Deputy Director for Portfolio Management (Growth, Science and International - UK Space Agency)

Job summary

UK Space Agency

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is a Directorate within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. At the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space, UKSA leads work to grow the UK’s world-class space sector and foster ground-breaking science and innovation.

Space is an extraordinary and exciting sector that impacts virtually all aspects of our lives. It is a high growth and high productivity area, where targeted Government investment stimulates innovation and creates highly skilled jobs. It is also experiencing disruptive change, with new technologies, business models and market entrants challenging the status quo. UKSA must be flexible and dynamic to ensure UK leadership in the new space age.

Portfolio Management

The Deputy Director for Portfolio Management will provide leadership of the Agency’s portfolios, including national and European Space Agency programmes, governance arrangements, financial planning, and space sector analysis. The role ensures that UKSA’s programmes, investments, and ESA commitments are prioritised, governed and delivered in a way that maximises value for money, strengthens UK capability, and supports the National Space Strategy.

The postholder will create a coherent, evidence‐driven, whole‐Agency portfolio view and lead the frameworks, governance and analytical insight that underpin strategic portfolio decision‐making. They will work across UKSA, DSIT, HMT, ESA and wider government to ensure the Agency’s portfolio is affordable, optimised, strategically aligned and supported by high‐quality financial and analytical capability.

The Deputy Director will be expected to oversee a suite of enabling services that underpin effective portfolio delivery across UKSA spanning governance, financial planning and analysis, analytical capability, and operational support. They will ensure the wider organisation has the systems, insight and support needed to deliver an optimised, affordable, and strategically aligned portfolio.

Job description

As a deputy director in our new Agency the role holder will:

• Provide visible, inclusive leadership that motivates and empowers teams to deliver high performance. Build capability through coaching and development, ensure wellbeing and engagement, and create a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement across the unit and its leadership team.
• Champion and embed the identity, purpose, and culture of the new unit by actively engaging staff and stakeholders, fostering collaboration, and promoting a clear vision of its strategic role. Ensure the unit is recognised as a trusted, high-performing partner across government and industry, driving confidence in its mission and delivering measurable impact.

As Deputy Director Portfolio Management they will specifically be responsible for:

• Portfolio Management: Lead UKSA’s portfolio management and analysis functions, ensuring programmes and investments are prioritised, governed, and delivered to maximise value for money and strengthen UK capability. Lead frameworks, governance, and analytical insight that underpin strategic decision-making.
• Portfolio Definition: Work with the Strategy Deputy Director to turn strategic priorities and our spending envelope into a deliverable, risk-managed portfolio of programmes and projects, ensuring effective implementation, monitoring, and reporting against agreed objectives.
• ESA delivery: Lead the delivery and management of ESA operations and portfolio management functions, ensuring alignment with Agency priorities. Note that ESA policy and engagement functions will be led by the International Team.
• Governance: Oversee UKSA’s governance framework, ensuring effective boards, risk management, compliance, and alignment with Government Functional Standards.
• Financial Planning & Analysis: Lead multi-year financial planning, budgeting, and in-year control, delivering insight for investment decisions and ensuring affordability.
• Analysis: Direct UKSA’s analytical and economic functions, ensuring rigorous evidence, modelling, and appraisal underpin decisions and ministerial advice.
• Operational Support: Oversee UKSA’s business support and executive assistant function, ensuring it provides a quality service to leaders and the business.

Other responsibilities:

• Ensure compliance with statutory and legal provisions as set out in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's policies and procedures. Particularly in relation to: Financial Regulations, Equal Opportunities and Diversity, Health and Safety, Civil Service Code, Data Protection & the Official Secrets Act.

• Comply with the competencies and standard requisites as relevant to your post as detailed in your job description, person specification and Competency Framework and take responsibility for continuing self-development, participating in training and development activities as required or requested by your line manager.

• Attend meetings as required some of which may be outside normal working hours.

The above tasks and responsibilities are neither inclusive nor exhaustive. The post holder may be called upon to carry out such other appropriate duties as may be required by the SCS2 role name and/or senior officer(s) within the grading level of the post and the competence of the post holder.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

We are looking for candidates who can confidently demonstrate the below criteria, while also Demonstrating the technical competencies set out in the Project Delivery Capability Framework for the SCS1 Portfolio Director role found HERE

• Senior Leadership - Proven track record of successfully leading teams at a senior level, with the capability to set a clear strategic path, inspire and motivate multi-disciplinary teams, and efficiently oversee operational support functions.

• Stakeholder Influence: Extensive experience providing high-quality, authoritative advice to Ministers and senior stakeholders, with a track record of successfully navigating and influencing decision-making at the highest levels of government or external organisations.

• Portfolio Governance : Proven experience delivering complex, large-scale portfolios or investment programmes, that align with organisational and national priorities. Including maintaining strong governance structures, executing comprehensive risk mitigation, and balancing competing budgetary priorities and delivering value for money.

• Evidence-Based Decision Making: Strong capability in strategic planning, investment appraisal, and evidence-based decision-making to optimise resource allocation, manage portfolio-level prioritisation, and realise benefits across competing demands.

• Technical Capability: Outstanding interpersonal and negotiation skills bringing credibility and building trusted relationships in national and international forums, paired with the ability to understand complex technical issues quickly.

Desirable Criteria

Solid experience in policy and ministerial decision-making processes, particularly regarding how these drive and are supported by public-sector portfolio management or central government functions (such as HMT, Cabinet Office, or equivalent corporate bodie