Head of Corporate Portfolio


Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Salary:	£69,501 to £69,501 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Leeds
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	10 Sept 2026
Closing date:	20 Sept 2026

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Summary

Can you establish and lead a high-performing corporate portfolio function, bringing together governance, planning, resourcing and performance management to support strategic delivery?

Do you have the credibility and influencing skills to provide strategic advice to senior leaders, build strong relationships across a complex organisation, and drive delivery through others?

Have you successfully led people, workforce planning and organisational improvement initiatives, creating an environment where teams can thrive and deliver at pace?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

The Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy group plays a key role in delivering the Department for Transport’s strategic outcomes.

We support Ministers and the Department by communicating strategic direction and decisions, helping DfT plan and prepare for future and coordinating cross-cutting themes including strategy, science, artificial intelligence, analysis, data and decarbonisation agendas. We lead on policy and implement programmes that deliver greener and healthier transport, including low carbon fuels and air quality, and manage the department’s innovation portfolio.

The purpose of this role is to help the DTS group be effective, efficient and innovative. You will be responsible for ensuring effective governance, resourcing, recruitment, internal communications and finance across the group.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy DFT Central – Home | Civil Service Careers

This role will be responsible for creating and managing a virtual Programme Management Office for DTS, helping us get the most out of the corporate resources available to us on planning and performance, risk, finance and HR. You will oversee the DG private office, including management of the Assistant Private Secretary and Diary Manager. You will be responsible for providing portfolio and project support and assurance along with business and resource management services to the Group.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

Establish and lead the corporate service function for the Group.
Lead the DG’s Office function, providing expertise and an escalation point to unlock complex issues.
Provide direct and strategic support to the DG acting as an advisor and principal link between the DG and Senior Leadership team.
Lead on people issues for DTS Group, working in a matrix way to deliver through others, supporting the DG in creating a people Board to provide a clear picture of people activity, risks and challenges.
Responsibility for the efficient running of the DG’s Private Office and line management of the DG’s APS and Diary Manager.
Providing the DG with strategic assurance and advice on a variety of issues and representing the DG’s views in discussions, correspondence and at meetings.
Lead on strategic workforce planning for the Group to ensure a clear plan to meet headcount targets prioritisation.
Lead on internal communications for the Group, working with the comms team and enabling a clear culture and ways of working.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills set out in the Civil Service Line Management Standards.

For further information on the role, please read the attached role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

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