Project Manager

Job summary

Project management lies at the heart of so much of our success at the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Are you highly organised with excellent communication skills?

Are you an experienced Project manager with a can-do attitude?

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 are delighted to offer seven exciting opportunities for SEO Project Managers to join our team.

As a Project Manager, you will lead projects of moderate complexity, managing day‑to‑day delivery and guiding your project team to achieve clear, measurable outcomes. You will be responsible for driving progress, ensuring objectives are met within agreed time, cost and quality parameters, and maintaining strong project governance throughout. Working closely with stakeholders across the organisation, you will play a key role in ensuring successful delivery, shaping project direction, and enabling the realisation of benefits that support APHA’s strategic priorities.

Borders and Trade Programme

These roles sit within APHA’s Borders and Trade Programme, which is preparing the organisation for changes arising from the UK and the EU’s commitment to pursue a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement. The programme supports EU reset activity by delivering changes to systems, processes and ways of working as negotiations progress. You will work under the direction of Programme Managers to deliver work that enables the safe trade and movement of animals, plants and agrifood products, whilst upholding high standards of biosecurity and food safety.

The role involves a wide range of work including, but not limited to, the following:

Project Leadership & Delivery

Lead the project on a day‑to‑day basis, setting clear direction, providing guidance and coaching to the team and ensuring delivery remains focused on agreed objectives through the use of appropriate delivery approaches and ways of working.

Project Planning, Controls & Performance

Develop and maintain robust delivery plans, track performance against milestones. Apply proportionate controls to manage progress, inform decision making and maintain delivery to time, cost and quality.

Budget and Resourcing

Oversee project budgets and resource planning, ensuring financial tracking is accurate and resources are effectively deployed to meet delivery requirements across the project lifecycle.

Risks, Issues & Dependencies

Identify, assess and actively manage risks, issues and dependencies, implementing mitigations and escalating where needed to maintain progress and support informed decision making.

Governance, Assurance & Reporting

Operate within established governance frameworks, applying agreed standards and processes, and produce clear, timely reporting to provide assurance and enable effective oversight and decision making.

Stakeholder Management

Identify and engage key stakeholders, building effective relationships, managing expectations and communicating progress, risks and decisions clearly throughout delivery.

Benefits Realisation

Support the delivery of agreed outcomes by working with stakeholders to track benefits, ensure alignment to objectives and identify risks to realisation.

Continuous Improvement

Drive continuous improvement by identifying opportunities to enhance delivery practices, capturing lessons learned and embedding good practice across projects.

Person specification

The following experience is required for the role:

• Project delivery expertise — Demonstrated ability to deliver projects successfully, including defining objectives, planning and coordinating activity, and managing delivery within agreed time, cost and quality constraints to achieve measurable outcomes.

• Strong project leadership — Proven experience providing day‑to‑day leadership, establishing proportionate project controls, designing effective project structures, selecting suitable delivery methodologies, and leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver agreed objectives.

• Risk, issue and dependency management — Ability to identify, assess and monitor risks, issues and dependencies; implement effective mitigation; and escalate appropriately to enable timely, informed decision‑making.

• Governance, reporting and assurance — Experience operating robust project governance, producing high‑quality reports, enabling decision‑making at the right level, and ensuring appropriate assurance throughout the project lifecycle.

• Communication and stakeholder engagement — Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build strong working relationships, engage stakeholders effectively, and manage change through clear communication and agreed change‑control processes.

• Leading cultural and organisational change — Ability to plan, lead and embed positive cultural change to realise benefits, securing commitment to a shared vision, recognising when wider organisational change is required, and ensuring intended benefits are clearly identified, owned and delivered.

Qualifications

A recognised portfolio, programme or project management qualification (e.g., APM PFQ/PMQ, PRINCE2, MSP or MoP), or relevant experience, with a willingness to work towards a qualification.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,665, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £12,360 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).

Further benefits offered also include:

• 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.

• Staff bonuses and recognition, salary sacrifice benefit options, and an employee discount scheme.

• Three days special leave with pay, per year, for volunteering (pro-rata for part time employees).

• Making it work for you - With so many flexible options, most people can find a work schedule to suit their circumstances.

These are just a few of our benefits we offer. To find out the full ran