Deputy Director – Housing, Digital & Environmental Infrastructure

Salary: £105,000 per year

IPA Deputy Director for Housing, Digital and Environmental Infrastructure

The IPA provides expert project delivery advice, support and assurance to government departments and works with industry to ensure projects are delivered efficiently and effectively, and to improve performance over time.

We work on the overall project delivery system, which includes the people that deliver projects, the principles that are fundamental to the success of any project, and the overall performance of government’s major projects, particularly those on the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

Principles: successful projects rigorously apply fundamental principles and get the basics right for every project, regardless of size, even when there is pressure to take shortcuts. The IPA has published the key ‘Principles for project success’.

People: successful projects have people with the tools and capability they need to deliver. We need to build strong, flexible, professional and capable teams.

Performance: successful projects understand how they deliver against promises is crucial. This is the ultimate core of what project delivery is all about – delivering something for the time, cost and outcome that we set out at the start.

The Role.

The IPA Deputy Director for Housing, Digital and Environmental Infrastructure is a pivotal delivery role in the IPA with responsibility for the most ambitious and unique portfolio of projects that support the net zero agenda; with many of their projects involving new or emerging technology that will need to be deployed at scale.

Over the past year the responsibility and importance of this role has continued to grow with the GMPP reset and the subsequent acceleration of net zero targets. Acting as a major representative for the IPA, you will provide departments significant project delivery support in order to help them transition from policy-based departments to major delivery forces.

We are looking for passionate individuals who build excellent teams and deliver the strategies and initiatives for the future of Infrastructure and Programme delivery.

As the Deputy Director for Housing, Digital and Environmental Infrastructure, your duty will be to coordinate project delivery, commercial and financial advice through matrix working to ensure senior responsible owners in other departments leads can deliver the Government’s major priorities. Utilising departmental and sector specific expertise, you will be the ‘front door’ for all IPA activity for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Responsibilities include:

* Build a high-performing team to work across the whole of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to serve Ministers, departments and external stakeholders

* Build key relationships with Ministers and stakeholders in the centre of Government to advise and influence key decisions at critical stages.

* Lead on change and development of Government Projects through the use of strategic initiatives, key advice, and leadership.

Over the past year the responsibility and importance of this role has continued to grow with the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) reset and the subsequent acceleration of net zero targets. All major projects on GMPP are listed as “Tier A” in the IPA, indicating IPA-led Data Tracking, Independent Assurance, and Active Support, and include:

* Bridgewater Barrier

* Future Farming and Countryside Programme

* Leeds Phase 2 Flood Scheme

* Nature for Climate Fund

* Science Capability in Animal Health Programme

* Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

* Local Full Fibre Networks

* Grenfell Site and Programme

* Housing Infrastructure Fund

* Building Safety Programme

* 700 MHz Clearance Programme

* UK Gigabit Programme

The post holder will be a key leadership member of the Project Delivery Team in the IPA, and accountable for providing passionate leadership to the business unit to help shape an inclusive and engaging culture, promote real outcomes, and deliver objectives.