Job summary
GDS exists to help government make brilliant public services that empower people in the UK. We work at the very centre of government to drive digital transformation, focused on users. We build and maintain common platforms, products and tools for others to use and create great public services that are accessible, inclusive and easy to use. We also work with departments to identify patterns, share learning and create change to make government more efficient
Our teams are organised around delivering on our priorities. These are:
- making it easier for people to find what they are looking for on GOV.UK
- building common service platforms to make it simpler and cheaper to build quality digital services
- promoting agile, user-centred design practices both in the UK and across the world
GOV.UK is the groundbreaking single website for the UK government with more than 700,000 pages, 30 million monthly users, and home to hundreds of vital public services. As a Senior Delivery Manager, you will lead one or more multi-disciplinary teams to research, design, build and ship major changes to GOV.UK. Your team will be part of the award-winning GOV.UK programme, and will be empowered to improve the way the people interact with the government at national scale.
The GOV.UK team’s mission is to make it simple for everyone to interact with government. GOV.UK is part of everyone’s lives in the UK, from registering a birth to starting a business. Our priorities are to ensure more people get what they are eligible for, the public is better informed, and that digital government is joined-up. GOV.UK’s recent work to help people find support with the cost of living is a great example of this, and you can read about some of the GOV.UK team’s other work on the Inside GOV.UK blog (https://insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk).
GOV.UK is currently one of the top 25 most visited websites in the UK, and it’s our responsibility to be iterating and improving all the time as technology and user needs change. This role includes opportunities to experiment with new technologies and platforms with the potential to transform how the public interacts with GOV.UK.
Job description
We’re looking for a candidate with a demonstrated history of leading product delivery teams, with a strong emphasis on data-driven, user-centric approaches, in an agile setting. Your leadership should be deeply anchored in prioritising user needs, with a keen focus on delivering tangible outcomes and fostering a collaborative environment.
You’ll be working in a growing cross-functional team. You’ll also be working with stakeholders both internal and across government to understand needs and to deliver new capability.
You’ll be core to making decisions that build a high performing team, adept at breaking down barriers for your team, and both planning at a higher level and getting into the details to make things happen when needed.
As a Senior Delivery Manager, you’ll:
- lead and motivate multiple multi-disciplinary teams, helping them organise and plan their work, ensuring they deliver timely products and services that actually meet users’ needs
- co-create and co-own plans and progress using recognised lean/agile practices, and communicate status to more senior people and users appropriately
- provide useful and accurate delivery metrics to facilitate continual improvement
- facilitate an inclusive team environment where innovation and challenge are welcomed from all colleagues
- deliver to the agreed goals, actively tackling impediments, risks and blockers, and communicating and escalating where necessary
- continually improve the effectiveness, efficiency and cohesion of teams
- develop, guide and coach your delivery manager line reports
- manage stakeholders to ensure strategic alignment and effective communication, taking into account organisational context and different needs and priorities, dealing constructively with conflicting views
- work in partnership with product and technical leads on high profile work in ambiguous, complex and/or uncertain domains
- promote continual improvement, good communication and collaboration across the organisation using the principles of agile at scale
Person specification
We’re interested in people with experience of:
- using agile practices to ensure the iterative and timely delivery of products and services that serve real user needs
- facilitating effective workshops which give a voice to all participants and provide concrete outputs that enable delivery
- leading successful high functioning multidisciplinary delivery teams which are aligned to the organisation’s strategic priorities and the needs of stakeholders
- actively tackling impediments, risks and blockers, and communicating and escalating where necessary
