Child Maintenance Service - Programme Management Office Lead in Newcastle upon Tyne

Location: Falkirk; Brierley Hill; Leicester; Newcastle upon Tyne; Hastings; Birkenhead; Woolwell

Salary: 58,961

Do you have the following skills, experience and drive to succeed in this role? Find out below.

Employment: Flexible

Category: Programme Manager

Posted: 2026-11-02

Valid to: 2026-11-16

Employer: Department for Work and Pensions

Job summary

As the UK government’s largest public service provider, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policies. The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) supports parents who are unable to reach a private financial agreement by ensuring – and when necessary, enforcing – their legal responsibility to contribute to their child’s living costs. Our mission is simple: to get money to children, because it makes a real difference in their lives. While we’ve made significant progress in transforming our service, we remain ambitious about what more we can achieve for the families who rely on us. CMS is a dynamic and rewarding place to work. Step into any of our service centres and you’ll find passionate, dedicated professionals committed to supporting our customers. We are proud to foster an inclusive and diverse workforce where everyone can thrive. If you're looking to make a difference, this could be the career for you. This is a fantastic opportunity to start or grow a fulfilling career in the Civil Service. We offer a flexible work-life balance, along with opportunities for growth, challenge, and personal development.

Job description

Child Maintenance Service is not only undergoing a significant period of change as we drive forward our transformation agenda, but in tandem, we continue to deliver a politically significant and fundamentally crucial service to millions of separated families around the country who depend upon the work we do. Our story over the last five years is one of impressive progress and improvement. Despite the progress we’ve made, we are unashamedly ambitious about what more we can achieve and the difference we can make for the families who need us. Child Maintenance Service is an amazing place to work. Walk into any one of our service centres and you will be overwhelmed by the passion and commitment that our people have for supporting our customers.

The Project Management Office Leads’ main responsibilities are to lead and manage all project and programme planning and reporting activity that supports the delivery of the CMS Modernisation and CMS priorities agenda. The role includes line management responsibility for a small team of SEOs and HEOs who have their own responsibilities, however, will require clear direction and support.

The Project Management Office Lead will have accountability and responsibility to:

• Lead on the design, build and implementation activity required to embed new & refreshed change reporting & governance routes across CMS
• Lead planning activity across Child Maintenance Service ensuring governance is adhered to
• Lead the reporting of Project / Programme delivery across both Child Maintenance Service and DWP Service Modernisation Programme
• Lead on the development of Business Cases and ongoing management of the benefits articulated in the case
• Provide clear direction to Project Managers and Change Leads to ensure adherence to formal governance arrangements
• Ensure all change across CMS is clearly defined, governed and approved in accordance with the CMS Governance Model
• Lead on the benefits realisation of initiatives across Child Maintenance Service and DWP Service Modernisation Programme
• Engage effectively with project and digital leads to provide advice and support with changes that are going through the project lifecycle
• Line manages a small team of colleagues providing steers, coaching, advice, and support

Person specification

Essential Criteria

Your personal statement will be assessed against the following essential criteria. Please ensure you provide specific, evidence-based examples that clearly demonstrate how you meet each one.

• Significant experience of leading a Project Management Office function within a complex programme or transformation environment.
• Experience of designing and embedding improvements and changes to governance and reporting across organisations.
• Strong experience of developing, integrating and maintaining project and programme plans, translating milestones, dependencies, risks and delivery information into coherent reports for senior decision-makers.
• Demonstrable experience of establishing and assuring effective governance, ensuring change is clearly defined, appropriately controlled and progressed through relevant approval routes.
• Experience of developing business cases and managing benefits, from defining measurable outcomes and ownership through to tracking and reporting benefits realisation.
• Strong stakeholder-management and communication experience, with the ability to build trusted relationships, explain complex issues clearly and influence senior leaders, delivery teams and multiple suppliers across business change and technology projects.
• Hold, or be willing to work towards, an APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ), P3O Practitioner, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Practitioner, Better Business Cases, or APMG Benefits Management qualification.

Behaviours

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

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

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 58,961, Department for Work and Pensions contributes 17,081 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. Working for DWP will include benefits such as learning and development tailored to your role, an environment with flexible working options, a culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.

Annual Leave

23 days annual leave rising with service to 30 days, plus public holidays.

Flexi Time

Access to flexible working hours scheme will be available.

Hybrid Working

This role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. If a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for the role and for you, you will normally be required to spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted working hours from your DWP office. If you have a disability, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that may affect your ability to meet the minimum office attendance requirement, please discuss this with us using the contact details in this advert.

Working Hours

The Department’s contracted working hours are: Monday to Friday: 07:45 to 20:00; Saturday: 08:45 to 17:00. Employees are contracted to work a set number of hours per week within these timeframes. For full-time employees, this is 37 net hours per week (equivalent to 42 gross hours, including meal breaks). For part-time employees, the number of hours will be proportionally less, based on their contract. Employees are expected to work the full number of hours for which they are contracted.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Eligibility

Visa Sponsorship: Please note that for these vacancies we recommend that applicants seek specialist advice on their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship when considering whether to apply for any role. We can never guarantee sponsorship, requests will be considered in line with the relevant DWP guidance and Home Office policy in place at the time.

Location: Applicants should only apply for roles where they can reasonably commute to and from their selected home office location daily.

Selection Process: As part of the application process, you will be asked to submit a CV and 1250-word Personal Statement.

Important Information Regarding Anonymisation: When completing your application form, CV and personal statement you must remove any personal details that could be used to identify you. This includes name and contact details which might usually appear on a CV or personal statement. Failure to do so will result in your application being withdrawn.

Personal Statement: Write an evidence-based statement demonstrating your suitability for the role, reflecting on the essential criteria outlined in the Job Description. Your evidence-based statement should be no longer than 1250 words. Avoid generalised claims – focus instead on specific examples that highlight your achievements. For each example, explain the context, the challenges you faced, the actions you took, and the outcomes you achieved.

Sift: The sift panel will assess your evidence-based statement to evaluate your experience, skills, and knowledge against the essential criteria outlined in the job advert. To progress to the next stage of the application process, you must provide clear and sufficient evidence demonstrating how you meet these criteria. If we receive a high volume of applications, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead criterion: Significant experience of leading a Project Management Office function within a complex programme or transformation environment. Candidates who pass this initial sift may either proceed to a full sift or be invited directly to interview.

CV: Your CV is for reference/context only and is not scored, put the main content of your evidence and skills in your personal statement.

Interview: The interview will assess your behaviours and strengths. A 5 minute presentation will also be assessed. Further details will be provided when arranging your interview. For the purposes of the selection process, the Lead Behaviour will be Leadership. Your interview will be conducted by video (MS Teams).

See the Personal Statement Guidance and Candidate Pack attachments for full details of the application and selection process.

Approximate campaign timeline:

• Sift Period: 17 – 24 November 2026
• Interviews: 7 – 11 December 2026
• Results/Offers: 16 December 2026
• Security & ID Checks: December 2026 – January 2027
• Start Dates: approximately January – February 2027

Sometimes we might decide to invite all candidates straight to interview without assessing the written application evidence, therefore sift and interview dates are subject to change.

Provisional Offer of Employment: If you receive a provisional offer of employment, please note that the pre-employment checking process can take up to 8 weeks for external candidates. (Refer to the candidate pack for details regarding the required documentation.) In some cases, a conditional offer may be made. This means you could begin your role before all checks are completed. However, if any of the outstanding checks are unsuccessful, your employment may be terminated.

Further Information: At the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. Find out more about working for DWP on the DWP Careers Hub.

Reserve List: A reserve list may be held for a period of 3 months from which further appointments can be made. If you are placed on a reserve list but we cannot immediately offer you a post, please note: If you are later offered the role you applied for, in a location you have expressed a preference for, and you decline the offer or are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe you will be withdrawn from the campaign and removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances (e.g. a contractual Part Time Working Pattern cannot be accommodated in the initial role offered or in cases of serious ill health). If DWP makes an offer of an alternative role or location to that which you originally applied for, and you decline that offer, you will be able to remain on the reserve list.

Disability Confident Scheme: If high application volumes are received, the benchmark for candidates to proceed to the next stage may be raised. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to advance all candidates applying under the DCS who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards.

Reasonable Adjustments: We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact the Government Recruitment Service as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Integrity, plagiarism and Civil Service Principles: The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Examples of plagiarism can include: Presenting the work, ideas and experience of others as your own; Copying content or answers from an online or published source that is not your own.

Disclosure and Barring Service and Internal Fraud Database Checks: To process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing stating the job reference number in the subject heading. For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check will be carried out.

Important: New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. Before applying for this vacancy, current employees of DWP should check whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms & conditions of employment, e.g. mobility, pay, allowances. If you are a current employee and are successful you must be able to be released from your current post within four weeks. Those on protected TUPE/ COSoP terms and conditions applying on promotion or voluntary permanent level move will adopt DWP’s Terms and Conditions and this may have a different impact on pay and allowances. Please review this prior to acceptance of a role. Civil Servants that would transfer into DWP from other government organisations, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms & conditions of employment current on the day they are posted, unless DWP has stated otherwise in writing. Accepting a post will be taken to mean acceptance of revised terms & conditions. Civil Servants applying on promotion will usually be appointed to the salary minimum or within 10% of existing salary. Any move to DWP from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may, however, be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at the Childcare Choices Website.

Feedback: Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security: Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Nationality requirements: This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals; nationals of the Republic of Ireland; nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK; nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS); nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS); individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020; Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service.

Further information on nationality requirements.

Working for the Civil Service: The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion: The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found.

Apply and further information: This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants: Job contact: Name: Dionne Petty Email: team Email: information