Risks and Issues Manager G6

Role summary

The Risk and Issues Manager proactively manages risks and issues in a project or programme by coordinating their consistent identification, documentation, monitoring, and reporting. They support risk or issue owners in identifying and developing suitable mitigation plans and escalate issues to higher management when necessary. Risk Managers may need to gain domain-specific experience, such as in procurement projects, infrastructure, business change, or IT across government.

Typical role responsibilities

Responsibility	Detail
Risk and issue management	Champions improved risk and issue management by developing and implementing strategies, processes, and procedures in line with best practices, departmental policy, and the complexity of the change initiative. Provides strategic-level advice to senior leaders and the corporate centre on risk and issue management. Leads risk and issue management within the sub-organisation or department.
Stakeholder	Provides expert strategic-level advice on project risks and issues to Project/Programme Managers and senior leaders. Develops a regular programme of risk and issue reviews with key stakeholders. Serves as a point of expert knowledge and experience in risk and issue management for the department or sub-organisation. Assists the business in identifying suitable strategies for managing risks and issues.
Identification, analysis, monitoring and reporting of risks and issues	Facilitates the identification, analysis, and monitoring of project risks and issues. Directs the creation and format of periodic and ad-hoc risk and issues reports, including qualitative and quantitative analysis, as required by governance bodies. Liaises with departmental reporting bodies. Establishes and maintains the risk, issues, and assumptions database and registers for change initiatives.
Digital and data	Collects and shares data in line with data standards. Uses digital tools to analyse and validate data to identify risks and develop mitigation strategies. Supports the project manager by providing data driven insights on project risks and issues. Uses data visualisation tools to conduct risk reviews with stakeholders

Entry route

Project delivery professional

Suitable for individuals with experience in a different area within a project environment who have interacted with the risk and issues function.

Non-project delivery professional

Suitable for individuals who have previously undertaken business risk management roles and may come from functions related to the change initiative’s outcomes, such as engineering, IT, or infrastructure.

Technical competencies

Help with competency levels

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.	Expert
Quality management The ability to plan, develop, maintain and apply quality management processes to ensure adherence to those standards throughout the lifecycle of the work.	Working
Business change and implementation The ability to integrate the solution into operations ensuring that activities are planned and completed to enable the business to implement the change and realise the benefits.	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.	Practitioner
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.	Practitioner
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

Behavioural competencies

Help with competency levels

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.	Working
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.	Working
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

Typical qualifications and professional memberships

Job titles for recruitment

This role profile is for a risk and issues manager at Grade 6. It could also be advertised as head of risk and issues management.

Hiring managers should refer to the standardised job titles framework for guidance on which titles to use for recruitment.

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