JOB SUMMARY

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy.
Our broad remit means we play a major role in people’s day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink. In terms of programme and project delivery, Defra has one of the largest and most complicated portfolios in Government.
Defra have a number of Higher Executive Officer (HEO) Project Support Officer vacancies across various directorates. We are holding drop-in sessions to give candidates the opportunity to speak to Project Delivery Professionals from Defra to find out more about the work we do. Please note that if you join a session using your personal Microsoft Teams account, your name and email address may be visible to other attendees. To maintain privacy, we recommend signing out of your account and joining the session as a guest.
Wednesday 27th August 10:30 - 11:00
Wednesday 03rd September 14:00 - 14:30

JOB DESCRIPTION

The role of the Project Support Officer covers a diverse range of activities to support the delivery of the project’s objectives, which will typically be moderate in complexity. You will enable the smooth running of the project by supporting it through the operation of project management processes, and the co-ordination of business management actions and activities.
These roles are aligned to the Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF). Further information on the PDCF can be found Here

As a Project Support Officer in Defra, your responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Implement and maintain systems to enable effective planning and scheduling.
• Implement and maintain project controls.
• Produce project status reports, performance data & research new information.
• Manage and monitor compliance of the project in line with Defra guidelines and legislation, including Health & Safety, Equality & Diversity, Security.
• Support the Project Manager with workforce planning.
• Manage the procurement of project supplies and services within Delegated Financial Authority limits.
• Build and maintain strong professional relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Draft and sign off correspondence.
• Act as point of contact for project responses to requests for information and signpost accordingly.
• Monitor the project spend, compile budgets, and support the development of business cases.
• Maintain the project asset register.
• Maintain the project risk and issues log, working with risk managers to resolve issues and escalating where appropriate.
• Be an active member of the Defra Project Delivery Profession Community.

While there are currently 5 roles available for this vacancy, we aim to establish a reserve list of successful candidates. Those placed on the reserve list will remain eligible for appointment for up to 12 months. Offers of employment will be made in merit order as vacancies arise across relevant business areas

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Your personal qualities will be as important as your professional experience; and we welcome applications from all backgrounds. If you believe you have the skills and qualities we are looking for, then we would like to hear from you. The Defra group is dedicated to having a diverse workforce which represents people in our communities and an inclusive culture where everyone feels they can be their authentic self at work, belong in the organisation and can speak up to challenge. We want everyone to be able to contribute to the success of our organisation, regardless of your background.
For this post you will be assessed on the areas set out below.

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

As a Project Support Officer in Defra, your responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Implement and maintain systems to enable effective planning and scheduling.
• Implement and maintain project controls.
• Produce project status reports, performance data & research new information.
• Manage and monitor compliance of the project in line with Defra guidelines and legislation, including Health & Safety, Equality & Diversity, Security.
• Support the Project Manager with workforce planning.
• Manage the procurement of project supplies and services within Delegated Financial Authority limits.
• Build and maintain strong professional relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Draft and sign off correspondence.
• Act as point of contact for project responses to requests for information and signpost accordingly.
• Monitor the project spend, compile budgets, and support the development of business cases.
• Maintain the project asset register.
• Maintain the project risk and issues log, working with risk managers to resolve issues and escalating where appropriate.
• Be an active member of the Defra Project Delivery Profession Community