Risk Manager

National Physical Laboratory (NPL); Teddington; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

National Physical Laboratory (NPL) seeks a Risk Manager for its Time & Frequency department. You will own the programme's risk approach, ensure risks are identified early, understood clearly, and managed with urgency.

Work closely with workstream leads and governance to embed mitigations in reporting and decision-making. You will coordinate risk identification workshops, prioritise issues, and ensure consistent risk practices across the programme.

Qualifications

• Experience of managing risk on complex projects or programmes, ideally in government or major infrastructure.
• Ability to facilitate risk workshops and challenge owners constructively.
• Ability to turn a messy risk register into a clear, prioritised picture.
• Clear communication with delivery teams and senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the programme risk and issue register with evidence and ownership.
• Facilitate risk identification and review workshops across the programme.
• Assess and prioritise risks, challenge proposed mitigations and owners.
• Produce risk reporting for boards and senior stakeholders with clear exposure views.
• Track mitigation actions and escalate when progress stalls or exposure increases.
• Advise leads on risk management best practice and standardised approach.
• Ensure risk is integrated into governance and reporting cycles.
• Support audits and external scrutiny of the programme.

Skills

Risk management

Governance reporting

Workshop facilitation

Stakeholder communication

Job description

Our world-leading Time & Frequency department is seeking a Risk Manager with proven expertise of managing risk on complex projects or programmes, ideally within a government or major infrastructure setting.

About the Role

Our world-leading Time & Frequency department is seeking a Risk Manager with proven expertise of managing risk on complex projects or programmes, ideally within a government or major infrastructure setting.

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,
• 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 Risk Manager, you will own the programme's approach to risk, ensuring risks and issues are identified early, understood clearly, and managed with the right level of urgency. You will work closely with workstream leads and the Governance Lead to make sure risk is properly reflected in reporting and decision-making, and that mitigations are owned, tracked and followed through rather than left to sit on a log.

Key Responsibilities

• Owning and maintaining the programme risk and issue register, ensuring entries are current, well-evidenced and properly owned
• Facilitating risk identification and review workshops with workstream leads and the wider programme team
• Assessing and prioritising risks and issues, and challenging owners on the adequacy of proposed mitigations
• Producing risk reporting for programme boards and senior stakeholders, translating detail into a clear picture of exposure
• Tracking mitigation actions to completion, escalating where progress stalls or exposure increases
• Advising workstream leads on risk management best practice and embedding a consistent approach across the programme
• Working with the Governance Lead to ensure risk is properly integrated into governance and reporting cycles
• Supporting audits, assurance reviews and external scrutiny of the programme's risk position

Please note, this role is known internally as ‘Project Manager’.

About You

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

• experience of managing risk on complex projects or programmes, ideally within a government or major infrastructure setting.
• Ability to facilitate workshops and challenging risk owners constructively.
• Ability to turn a messy risk register into a clear, prioritised picture.
• Can communicate confidently with both delivery teams and senior stakeholders.

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.

Please note: Applications will be reviewed, and interviews conducted throughout the duration of this advert therefore we may at any time bring the closing date forward. We encourage all interested applicants to apply as soon as practical.

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. If you would like to discuss, please contact us.