Deputy Director, Portfolio Office & Business Partnering

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key responsibilities will include:

• Developing, maintaining and monitoring the portfolio level end-to-end delivery plan and support investment cases, ensuring prioritisation alignment with Strategy and policy, the business plan and priorities
• Leading the Portfolio Delivery Team of PMO professionals across planning, reporting, risk management analysis, governance and assurance. Set, maintain and enforce delivery standards for CDO across Planning, Reporting and Risk Management
• Managing and improving the effective and reliable provision of areas such as business analysis, user experience, digital PMO, PM, delivery management, demand management & requests for change
• Collaborating to further develop and implement a robust and timely demand management methodology governing new major project requests and change requests; assess and maintain oversight of the viability, affordability, and sequencing of Technology change initiative requirements.
• Defining and leading the CDO Governance framework and manage and deliver the portfolio assurance plan and pipeline targeting a rolling programme of assurance activities.
• Increasing the likelihood and confidence of delivering the desired objectives & outcomes, through chairing of regular Portfolio Governance forums, (e.g.: DDAT Forum) and challenging programmes accordingly.
• Being the Centre of Excellence for delivery methodology, tools and templates; advising and supporting other delivery professionals. Support technical programme delivery across CDO and the wider UKHSA (including portfolio management and change board) embedding, managing, and championing appropriate standards, policies, procedures and governance.
• Establishing and embedding high quality effective management reporting for CDO performance metrics, new demand, the Book of Work and change initiative forecasts.
• Portfolio Performance & Controls assessing risk and issue management at portfolio level, analysing and identifying major trends and working with the Project SROs and Leads and PMOs to put in place mitigating action at the portfolio level. Ensure mitigations are in place and resolved through negotiated agreement
• Deputising for Director of Digital and Data with respect to decisions as they pertain to IT Business Partnering, strategic requirements gathering, business focussed launch and change management.
• Leading, managing, and developing all G6 direct reports, and ensuring that UKHSAs culture and ways of working are embedded across all direct and indirect reports.
• Leading the team ensuring they work closely with senior colleagues to embed, communicate, and deliver our Technology strategy, and ensure it continues to meet and reflect the needs and requirements of our evolving business. You will be the voice of the business, and advocate and influence strategic digital and technology decisions across UKHSA to achieve value for money and alignment with digital and technology service design principles.
• Being responsible for ensuring your team support UKHSA in the delivery of its objectives, enabled and influenced by digital and technology capabilities. You will take the lead in developing trusted, influential relationships that both support and challenge UKHSA in its digital thinking and be a trusted internal strategic partner.
• Working with Architecture and Standards, helping shape and influence digital roadmaps and business plans at a directorate, group and department level, ensuring that the development of digital solutions and capabilities support the needs of UKHSA and aligns to the Agencys strategies

This role will influence the following key stakeholders:

Internal

• Director of Digital and Data
• CEO (where appropriate)
• UKHSA Heads of Functions (e.g. in Chief Operating Officer, Chief Medical Adviser and Chief Scientific Officer Groups)
• Chief Data Office Directors and Deputy Director peers

External

• Government departments and organisations e.g. Government Digital Service
• Academic leaders and research bodies
• Devolved Administrators, Departments and Organisations
• International bodies and Government
• Private sector leaders

Selection Criteria

Essential

• Have a degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or any other related field. An equivalent of the same in practical experience is also acceptable for the position

• Experience of executing a programme of work to deliver required scope within time, cost, and quality

• Financial management, forecast assessment and action planning, setting and managing a budget to an agreed forecast, managing risks and opportunities, and working in the context of demonstrating value for money

• Substantial experience in an organisation-wide, senior portfolio management and programme delivery position, together with project and change management methodologies. Demonstrable experience of setting the portfolio and delivery priorities across an extensive technology estate

• Able to lead authorship of key programme documentation, such as business cases, benefits realisation, and government gateway reviews

• Strong drafting skills (briefings, submissions) with the ability to communicate succinct, meaningful narratives and conclusions to both internal and external senior stakeholders

• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills, a proven commitment to collaboration, and the ability to communicate often complex information easily and simply, with diplomacy and tact, to all levels, including directors and senior management

• Experience of working in multi-discipline change teams to produce measurable costed solution impacts

• The ability to work under pressure with multiple tasks in a dynamic and fast-paced environment and adjust approaches to meet extremely short and conflicting deadlines bringing teams and suppliers along in a collaborative and inclusive way

Stage 1: Application & Sift

Success profiles

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on essential criteria, and this will be in the form of -

1. an Application form (Employer/ Activity history section on the application)
2. a 1000 word (maximum) Supporting Statement

This should detail how you meet the essential criteria referencing evidence of your experience and skills

You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your C.V please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible).Please do not email us your CV.

Please do not exceed 1000 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.

Shortlisting:

If we receive a large number of applications an initial sift against key essential criteria will be conducted:

Substantial experience in an organisation-wide, senior portfolio management and programme delivery position, together with project and change management methodologies. Demonstrable experience of setting the portfolio and delivery priorities across an extensive technology estate

Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills, a proven commitment to collaboration, and the ability to communicate often complex information easily and simply, with diplomacy and tact, to all levels, including directors and senior management

The ability to work under pressure with multiple tasks in a dynamic and fast-paced environment and adjust approaches to meet extremely short and conflicting deadlines bringing teams and suppliers along in a collaborative and inclusive way.

Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview (success profiles)

You will be invited to a remote interview.

This vacancy is being assessed using Success Profiles. The interview will consist of Technical, Experience and behaviour - based questions

The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be

Seeing the Big Picture

Changing and Improving

Leadership

Communicating and Influencing

You will be asked to prepare and present a 5 minute presentation. The subject of this will be sent to you prior to interview.

Interviews will be held week commencing 11 August 2025. Please note, these dates are subject to change.

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

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Security Clearance.

For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years as the role requires Security Check (SC).

UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQs. We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's core HQs (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London)

Person Specification

Experience

• Application Form and Statement of Suitability

Behaviours

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

Employer details

Employer name

UK Health Security Agency

Address

UKHSA Core Locations

London, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool

E14 4PU

Employer's website

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-health-security-agency