Overview

Programme/Project Manager – London

Closing Date:

11/11/2024

Group:

Strategy and Research Group

Management Level:

Senior Associate

Job Type:

Permanent

Job Description:

Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Monday 11 November, and therefore we advise getting your application in no later than midnight on Sunday 10 November.

How to Apply

Please submit your CV, and a covering letter of no more than 2 pages in length outlining how you meet the essential criteria listed below. You should place these in one document and upload it at the point where you are asked for your CV.

About Ofcom

As the UK’s communications regulator, we’re delivering vital work that helps keep the UK connected and shapes the future of how we’ll stay connected with each other.

Our work covers everything from phones and broadband, through to TV, radio, the postal service, and wireless devices. We’re also taking on the challenge of making the online world a safer place. And we need people of all backgrounds, skill sets, and experiences to help us achieve our goal of making communications work for everyone.

About the Team you'll be part of

The Market Research team’s role in the Research & Intelligence team, part of Strategy and Research Group, is to help ensure the decisions that Ofcom makes are based on evidence about consumer, citizen and audience behaviour. We do this by working with external, independent market research agencies, who conduct research on our behalf to provide the evidence we need to monitor outcomes in the communications market and to address policy questions.

Colleagues in our team work closely with other teams across Ofcom, often as part of multi-disciplinary project teams that draw expertise from across Ofcom’s departments.  There are c.50 colleagues within the market research team, and we have an annual budget of approximately £9 million, which we primarily use to commission market research agencies to conduct projects on our behalf.

Purpose and scope of the Role

This is a new role within the Market Research Team, necessitated by our growing remit, size and budget. The role will be pivotal in helping the team to deliver its portfolio of work effectively and efficiently. You will work closely with the market research management team to co-ordinate, oversee and support its work by monitoring the progress of our projects and programmes of work, ensuring our projects are effectively resourced and helping to shape how we work so that the team delivers world-class evidence and insight for Ofcom.

This role will involve working directly with the Director of Market Research to help run the team efficiently. The role has a particular focus on budgeting, business and resource planning, while also assisting with group management.

Key relationships will include the market research management team (made up of 1 Director of Market Research and 9 Principals), the PA to the Director of Market Research, and the Team Administration Assistant (who has responsibility for finance admin). 

Your key responsibilities

  • Oversight of the portfolio of the Market Research team’s programme of work and ensuring that this is kept up-to-date and communicated effectively.

  • Leading, coordinating and supporting the Market Research management team on activities including: resource planning, forecasting and monitoring, business planning, reporting and analysis, budgeting and forecasting.

  • Resource management – Maintaining a current view of resource availability, liaising with Project Directors and managers to develop recommendations for how to deploy resource across Hubs.

  • Budgeting and forecasting – Leading and supporting our management team’s engagement with finance and co-ordinating input into budgeting and forecasting exercises.

  • Business planning – Co-ordinating and supporting the management team in business planning, reporting and colleague engagement activities.

  • Liaising with Project Managers and Project Directors to gather the information required to keep Ofcom’s resource planning & budgeting tools up to date, including PPMA and Workday systems.

  • Analysis of timesheet data to monitor the extent to which time forecasts are consistent with actual time spent.

  • With the support and guidance of the management team, it is anticipated that the postholder will spend the first 6-12 months setting up, documenting, communicating and encouraging compliance processes to ensure that our resource and finance planning information is complete and of high quality. Once these processes have been set-up, regular reviews, with a view to continuous enhancement and improvement should be conducted. 

  • The role will provide opportunities to develop and potentially take on new responsibilities in the future. Once business planning processes have been set up and are established, we anticipate that there will be opportunities for the postholder to make a broader contribution to the efficient management of the market research team, which may, for example involve procurement processes, data protection compliance, overseeing and managing training programmes, data quality assurance processes, event management.

  • This is a varied and dynamic role which will evolve over time to adapt to emerging needs, allowing you to gain a broad range of opportunities and skills.

The skills, knowledge and experience you will need for success

  • Programme Management: Experience and skills managing large programmes of work using appropriate systems, willing to engage with training as required.

  • Budgeting and forecasting: Comfort working with numbers, effectively contributing to budgeting and forecasting exercises.

  • Sensitive Information: Experience of working in an environment where there is a need to handle sensitive information.

  • Forming relationships: Confident at building and managing constructive working relationships with busy, senior leaders and able to persuade, influence and hold to account different people.

  • Executing plans: Strong organisational, planning and project management skills. Ability to think clearly about business challenges, deadlines and opportunities, identifying the bigger picture and prioritising effectively.

  • Articulating Ideas: Excellent oral and written communication skills, adept at explaining complex information clearly and concisely, able to communicate effectively to different levels of seniority

  • Embracing change: Experience delivering results in fast-paced environments and adjusting approaches to meet changing needs and situations. Proactive in identifying and addressing issues, offering new ideas and implementing improvements to processes and how the team works.

  • Harmonising work:  Work effectively with others, creating an honest team environment and share valuable information and resources.

  • Qualifications: No specific qualifications are required for this role; however a relevant professional qualification may be advantageous (e.g. PRINCE2, MSP, APM qualification etc).

Ofcom has a clear mission: to make communications work for everyone.  To be able to deliver on this, we want our organisation to reflect the diversity of background, experience, upbringing and thought that exists across the UK.  We aim to recruit from the widest pool of candidates possible – no matter your social background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or disability. 

Where positions are listed as full-time, we remain open to reduced hours, part-time arrangements, job shares, and other flexible working options. From day one, we champion flexible work arrangements to accommodate individual needs.

We also warmly welcome applicants who are returning to the workforce after a break – for whatever reason. If you have taken time away and are ready to rejoin, we look forward to reviewing your application.

Our recruitment processes prioritise accessibility and inclusivity. If you need information in an alternative format or have specific preferences, please contact our recruitment team at resourcing@ofcom.org.uk or call 0330 912 1378.

As a Disability Confident employer, we offer interviews to disabled applicants who meet essential criteria for advertised roles. Learn more about this scheme here.  https://careers.ofcom.org.uk/careers/how-we-hire/

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