Deputy Director for Assurance

Deputy Director for Assurance

• Salary: £81,000
• Contract Type: Permanent
• Working Pattern: This post is available on a full time, part time or job share basis, and flexible working hours can be accommodated.
• Location: London (1 Horse Guards Road). Any applicants who are already NISTA staff can also apply to be based from their existing locations in Birmingham (23 Stephenson Street), or Leeds (2 Whitehall Quay)

Join us as a Deputy Director for Assurance and play a pivotal role in working across HM Treasury! This is an exciting and high-profile new role, with huge opportunity to shape the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) new service offer.

About the Team

The Assurance and Portfolio team will play a pivotal role in the project delivery system across government and for NISTA as an organization. We aim to improve project delivery performance and support approvals decision-making so that the right projects are funded and they stand the best chance of success. We do this by shaping, arranging and managing high-quality and high-impact assurance for initiatives that are on the Government's Major Project Portfolio (GMPP) and applying the insights we gain to support interventions. We work hand in hand with Senior Responsible Owners (SROs), project professionals and decision makers in departments, No.10, the Treasury, and the Cabinet Office.

About the Job

The post holder will oversee the government's major projects portfolio, providing in-depth analysis, insight, and advice regarding system-level risks and opportunities across sectors, departments, portfolios and programme types. This includes establishing and operating NISTA's assurance service. This entails ensuring that independent assurance reviews, arranged by NISTA for programmes exceeding £1 billion in value, are conducted to the highest standards. These reviews must serve as reliable indicators of project success, instil confidence ahead of major approval milestones, and be scheduled at appropriate points throughout a programme's life cycle. Close collaboration with the Deputy Director, Government Project Delivery Function, will be essential to integrate the principles and components of the new cross-government assurance framework into NISTA's service design and offering. The Deputy Director of Assurance and Portfolio holds a pivotal position within NISTA, with responsibility for two principal areas of work:

1. Creation and Management of NISTA's Independent assurance offer
2. Oversight and Insight into the Government Major Projects Portfolio and departmental portfolios

In both of these aspects, you will lead the assurance and portfolio team, which is responsible for arranging and delivering NISTA's independent assurance reviews and assessing portfolio risk to inform NISTA support offer to departments. To achieve this, you will work in partnership with NISTA's Chief Projects Data and Insight Officer, Project Delivery teams as well as the Chief Economist, amongst others to generate actionable insights and develop new analytical tools that support NISTA's broader remit.

Your core responsibilities will include:

1. Leading, motivating, and developing the team to ensure it has the appropriate blend of skills necessary to oversee the complex Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) effectively and assess the maturity of departmental portfolios.
2. Taking ownership of the strategy and process by which NISTA assures and monitors delivery across the GMP portfolio and delivers independent assurance reviews, ensuring these are aligned with the objectives of NISTA and the Government Project Delivery Assurance Framework.
3. Working closely with the NISTA Senior and Extended Leadership Teams to transform and enhance the quality of NISTA's assurance, in parallel with the development of the NISTA service offer and the Government Project Delivery (GPD) Assurance Framework during 2026/27.
4. Acting on behalf of NISTA to oversee the GMP portfolio, using data-driven insights to advise on interventions, and providing challenge and support to sector leads, department portfolios, and policy officials.
5. Building, maintaining, and managing relationships with key stakeholders, and using influence to drive necessary change.
6. Managing and maintaining a suitable pool of NISTA-accredited assurance reviewers to ensure the capability to deliver the assurance review pipeline. This includes performance management of current reviewers and recruitment to broaden the diversity of expertise and backgrounds within the pool.
7. Leveraging data to extract learning and insights from assurance reviews and the portfolio, thereby driving innovation and performance in government projects and programmes. The post holder will be recognised as an authority on all NISTA service assurance activities and will provide guidance on requirements across departmental portfolios and on all types of assurance reviews.

About You

We would like you to have experience of designing and overseeing portfolios or providing assurance services, in the public or private sector as well as outstanding leadership skills including a proven track record of leading high performing, inclusive operational or delivery teams to deliver in a complex, fast paced environment. We want you to be able to demonstrate experience of successfully working with senior stakeholders across government or equivalent in the private sector and have a strong strategic vision and the ability to develop creative, innovative policy in an environment of rapid change

Some of the Benefits our people love!

• 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King's birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant). Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• Generous parental and adoption leave packages
• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions of 28%
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme and season ticket advances
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity

For more information about the role and how to apply, please follow the apply link.