Planning, Delivery & Engagement Manager and Deliverability Manager

Working towards sustainable futures. Championing diversity in the workplace. At the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), it's all in a day's work. From HR to Finance, Policy to Communications, this is work that sustains and supports, where everyone's voice is heard, and our customers are at the heart of everything we do. For a career packed with possibility, a comprehensive benefits package, where we live by our values and have the opportunity to improve the lives of people across the country, look no further. Supporting people who need it most. That's our purpose. Start your own career today. The Departmental Planning and Performance division (DPP) is at the forefront of DWP's agenda to improve how we plan and monitor performance across the department to support decision makers including the Permanent Secretary, the Executive Team (ET) and the Secretary of State. The division's role is to develop a single cross-departmental strategic overview and plan to ensure the whole department is working towards the same outcomes and to keep delivery on track. The post holders will join an energetic, vibrant, and collegiate team which plays a vital role in developing, maintaining and communicating a deliverable departmental plan (the Strategic Plan). You will work closely with our performance colleagues who assess how well it is delivered throughout the year. These are challenging and exciting roles in a fast-paced and dynamic environment, working with senior officials in the organisation to strengthen strategic alignment and decision-making. We are a small team and individual accountability for delivering to a high standard is critical. Places for Growth and Social Mobility As part of the Places for Growth Programme, we are committed to delivering a more geographically diverse Civil and Public Service that will better serve the public and ministers. As part of this initiative, we are continuously reviewing how we recruit into each location. These are high profile and stretching roles which will offer the postholder a wide range of developmental opportunities to lead on key elements of the Division's work to set and embed DWP's future vision. Strategic Planning Lead The main responsibilities include:

• Managing the Strategic Plan production cycle including developing the timeline, commissioning contributions, and drafting coherent, evidence-based content to ensure a clear, balanced narrative that reads with a single departmental voice.
• Leading the development and maintenance of Strategic Plan tracking tools ensuring they provide clear oversight of progress, risks and interdependencies, and acting as the primary project management and audit tools for the team.
• Planning and coordinating stakeholder engagement across all relevant groups to ensure timely and effective involvement. This includes proactively managing the clearance process with Directors, Directors General, the Permanent Secretary, SpAds, HMT/CO, junior ministers and SoS to secure alignment and sign
• Leading sections of the Strategic and Delivery Plans, building and maintaining strong relationships with policy and delivery leads, and applying negotiation, influence and constructive challenge to ensure the plan content is accurate, outcome focused, and strategically aligned.
• Supporting continuous improvement of the strategic planning process, ensuring lessons are learned, good practice implemented, and opportunities for streamlining and enhancing strategic decision-making are captured, tracked and embedded through existing processes, governance and improvement mechanisms.
• Coordinating communication and engagement for the Strategic Plan, ensuring timely, consistent and well informed messaging across the department. This includes developing tailored messages, working with Strategic Communications to create high quality communication products, and collaborating with communications leads across the department to maintain coherent priorities and messaging. Preparing key launch materials - including drafting speaking notes for the Permanent Secretary and Director General and developing supporting packs.
• Contributing to and supporting the wider work of DPP, creating tools and products that help manage the work of the division and support the senior leadership team to ensure delivery of our objectives. This could include supporting on cross-team initiatives or championing structured and effective stakeholder management strategies.
You will need to be proactive, a confident communicator, very comfortable working in ambiguity and a keen problem solver who isn't afraid of suggesting possible solutions. Deliverability Manager The main responsibilities include:
• Support the provision of timely deliverability assessments of DWP activities to inform internal and external senior decision-making and Plan changes. These include of the draft Strategic Plan, group or other level plans or proposed new/changed activities arising from fiscal events (e.g. Autumn Budget) and ministerial requests i.e. our responses to the Milburn and Timm's reviews and the devolution White Paper. This will be achieved through targeted and clear commissioning of our Planning and deliverability community following agreed procedures, adapting where appropriate, analysing and synthesizing returns.
• Supporting Planning and Deliverability Leads and Private Offices to complete the budget allocations return and to input into deliverability assessments through supporting the running a Planning and Deliverability Community and other routine and ad hoc engagement.
• Supporting effective cross-DWP strategic planning and the annual production of an affordable and deliverable Strategic Plan. Your focus will be on securing robust deliverability considerations through the Strategic Finance-led design of budget allocations commission, products and quality control of returns. You will also support maturing DWP's planning approach, in particular prioritisation.
• Supporting strategic planning decision-making by DGs, ET, DB and Investment Committee and ministers through the provision of timely, concise advice utilising deliverability assessments. Wherever possible/appropriate this will be in co-ordination with PFER, People Resourcing, Policy and Business Strategy and Risk.
• Contributing to and supporting wider work of the DPP, occasionally providing cover for other leads and working flexibly across team boundaries and identifying synergies with the performance team within DPP.
Hybrid working These roles may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work.