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The Governance and Reporting Specialist manages and controls governance activities to support effective project management and decision-making. They ensure timely, consistent, and accurate data collection, analysis, and reporting on project progress and delivery confidence.
| Responsibility | Detail |
|---|---|
| Business case | Serves as part of the senior management team that signs off the business case before it goes to the investment board. Support the SRO/project manager in presenting the business case to investment boards. Act as a critical friend during business case drafting. Develops guidelines and masterclasses on preparing business cases. |
| Stakeholder management | Collaborates with stakeholders to establish the governance and reporting structure and ensure key stakeholders are integrated into the governance framework. Continuously reviews the governance structure, involving different stakeholders as the project progresses. Delivers masterclasses on governance best practices to the broader project community. |
| Establish governance and reporting landscape | Ensures adherence to project governance for all decision-making and challenges any deviations. Regularly reviews and maintains the governance and reporting structure to align with the project lifecycle. Conducts governance audits. Works with senior stakeholders to ensure decisions are understood and owned, both within and outside the project. |
| Risk and issue management | Integrates risks and issues into the governance cycle, ensuring boards allocate sufficient time to consider them. |
| Change control | Designs the change control process, agreeing on tolerance and escalation points. Oversees compliance with the change request process and escalates any non-compliance. |
| Knowledge and information management | Develops knowledge and information processes that conform to the organisation's standards and suit the project's size and type. QA and ensures the project/business adheres to these processes. Shares lessons learned within the project and with the wider community. |
| Digital and data | Data steward for the project responsible for data quality. Collects and shares data in line with data standards. Uses digital tools to analyse and validate data to report on project progress and delivery confidence. Uses data insights to inform governance decisions and data visualisation tools to present insights at project boards. |
Suitable for individuals with in-depth knowledge of project governance, experience in setting up boards for various projects and programmes, and work with portfolios and external agencies such as IPA reporting.
Suitable for individuals with experience in setting up boards, drafting terms of reference, designing reporting and dashboard processes, and serving as a board secretariat. Must have a good understanding of project management language and best practices.
None: No knowledge and no experience.
Awareness: Basic knowledge and limited or no experience. You understand how it can be applied. You can describe the benefits and importance. You may have applied it in a low complexity project under supervision or assisted others in delivering it.
Working: Working knowledge and practical experience. You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Practitioner: Detailed knowledge and significant experience. You have a deep understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in medium and/or highly complex projects. You advise and may supervise others in the delivery of this competence. You can adapt your approach to meet the requirements of the project.
Expert: Expert knowledge and experience. You are considered an expert within government and in the wider profession. You have applied this competence in multiple complex projects. You have been responsible for developing unique variations to suit specific situations. You champion capability development in this area.
| Competency area | Level |
|---|---|
Risk and issue management
The ability to systematically identify and monitor risks and issues, planning how to mitigate or respond to those risks and issues and implementing the responses.
|
Working |
Governance
The ability to clearly define roles, responsibilities and accountabilities and establish controls and approval routes appropriate to each stage of the work to monitor progress and compliance.
|
Expert |
Frameworks and methodologies
The ability to identify and amend appropriate frameworks and methodologies to enable a consistent and efficient approach to delivery at all stages of the lifecycle.
|
Practitioner |
Stakeholder engagement
The ability to systematically identify, analyse and communicate with stakeholders, using appropriate channels, to ensure all those impacted by the change are engaged, taking account of their levels of influence and particular interests.
|
Working |
Assurance
The ability to establish, plan and manage reviews at appropriate points through the life cycle to provide confidence that the work can be delivered to the agreed outcomes and benefits within time, cost, quality, and other constraints.
|
Practitioner |
Change control
The ability to establish protocols to manage and document all requests for changes to scope, timescales, costs, benefits or other approved baselines for the work. This includes the capture, evaluation and approval or rejection of change requests.
|
Working |
Knowledge management
The ability to identify, share and promote best practices and lessons learned to create a culture of learning and good practice that supports continuous improvement to optimise project delivery.
|
Working |
Digital and data
The ability to effectively leverage digital tools and data analytics for better project delivery outcomes. Combining an understanding of digital technologies with the ability to manage, interpret and utilise data to make informed decisions, improve efficiency and achieve outcomes and benefits.
|
Practitioner |
Sustainability
The ability to incorporate environmental and social considerations into the strategic objectives of the work and to effectively identify, assess and manage these throughout the lifecycle, seeking to maximise benefits and mitigate negative impacts.
|
Working |
None: No knowledge and no experience.
Awareness: Basic knowledge and limited or no experience. You understand how it can be applied. You can describe the benefits and importance. You may have applied it in a low complexity project under supervision or assisted others in delivering it.
Working: Working knowledge and practical experience. You have a good understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in low complexity projects and/or under supervision in more complex projects.
Practitioner: Detailed knowledge and significant experience. You have a deep understanding of this competence. You have applied this independently in medium and/or highly complex projects. You advise and may supervise others in the delivery of this competence. You can adapt your approach to meet the requirements of the project.
Expert: Expert knowledge and experience. You are considered an expert within government and in the wider profession. You have applied this competence in multiple complex projects. You have been responsible for developing unique variations to suit specific situations. You champion capability development in this area.
| Competency area | Level |
|---|---|
Visible leadership
The ability to engage, motivate and coach others. To act as a role model and inspire and empower others. Aligned to the leadership Civil Service behaviour.
|
Working |
Credible action
The ability to promote the wider public good in all actions and to act in a morally, legally and socially appropriate manner at all times. Challenges unacceptable behaviour. Aligned to the leadership Civil Service behaviour.
|
Practitioner |
Working with ambiguity
The ability to work in an environment of uncertainty and continual change. Able to feel comfortable making decisions and setting direction without having the full picture and re-focus as details emerge. Can apply knowledge and techniques to reduce ambiguity. Aligned to the making effective decisions Civil Service behaviour.
|
Practitioner |
Collaboration
The ability to establish and develop productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, bringing people together to benefit the project. Aligned to the working together Civil Service behaviour.
|
Practitioner |
Influencing
The ability to influence, change and impact decisions with both internal and external stakeholders. Aligned to the communicating and influencing Civil Service behaviour.
|
Practitioner |
Conflict resolution
The ability to recognise, anticipate and effectively deal with existing or potential conflicts at an individual, team or strategic level. Aligned to the working together and leadership Civil Service behaviours.
|
Practitioner |
Inspiring others
The ability to create and present a compelling vision and set clear direction, that motivates others to work towards a common goal. Aligned to the leadership Civil Service behaviour.
|
Working |
Resilience
The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and adverse situations whilst remaining calm, reassuring others and maintaining performance. Aligned to the delivering at pace Civil Service behaviour.
|
Practitioner |
Innovation
The ability to think of, research and apply new ideas and ways of doing things. Encourages and supports innovations from others, is willing to experiment and follow ideas through to implementation. Aligned to the changing and improving Civil Service behaviour.
|
Practitioner |
Culture change
The ability to plan, lead and effect positive cultural change, securing commitment and buy-in, and promoting a positive long term vision. Recognises when broader culture change is necessary to deliver a project. Aligned to the seeing the big picture, and changing and improving Civil Service behaviours.
|
Working |
This role profile is for a governance and reporting manager at Grade 6. It could also be advertised as head of governance and reporting.
Hiring managers should refer to the standardised job titles framework for guidance on which titles to use for recruitment.