Project Manager

Details
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Reference number

484223

Salary

£43,083
Plus a concessionary payment of £2,758\.
GBP

Job grade

Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Type of role

Project Delivery

Working pattern

Full\-time

Number of jobs available

1
Contents
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• Location


• About the job


• Benefits


• Things you need to know


• Apply and further information

Location
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Cheltenham
About the job
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Job summary

Following successful completion of probation, you may also be eligible for a skills retention payment of approximately £5,000, subject to achieving a skills assessment aligned to the Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF).

Flexible working: We support a range of flexible working arrangements, including part\-time working (minimum of 30 hours per week), compressed hours, and flexible start and finish times. While all roles require on\-site working, we’re happy to discuss flexible working options where possible.

About us

GCHQ is an intelligence, cyber and security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting\-edge technology, ingenuity, and partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. Working with our intelligence partners MI5 and MI6 we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber\-attacks and espionage. At GCHQ, you’ll do varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment that places the emphasis on teamwork.

Job description

The role

As a Project Manager, you’ll manage a range of projects from initiation right through to completion. Some projects you’ll lead independently; others you’ll deliver as part of a larger, multi‑disciplinary team. The projects you lead will be varied, spanning everything from business change to the delivery of technical capability, so you’ll learn to tailor how you plan, track, and communicate to suit the context. Day\-to\-day, you’ll coordinate scope, plans, schedules and cost; manage risks, issues, and dependencies; and provide clear updates and recommendations that support timely, confident decisions.

You’ll work closely with colleagues, suppliers, customers, and partner organisations, building relationships and acting as a trusted point of contact. In fast\-moving environments, you’ll bring structure, momentum and clarity, keeping delivery aligned to time, cost and quality expectations, and knowing when to escalate for support. As part of a well‑established project management community, you’ll have supportive peers to learn from and established standards to guide your practice.

UK travel may be required to meet teams and engage with stakeholders; the frequency and locations will be project or programme dependent

Person specification

About you

You have at least four GCSEs at Grade 4/C or above (including English and Mathematics), or equivalent Level 2 qualifications, or relevant experience demonstrating solid numeracy and communication skills. You’re keen to develop your project delivery expertise and build the capabilities expected of a Project Manager at the HEO level, aligned to the Project Delivery Capability Framework (PDCF).

You’ve already gained experience supporting project delivery and are now ready to take ownership of your own projects. Through your involvement in planning, coordination and reporting activities, you’ve developed an understanding of project controls and the role that effective risk, issue and change management plays in successful delivery. You’re comfortable working with both technical and non\-technical colleagues, helping to maintain momentum and keep projects on track.

You adapt your communication style to suit different audiences, providing clear and timely information to support decision\-making. You build productive stakeholder relationships and use influencing and negotiation skills to achieve positive outcomes.

Collaborative and supportive, you work well as part of multi\-disciplinary teams and value shared learning. You’re curious proactive and calm under pressure, qualities that help you navigate changing priorities and identify practical solutions to complex challenges.

Training and development

A structured induction will help you understand our mission, ways of working, and the delivery community you’ll be joining. From day one, you’ll be supported by your line manager and a dedicated buddy, helping you settle in, build confidence, and navigate the organisation.

Development continues through a blend of internal and external training, practical experience, and community support. As a corporate member of the Association for Project Management (APM), we encourage you to explore relevant courses, frameworks and accreditation pathways. Access to mentoring, coaching and project management forums will provide opportunities to share learning and strengthen your professional network.

You’ll be encouraged to dedicate time to your professional development, helping you build your expertise across planning, risk and issue management, reporting, financial tracking and benefits management. This will prepare you to take on broader responsibilities as you progress.

As you grow in the role, you’ll also have opportunities to support and mentor others. Throughout your journey, you’ll be part of a supportive project management community committed to shared learning and professional growth.

Benefits
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Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £43,083, plus other benefits including:

• 25 days’ annual leave, rising automatically to 30 days after 5 years' service, plus an additional 10\.5 days of public and privilege holidays


• opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme


• an interest\-free season ticket loan


• an excellent pension scheme


• a cycle to work scheme


• facilities such as a subsidised gym, restaurant, and on\-site coffee bars (at some locations)


• paid parental and adoption leave

Equal Opportunities

At GCHQ, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a workforce that truly reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: people of different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including individuals from groups that are currently under\-represented in our workforce, such as women, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities and those from low socio\-economic backgrounds.

Visit our website to find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity .

We’re Disability Confident

GCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme. The scheme encourages employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident organisation, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for this position, assessed at sift, are offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. This is known as the Offer of Interview. To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

• You'll be required to reach the minimum pass mark for the online Situational Judgement Test (SJT), which assesses criteria important for all roles in our organisation


• Meet the minimum pass mark for your motivation and skills for the role and organisation \- to be assessed at application sift

Things you need to know
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Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

What to expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

• Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) in which you rate the appropriateness of responses to a series of short scenarios.


• Application Sift, looking at your motivation and skills for the role and the organisation.


• Virtual Interview, including technical and competency\-based questions.


• If successful, you’ll receive a conditional offer of employment.

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before you apply

To work at GCHQ, you must be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. Read about our eligibility criteria.

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. Find out more about the vetting process.

Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs, and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.

Before applying, we recommend setting up a separate email address for your contact with us to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate

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