Lead Project Manager

Food Standards Agency

On behalf of Food Standards Agency, we are looking for a Project Delivery Lead (Inside IR35) for a 12 Week contract based REMOTELY.

As a Project Delivery Lead, your main responsibilities will be:

• Lead and coordinate the delivery of market authorisation services across multiple regulated product regimes, ensuring applications progress efficiently through the different stages of the service, ensuring key delivery milestones are achieved.
• Develop and maintain integrated delivery plans, tracking progress, dependencies, risks and issues across workstreams to ensure delivery commitments are met.
• Provide effective project management and governance oversight, working with the Service Delivery and Performance and Reporting Team Leaders to produce high-quality reporting and management information to support decision-making by senior leaders and governance boards.
• Identify, assess and proactively manage delivery risks, issues and resource pressures, escalating where appropriate and driving mitigations to protect service performance.
• Coordinate activity across multidisciplinary teams, ensuring effective prioritisation, clear accountabilities and timely delivery of outputs.
• Drive continuous improvement in service delivery and project management practices, implementing tools, processes and reporting that improve efficiency, transparency and performance.
• Lead planning activities for future delivery, including the design and mobilisation of delivery plans for 2027, ensuring resources, dependencies and risks are understood and managed.
• Support the development of performance metrics and service insights, using data and evidence to identify trends, inform decisions and drive operational improvement.
• Ensure stakeholders are kept informed through clear, timely and professional communication, building confidence in the delivery of market authorisation services.

Essential:

• Programme and Project Management professional qualification/ licence/ certifications.
• Demonstrable knowledge and application of programme and project management methodologies, tools and techniques to plan, coordinate and deliver complex work programmes, managing dependencies, milestones, risks and resources effectively.
• Experience of leading complex, high-profile programmes, projects or services, delivering results in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively across organisational boundaries and build consensus amongst diverse interests.
• Experience of leading governance, risk and performance management activities, providing clear insight and assurance to senior decision-makers.
• Proven ability to drive continuous improvement, challenge existing ways of working and lead delivery of change that improves outcomes and organisational effectiveness.

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

Disability Confident 

As a Disability Confident employer, FSA encourage applications from disabled and neurodivergent candidates. Applications from candidates who identify as having a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be prioritised for review. Where application volumes are high, additional role-specific and desirable criteria may be applied as part of the shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

DE&I Commitment

FSA 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 

As a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, FSA welcome applications from veterans, service leavers, reservists and military spouses or partners. Applications from eligible candidates who meet the essential criteria for the role will be prioritised for review. Where application volumes are high, additional role-specific and desirable criteria may be applied as part of the 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".