Head of PMO

Head of PMO (G7 equivalent)

6 month initial contract

The Head of PMO provides strategic leadership of the Programme & Project Management Office, ensuring the organisation maintains high-quality governance, planning, reporting, risk management, and assurance in line with the Government Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF). Acting as a senior expert within the Project Delivery Profession, the role ensures the PMO enables effective decisionmaking, strong delivery discipline, and consistent application of standards across projects and programmes.

The Head of PMO will also shape, lead, and mature PMO services, fostering a strong professional community and ensuring alignment with government-wide best practice. Prior experience working in UK Government is essential.

Key Responsibilities

PMO Leadership & Strategy

• Lead the design, development, and continuous improvement of PMO services aligned to PDCF standards and HMRC PMO job family guidance.

• Oversee programme governance frameworks, ensuring clarity, consistency, and alignment with organisational priorities

• Develop and embed best practice PMO methodologies, templates, controls, and processes.

Governance, Planning & Reporting

• Own the endtoend governance cycle, enabling transparent, consistent and evidence-based decisionmaking.

• Oversee integrated planning, milestones, critical path analysis and forecasting across programmes

• Ensure robust portfolio-, programme- and projectlevel reporting, including performance dashboards, status reporting and escalation.

Risk, Issue & Dependency Management

• Oversee risk, issue, assumption and dependency (RAID) standards, ensuring teams follow consistent processes to identify, escalate, and manage threats to delivery.

• Provide expert assurance for senior stakeholders and inform mitigation strategies.

People Leadership & Profession Maturity

• Lead and coach PMO colleagues

• Champion capability development across the PMO community, embedding PDCF competencies and building a supportive professional network

• Promote a diverse, inclusive PMO culture that enables professional growth and consistent standards.

Portfolio Enablement & Assurance

• Ensure highquality assurance activity, including support for Gateway Reviews, IPA expectations, internal reviews and compliance checks.

• Provide expert advice to SROs, Programme Directors, and senior governance boards.

• Lead on quality management across delivery documentation

Stakeholder Engagement & Influence

• Build effective relationships with senior stakeholders, delivery partners, and crossgovernment PMO networks.

• Ensure alignment with corporate strategies (e.g., change portfolios, People & Capability, digital transformation) and work collaboratively across functions.

• Communicate insights, risks, trends, and recommendations clearly and persuasively.

Essential Criteria

• Significant experience leading PMO functions in complex government environments,

• Demonstrable experience linemanaging and professionally developing PMO colleagues in multi-level, matrix environments

• Proven ability to build, lead, and motivate professional communities of practice.

• Ability to design and operate governance frameworks for major programmes

• Experience supporting or leading Gateway Reviews or equivalent assurance activity.

• Expert understanding of RAID processes and experience embedding best practice across multiple delivery functions.

• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders, facilitate decisionmaking, and build credibility at executive level.

• Exceptional communication skills written, verbal and presentational supporting board-level reporting and complex problemsolving

• Prior experience operating in UK Government or an arm’slength body, with understanding of public sector governance, audit, compliance and delivery constraints.

• Professional qualifications such as APM PMQ/PPQ, P3O, MSP, PRINCE2, or equivalent government-recognised accreditation.