Lead Planner at Department for Culture, Media and Sport, London, 6 Months, £Contract Rate

We are seeking a highly motivated and collaborative Lead Planner  to support the delivery of the Bedford Visitor Attraction Programme. This is the cross-government programme that supports the new Universal United Kingdom Resort in Bedfordshire, delivers upgraded transport infrastructure to provide resilience and improved regional connectivity, and maximises the wider benefits of the investment for the UK.

The postholder will be responsible for developing, maintaining and continuously improving an integrated project delivery schedule and Integrated Delivery Plan (IDP), bringing together plans from multiple teams, delivery partners and external stakeholders into a single coherent programme view.

Working closely with programme managers, policy leads, delivery partners, local authorities, government departments and suppliers, the role will provide essential planning expertise to support effective decision-making, identify delivery risks and dependencies, and ensure the programme remains on track to deliver its strategic objectives.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working within ambiguity, influencing stakeholders without direct authority, and translating complex information into clear, actionable plans.

As a Lead Planner, your main responsibilities will be:

• Develop and maintain a detailed Integrated Delivery Plan covering all major workstreams, milestones, dependencies and critical paths.
• Build strong working relationships with internal teams, other government departments, delivery partners and external stakeholders and work collaboratively to identify interfaces, dependencies and sequencing requirements.
• Support delivery partners to identify and manage cross-programme dependencies,and develop and maintain plans that integrate effectively into the wider programme schedule.
• Provide effective challenge to ensure delivery partner plans are realistic, robust and achievable.
• Monitor progress against agreed milestones and delivery commitments, identifying schedule risks, emerging issues and slippages, and proposing mitigation actions where appropriate.

Essential:

• Strong understanding of schedule management, dependencies, milestones and critical path analysis
• Ability to collaborate effectively across organisational boundaries while constructively challenging stakeholders to drive accountability and delivery.
• Excellent communication skills with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage large volumes of information effectively.

Desirable:

• Proven ability to build and maintain effective working relationships across organisational boundaries, including with government departments, local authorities, and private sector organisations, while adapting to different cultures, priorities, and ways of working.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident 

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, DCMS  guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply.

DE&I Commitment

DCMS guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Covenant

DCMS meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates / military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different.