Air - Portfolio Support Officer

UK Ministry of Defence; Hughenden Valley; On-site; GBP 29,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

The UK Ministry of Defence seeks a Portfolio Support Officer to enhance the Royal Air Force's Project Delivery community. This role requires excellent communication and organizational skills, focusing on stakeholder management and project delivery support. Candidates will play a critical role in fostering effective project practices and continuous development within the Air Programme Delivery Office.

Benefits

Joint learning and development opportunities.

Flexible working options.

Civil Service pension with employer contribution.

25 days annual leave with public holidays.

Enhanced parental leave.

Onsite amenities like gym and café.

Qualifications

• Experience in project delivery environments is desirable.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks effectively.

Responsibilities

• Overseeing task coordination within the Air Project Delivery community.
• Supporting stakeholders with training and knowledge sharing.

Skills

Communication

Time Management

Problem Solving

Stakeholder Management

Education

Experience with Microsoft Office 365 and Teams

Job description

High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP14 4UE

Job Summary

Do you want to support the Royal Air Force (RAF) – the air and space force of the Ministry of Defence? The RAF’s success depends on their people – the Whole Force – regular and reservist military, civil servants, and contractors, all working as one, working together seamlessly. Civil servants are a central part of this Whole Force, undertaking essential work and contributing to the RAF’s mission and values. The role of civil servants in Defence is more vital than ever – now and for the future.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dedicated individual, with excellent communication and time management skills, to join a fast-paced team that plays a vital role within the Air Programme Delivery Office (PDO), based at Headquarters Air Command. The Air PDO is responsible for the delivery of various portfolio delivery functions needed to enable, cohere, and understand Air Command’s change programmes individually and collectively as a portfolio. It is also responsible for delivering the supporting functions necessary for these change programmes to be delivered successfully.

Working in a dynamic environment, the Portfolio Support Officer sits within the Project Management Centre of Excellence (CofE) team. The CofE is responsible for the administration and implementation of Air project delivery standards in-line with Defence direction and guidance, alongside defining best practice and supporting project professionals across Air to deliver successful programmes. The Portfolio Support Officer is integral to the team’s function, supporting the professionalisation of Air’s Project Delivery community and implementing mechanisms to regularly inform the community of relevant news and guidance within the profession.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job Description

On a day-to-day basis the Portfolio Support Officer will work in a busy environment, collaborating with stakeholders and sharing information to support the development of Air’s Project Delivery community.

The successful candidate will undertake a variety of tasks, including, but not limited to:

• Providing support and guidance on PD learning & development opportunities available to assist with the professionalisation across the Air PD Community.
• Effectively manage key stakeholders both internally and externally, providing key information and sharing knowledge across the Air PD community through a range of formats.
• Lead on co-ordinating regular Air PD Communities of Interest to provide learning and knowledge on thought provoking and stimulating PD topics to the Air PD community.
• Lead on the coordination and support to the CoE and assist with collating the knowledge of Learning from Experience across Air Programmes.
• Monitor and control the Air competency management tool ensuring PD professionals across Air hold an account and support the completion of individuals self-assessments.
• Management of the creation and upkeep of competency management and online training tool accounts.
  
  

View more about Civil Service careers at the Ministry of Defence: Ministry of Defence Careers - Our roles are anything but uniform (Youtube)

On a day-to-day basis the Portfolio Support Officer will work in a busy environment, collaborating with stakeholders and sharing information to support the development of Air’s Project Delivery community.

The successful candidate will undertake a variety of tasks, including, but not limited to:

• Providing support and guidance on PD learning & development opportunities available to assist with the professionalisation across the Air PD Community.
• Effectively manage key stakeholders both internally and externally, providing key information and sharing knowledge across the Air PD community through a range of formats.
• Lead on co-ordinating regular Air PD Communities of Interest to provide learning and knowledge on thought provoking and stimulating PD topics to the Air PD community.
• Lead on the coordination and support to the CoE and assist with collating the knowledge of Learning from Experience across Air Programmes.
• Monitor and control the Air competency management tool ensuring PD professionals across Air hold an account and support the completion of individuals self-assessments.
• Management of the creation and upkeep of competency management and online training tool accounts.
  
  

View more about Civil Service careers at the Ministry of Defence: Ministry of Defence Careers - Our roles are anything but uniform (Youtube)

Person specification

A key role within the business area, the successful candidate will have strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders. They will have the confidence to provide reasonable challenge where required, identifying tasks and processes which are deficient and using their problem-solving skills to propose improvements.

This role is suited to someone who has excellent organisational and decision-making skills, adopting an agile approach to prioritise workload independently and effectively manage multiple tasks for effective delivery. They will be able to work well with others, as well as being able to use their own initiative to work independently with autonomy.

Essential Criteria

• Experience of using Microsoft Office 365 and Teams.
  
  

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details).

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving
• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions
  
  

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing
  
  

Alongside your salary of £29,580, Ministry of Defence contributes £8,569 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role, including access to Project Delivery Apprenticeships.
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years service.
• In addition to 8 public holidays per year.
• Enhanced parental and adoption leave.
• An opportunity to be considered for Reward and Recognition - £250-£5000 per year.
• Onsite Gym/Parking/Café
  
  

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD 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 https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected.

At Sift you will be assessed against the following Behaviours:

• Communicating and Influencing.
  
  

When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected.

At Interview you will be assessed against the following Behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions.
• Working Together.
• Changing and Improving.
  
  

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: [e-mail] .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) 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) (opens in a new window)
• 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 (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).

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.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).

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. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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 : Chloe Young
• Email : [e-mail]
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : [e-mail]
  
  

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: [e-mail].