Senior Project Manager

Contract type: Permanent Full Time

Location: London or Newcastle offices based with a minimum 2 days a week attendance in either office.

Salary: London £74,000; Newcastle £64,750 plus civil service employee pension contribution of 28.9%.

Nationality Requirement:

• UK Nationals
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

Please be aware that we do not provide sponsorship for work visas for this position. Applicants must already meet the nationality requirements outlined above.

If you have any questions regarding your eligibility, please contact the HR Service desk.

Key Responsibilities

The Senior Project Delivery Manager is responsible for delivering key projects within the NAO’s digital change programme. Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the delivery and day‑to‑day management of Digital Services projects.
• Help define and document the project scope, goals and deliverables that support business objectives, in collaboration with senior management and stakeholders.
• Manage projects on a day‑to‑day basis on behalf of the sponsor / Project Board through the full life cycle, in accordance with NAO guidance and standards.
• Produce high‑quality project reporting and governance documentation, including progress, risk, issue and status reporting for project teams, senior stakeholders, and boards.
• Monitor and manage project budgets, ensuring accurate forecasting and effective financial control.
• Establish project controls and ensure they are effective (e.g. governance, risk and issue management, highlight and exception reporting, project reviews).
• Communicate project goals and progress clearly to team members and stakeholders.
• Support the technical project owner by helping to lead and coordinate project delivery teams, delegating where appropriate, to ensure timely, cost‑effective delivery of fit‑for‑purpose business and technology solutions.
• Work with others to develop change management plans, including communication and engagement plans.
• Manage stakeholder relationships across the business to support successful project initiation, transition into business‑as‑usual, and closure.
• Ensure projects are appropriately resourced to deliver the required outputs, negotiating with department managers and external suppliers to secure resources as needed.
• Identify and manage project and inter‑project dependencies, including critical path activities.
• Plan, schedule and track project timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
• Proactively manage changes to project scope, identify potential risks, and devise contingency plans, providing project boards with options for resolution.
• Define project success criteria and disseminate them to involved parties throughout the project lifecycle.
• Build strong working relationships that support successful project delivery.
• Lead project reviews and capture lessons learned to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements.
• Apply appropriate project delivery tools, governance, and controls to support effective project execution.
• Share knowledge and embed good project delivery practice across the team.
• Contribute to solution development by ensuring options align with business needs and relevant information and data architecture.

Personnel Management (5%)

• Provide timely, delivery‑focused feedback on the contribution of project team members through agreed project and performance processes.
• Support, coach and coordinate project team members and contractors encouraging proactive working and accountability.
• Delegate tasks and responsibilities as appropriate.
• Identify and resolve issues and conflicts within the project team.

Key Skills, Behaviours, And Experience

Qualifications and Training

• Formal training and experience in at least one modern software development lifecycle / methodology (e.g. PRINCE2, Agile) – essential.

Essential Experience

• Experience of delivering digital change initiatives and projects including infrastructure, cloud, or network related change.
• Strong leadership and coordination skills, with experience of leading multi‑disciplinary business and technology teams, and the ability to coordinate resources effectively.
• Experience of planning, monitoring, and reporting on projects using relevant tools (e.g. MS Project, Azure DevOps).

Desirable Experience

• Experience of using Azure DevOps.
• Experience of workshop facilitation.

Skills and Behaviours

• Positive, delivery‑focused approach.
• Self‑aware with excellent people skills.
• Ability to negotiate, manage conflict, influence outcomes, and gain buy‑in for new initiatives and ways of working.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with customers, key stakeholders, and technical staff at all levels, including presentation skills.
• Ability to clearly articulate and communicate project concepts and issues to both technical and non‑technical staff.
• Understanding of business analysis techniques and how they support the delivery of digital change projects.
• Ability to effectively prioritise and execute tasks in a complex and changing environment.

Equal Opportunities and Diversity

Applicants will not be discriminated against on the grounds of any protected characteristic or any other extraneous factor. Disability and Reasonable Adjustments: Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process.

Please upload an up to date CV with a covering letter clearly setting out your suitability and interest in the role.