Summary

Historic England have a fantastic job opportunity for a Head of Programmes to join us.

We need you to join us and lead the organisation-wide approaches to programme and project management, providing leadership and setting the strategy for the Programmes team and developing the culture and capabilities of the team. This role will be responsible for driving the implementation of key organisation strategies, alongside supporting the team to directly manage major programmes. 

You ensure a proportionate programme and project management approach is embedded throughout Historic England, prioritising effectively, manage workloads and ensuring that resource is used effectively to drive  success.

Main duties and responsibilities

1)      Lead Programme management approaches throughout Historic England, ensuring proportionate programme and project management disciplines are followed for major programmes of work

2)      Lead and manage the Programme, Business Analysis and Systems and Major Projects and Programme teams

3)      Oversee programme management of all centrally run programmes and projects, using appropriate team members to provide effective and efficient programme leadership

4)      Manage relationships between programme Senior Responsible Owners (often members of the Executive Team) and the programme managers

5)      Ensure the appropriate allocation of team resources according to priorities, particularly between centrally run programmes/projects and those supported by our Business Improvement Group

6)      Take responsibility for ensuring that appropriate risk management, quality control procedures, performance monitoring and spend controls are in place for all programmes and projects across Historic England; recommending corrective measures where necessary

7)      Drive continuous improvement in the organisation using programme and project management approaches, enabling innovative delivery of work across Groups whilst developing and supporting colleagues

8)      Lead the Programmes team to provide a ‘centre of expertise’ on programme and project management, guidance and support on appropriate approaches to programmes and projects managed elsewhere in the organisation

9)      Drive the development and implementation of the Digital Transformation strategy, liaising with Executive Team members on the relative prioritisation of projects and ensuring rigorous governance processes enable delivery of the programme of work

10)  Work collaboratively with Executive Team, Corporate Leadership Team and the Business Improvement Leadership Team to maximise the impact of the Programmes team

11)  Represent Business Improvement Group in the absence of the Director of Corporate Strategy and Business Improvement, including in reporting to the CEO as required

12)  Take a leading role in maintaining effective relationships with selected partners as part of the HE-wide relationship management plan, and be an effective advocate for Historic England and work collaboratively across the organisation to maximise our effectiveness;

 Who we are looking for:

• Experience of managing complex business processes

• Experience of managing a large, high- performing multi-disciplinary team

• Experience of programme or project management

• Strategic thinking skills

• Demonstrable capability in performance management, including distance management

• Maintaining effective relationships across a complex organisation

We are an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusion. If you have a disability or neurodiversity, we would be happy to discuss reasonable adjustments to the job with you. Having just won the Gold Award from MIND, we also recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

We are an inclusive employer and believe that flexible working options are for everyone. We want to make sure our working arrangements don’t prevent anyone from joining us because of their personal circumstances. We also want to provide you with the best balance in your home and work life that we can.

We are open to considering options including job sharing, part-time working, compressed hours working and different working locations, including hybrid working. Please visit our jobs pages or contact us to find out more.

Why work for Historic England

We offer a wide benefits package including a competitive pension scheme starting at 26% contributions, a generous 28 days holiday, corporate discounts, free entry into English Heritage sites across the country and development opportunities to ensure you achieve your goals.

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. Diversity helps us to perform better and attract more people to support our work. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and candidates with disabilities as they are underrepresented within Historic England at this level.

Historic England want all of our candidates to shine in the recruitment process. Please tell us what we can do to make sure you can show us your very best self. You can contact us by email at recruitmentteam@Historicengland.org.uk if you have any recruitment queries. 

Provisional virtual interview dates: w/c 18th December 2023.

HOW TO APPLY:

Please submit one attachment with both your CV and a CV cover letter (CV cover letter to be a maximum of 300 words) and upload this on to the Applied online application.

To ensure a fair and inclusive recruitment process for everyone the use of AI or automated tools is not permitted.

Please click the following link for the full Job Description:

https://historicengland.org.uk/content/job-descriptions-hr/head-of-programmes-jd/