leading through managers, setting clear direction and creating an environment in which people can perform at their best.
• Resilient and highly organised, with the confidence and sound judgement to work effectively in ambiguity, manage competing demands and priorities, and remain calm and effective when dealing with challenging or sensitive situations and stakeholders.
• The ability to understand the wider strategic, legislative and public-service context, translate organisational priorities into operational plans and maintain focus on conservation, regulatory and customer outcomes.
• Strong judgement and analytical capability, with experience of using evidence, technical advice and operational data to make timely, defensible decisions in complex, sensitive or ambiguous circumstances.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills, with the credibility to build trusted relationships, explain complex issues clearly and influence senior leaders, specialists and delivery partners with differing priorities.
• The ability to prioritise competing demands, allocate resources effectively and maintain business continuity while delivering multiple operational and change priorities to demanding timescales.
• Experience of leading people through change, improving processes and embedding new legislation, policy, technology or ways of working in a sustainable and user-focused manner.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,895, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £10,398 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Why work for APHA?

At APHA, we are committed to supporting you to develop your skills, knowledge, and professional capability throughout your career.

From day one, you will be welcomed through a structured induction programme, helping you understand the Civil Service, our work, and how we operate. You’ll work closely with your line manager to set clear priorities and develop a performance, learning, and development plan tailored to your role.

Alongside formal training, you will have opportunities to apply and develop your knowledge in a practical environment, contributing to continuous improvement and innovation.

Inclusion, support, and the wellbeing of our people are central to what we do, ensuring everyone at APHA can thrive both professionally and personally.

Key Benefits Include

• Civil Service Pension - Defra contributes an average of 28.97% of your salary towards your pension

• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30

• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities tailored to your role

• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts from retailers such as high street coffee shops, cinemas, supermarkets, high street retailers and many, many more

• Staff bonuses and recognition including appreciate vouchers of up to £200 and larger in year awards of up to £1000

• Salary sacrifice benefit options and an employee discount scheme such as bike to work, Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme, every £8 you pay in, the government adds £2