JOB DESCRIPTION

The role of the Project Planner / Support Officer is to work with stakeholders to ensure all aspects of the project are defined. The planner provides clarity on key milestones to define what,when and how activities will be organised to ensure the outcomes of a project can be achieved, with the resources available. They lead on all aspects of project planning,which will include the development, updating and monitoring of plans and schedules.
They identify tasks, activities, dependencies and outputs for the project and work with the project team to track and monitor progress against the plan throughout the life of the project.
DBS is facing significant change in the coming months and years, which will impact the way it does its business. In doing this role, you will help to deliver the continuity of critical services, within a project environment.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

Project Management qualification (Prince2, APM, Agile)
Desirable Skillsets:
Experience of working as a Project Planner or has held a role within a project team with good knowledge of project planning or working in a PMO or as a project manager or workstream lead of a small project.
Experience in a high-profile analytical role, enabling complex problem solving.
Interpersonal and Relationship Management skills for engaging with personnel of all grades.
Flexible and able to deliver to tight, changing timescales.
Effective written, verbal, and presentational communication skills. Able to communicate in a succinct and clear manner and stand ground when needed.
Proficient in the use of MS Office Products such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PowerBI.
Excellent working knowledge of MS Project.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Project Delivery Capability Framework (Profession - Technical competencies) Levels: 4. Planning 5. Scheduling.

EXPERIENCE:

• Personal Statement - In no more than 1000 words, please provide information of how you meet the criteria set out in the job description. You may wish to further include examples of how you have tackled similar tasks or demonstrated the skills outlines in the job advert.
• CV

EXPERIENCE:

• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

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)
• 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

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

Delivery and Leadership – Lead on planning activity and work with the project to support delivery of the business case benefits and outcomes. Support capability building and the use of best practice in planning and reporting. Provide expert advice for team members and project community.
Project planning – Challenge and test project assumptions to ensure that plans are realistic and achievable. Develop of breakdown structures, quality criteria, product descriptions and monitoring strategy. Support the project manager to identify options to optimise delivery through resource smoothing, resource levelling and rescheduling of activities.
Resources – Manage the planning function and identify, develop and deploy of planning resources. Identify and plan for wider resource requirements for the project.
Stakeholder management – Ensure that stakeholder responsibilities and needs are understood and addressed in reporting arrangements. Develops peer networks across the department.
Project performance and controls – Monitor and analyse information, reporting progress, slippage and highlighting areas of risk and opportunity.
Guidance and support – Provide expert advice on planning processes throughout the life cycle of the project.
To manage and coordinate the slide pack for the Programme Board & Working Group, including the distribution of admin related activities. Ensure Action Log is maintained with accurate updates and present this for review at governance functions.
To maintain the high-level Plan on a Page, alongside the Programme Lead. Extract reports as required by Programme, using Power BI and/or Excel .