Governance Manager

National Physical Laboratory (NPL); Teddington; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the Time & Frequency department is seeking a Governance Manager. As a senior member of the PMO, you will design, integrate and continuously improve the programme's governance, assurance and reporting arrangements.

You will be responsible for ensuring transparent, evidence-based decision-making and robust governance for the National Timing Centre programme, with senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Experience of governance and assurance on complex, high-value programmes.
• Ability to provide data-driven assessments to senior decision-makers.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and continuous improvement of governance, assurance and reporting frameworks.
• Provide independent strategic analysis on delivery confidence, risk exposure and mitigations.
• Oversee governance and performance reporting to align with GMPP standards and external needs.
• Ensure honest, data-driven assessments of programme performance are communicated clearly.
• Establish and maintain programme boards, terms of reference and escalation routes.
• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders to support decision-making.
• Champion delivery best practice and drive PMO-wide continuous improvement.
• Collaborate across organisational boundaries to keep controls integrated.

Skills

Governance

Assurance

Reporting

PMO

Stakeholder mgmt

Job description

Our world-leading Time & Frequency department is seeking a Governance Manager. As a senior member of the PMO, you will own the design, integration and continuous improvement of the programme's governance, assurance and reporting arrangements.

About the Role

Our world-leading Time & Frequency department is seeking a Governance Manager. As a senior member of the PMO, you will own the design, integration and continuous improvement of the programme's governance, assurance and reporting arrangements.

This is an exceptional opportunity to join the global authority in precision timing at a defining moment for UK digital infrastructure.

Backed by a government investment of £180 million in the National Timing Centre (NTC) programme, we are developing a world-first resilient time distribution capability that will provide industry with a robust complement to satellite systems (such as GPS) – which are increasingly vulnerable to disruption from solar storms, jamming and spoofing. This will underpin essential services, including:

• Telecommunications,
• Online banking,
• Emergency response,
• Transport networks, and
• Wider digital and data-driven operations.

Together, these services form the backbone of modern society - and your leadership will help ensure they remain secure, reliable and robust even if global navigation satellite systems fail.

As our Governance Manager, you will ensure that decision-making across the National Timing Centre Delivery Programme is well informed, well evidenced and properly controlled, and that our governance and reporting are robust, aligned to GMPP standards, and meet the expectations of external stakeholders.

This is a role where independent, data-driven judgement matters. You will provide honest, evidence-based assessments of programme performance to senior decision-makers, take a strategic view across the programme to spot cross-cutting issues early, and act as a trusted, challenging voice in the room when it counts. You will also play a role in developing governance and controls capability across the wider PMO community.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leading the design, implementation and continuous improvement of the programme's governance, assurance and reporting frameworks
• Providing independent, strategic analysis and advice on delivery confidence, risk exposure and mitigations to senior decision-makers
• Overseeing governance and performance reporting to ensure it aligns with GMPP standards and external stakeholder requirements
• Ensuring honest, data-driven assessments of programme performance are consistently applied and clearly communicated
• Establishing and maintaining programme boards, terms of reference and escalation routes appropriate to programme complexity
• Building strong, trusted relationships with senior stakeholders inside and outside NPL to support effective decision-making and transparent reporting
• Championing delivery best practice and driving a culture of continuous improvement across the PMO
• Collaborating across organisational and functional boundaries (e.g. finance, commercial, risk, technical) to keep programme controls integrated and effective

Note, this role is known internally as ‘Senior Programme Controller’.

About You

To be successful in this role, you will have the following skills, experience, and qualifications:

Essential:

• Experience of governance and assurance on complex, high-value programmes, ideally within the Government Major Projects Portfolio.
• You combine strong technical grounding with the strategic awareness and judgement to influence senior decision-makers,
• You're comfortable communicating complex information clearly and challenging constructively when it matters.

We actively recruit citizens of all backgrounds, but the nature of our work in specific departments means that nationality, residency and security requirements can be more tightly defined than others. You will be asked about this throughout the recruitment process. To work at NPL, you will need to obtain BPSS security clearance.

However, to work in this role in the Time and Frequency department, you will need to have an SC clearance with no restrictions, or you must have the ability to obtain an SC clearance.

About Us

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a world-leading centre of excellence that provides cutting-edge measurement science, engineering and technology to underpin prosperity and quality of life in the UK. Find out more about what it is like working here - The measure of us - Overview

NPL and DSIT have strong commitments to diversity and equality of opportunity, and welcome applications from candidates irrespective of their background, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or age, providing they meet the required criteria. Applications from women, disabled and black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates in particular are encouraged. All disabled candidates (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) who satisfy the minimum criteria for the role will be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme.

At NPL, we believe our success is a result of the diversity and talent of our people. We strive to nurture and respect individuals to ensure everyone feels valued by treating everyone on the basis of their own individual merits and abilities regardless of their own or perceived identity, as part of our commitment to diversity & inclusion, we ensure we’re creating an environment where all our colleagues feel supported and welcome. More about this on our Diversity & Inclusion page.

We are committed to the health and well-being of our employees. Flexible working and social activities are embedded in our culture to create a positive work-life balance, along with a broad range of rewards, benefits and recognition. Our values are at the heart of what we do, and they shape the way we interact, develop our people and celebrate success. To ensure everyone has an equal chance, we’re always willing to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.