Assistant Programme Manager

Job summary

Shape the Future of England and Wales Through Data That Matters

At the Office for National Statistics (ONS), our work helps shape decisions that impact millions of lives. We are looking for talented project professionals to join us in one of two exciting and high-profile roles, both offering the opportunity to lead nationally significant programmes that support the production of trusted official statistics.

Census 2031 represents our most ambitious data collection project yet – a once in a decade opportunity to capture a complete picture of everyone living in England and Wales. Building on the digital success of 2021, we're pioneering new ways to reach every household and community, ensuring no one is left uncounted. This vital work will provide the foundation for policy decisions, resource allocation and community planning for the next decade.

Your work will support delivery of this transformational project that will shape how we understand and support our nation's future. You'll be part of a team that ensures everyone is counted—and every voice is heard. We're building a culture that values collaboration, fresh thinking and respect for diverse expertise. Whether you're a seasoned professional or bringing new perspectives, you'll be part of a team that welcomes bold ideas, works transparently and thrives on solving complex challenges together.

You'll join a growing community of Census Project Delivery professionals - delivering projects that span multiple disciplines, partners and stakeholders, with the opportunity to influence decisions that will shape the successful delivery of Census 2031. Few projects offer the same scale, visibility and opportunity to contribute to a national endeavour that impacts every person and community across England and Wales.

Job description

As a Programme Manager, you will lead a portfolio of interconnected projects and business change activities, ensuring they deliver successful outcomes and realise strategic benefits for the organisation. Operating across a variety of programmes, you will play a pivotal role in turning organisational ambitions into measurable results, overseeing delivery from inception through to implementation.

You will be responsible for establishing effective governance and assurance frameworks, managing risks, issues and dependencies, and ensuring the organisation is prepared to adopt and embed change. Working closely with project leads, subject matter experts and senior stakeholders, you will develop business cases, secure resources and maintain alignment across complex workstreams.

Leading multidisciplinary teams, you will provide direction, support and development opportunities while fostering strong relationships both internally and externally. You will oversee planning, scheduling, resourcing and delivery activity, ensuring programmes remain on track and benefits are realised.

Using data, digital tools and strategic insight, you will monitor performance, inform decision-making and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and outcomes. This is an exciting opportunity to lead large-scale programmes that vary in size and complexity, influencing decisions that help shape the future direction of the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Develops and secures approval for the business case in collaboration with project leads and subject matter experts (SMEs).
• Identifies and manages stakeholder relationships, highlighting the need for senior-level support. Appropriately manages internal and external relationships.
• Provides direction and guidance on development to the team.
• Secures resources and direct planning, scheduling, resourcing, and estimating for complex and large-scale programmes.
• Oversees risk and issue management, ensures mitigations are in place and resolved through negotiated agreements.
• Ensures customer benefits are realised by planning and designing outputs that meet programme requirements.
• Maintains the overall integrity and coherence of the programme and governance frameworks to support each project. Plans programme assurance activities.
• Communicates the vision and translates it into delivery objectives for the team. Leads the programme to deliver the business case benefits and outcomes.
• Works with project leads and the business to ensure dependencies are actively managed. Acts as an arbiter and enforcer, resolving issues between various programme elements.
• Uses digital tools to analyse data to ensure alignment with strategic objectives and improve efficiency. Uses data insights to make high level decisions to ensure programmes stay on track and deliver outcomes.

Person specification

Essential Skills Criteria:

1. Experience of successfully leading a complex programme planning function for a major programme, including leading others in both waterfall and agile delivery methods and managing dependencies and change. (Lead)
2. Experience of working collaboratively with a diverse range of policy, design, architecture, operational and IT delivery teams to refine, develop and assure delivery plans and resolve complex problems.
3. Ability to lead and facilitate complex negotiations whilst maintaining relationships, accommodating differing views and priorities, and influencing peers and senior leaders to achieve an outcome.
4. Outstanding stakeholder management and communication skills, with an ability to influence constructively and command confidence at all levels. with experience and evidence of providing insightful reporting and clear briefing on complex issues to senior stakeholders.
5. Portfolio planning, including maintaining an integrated portfolio delivery map, identifying and managing interdependencies, and ensuring plans remain aligned to strategic priorities while responding effectively to change, uncertainty, and competing demands.
6. Inspiring, motivating and leading people, providing clear direction where uncertainty exists, role modelling the appropriate behaviours and challenging inappropriate behaviour.

Desirable Qualifications

Any of the following qualifications would be advantageous for the role, but we welcome applications from candidates who can demonstrate equivalent experience or capability:

• PRINCE2 Practitioner
• Agile Project Management Practitioner
• APM Project Management Qualification
• APM Practitioner Qualification

We encourage applicants who have relevant experience, transferable skills, or are working towards these qualifications.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

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

• Frameworks & methodologies -Working : Project Delivery Capability Framework
• Risk & Issue Management -Practitioner : Project Delivery Capability Framework
• Stakeholder engagement -Practitioner : Project Delivery Capability Framework

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,861, Office for National Statistics contributes £16,472 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.