Head of Directorate Enablement

Across government, effective governance, performance insight and operational coordination are critical to delivering services whilst also undertaking complex digital and technology transformation. As organisations manage increasingly ambitious portfolios of change alongside essential live services, the ability to provide clear structure, robust oversight and high-quality decision support becomes fundamental to success. Ofgem plays a vital role in the UKs energy system, protecting consumers and enabling a more secure, fair and sustainable energy future, and strong directorate enablement function is central to delivering this mission.

As Head of Directorate Enablement, you will play a pivotal leadership role at the centre of DDSS. You will be responsible for establishing and maintaining the governance, reporting and operational frameworks that enable the directorate to function effectively across both run and change. You will provide the DDSS Senior Leadership Team (SLT) with clear, accurate and timely insight into performance, ensuring that decisions are informed, risks are understood and resources are aligned to priorities.

This is a senior, high-impact role requiring a combination of strategic thinking, operational leadership and strong stakeholder engagement. You will work closely with leaders across portfolio, delivery, finance and change functions, ensuring that governance is not only effective, but adds real value. You will also play a key role in embedding good practice and ensuring alignment with government functional standards.

You will be responsible for:

• Establishing and leading the governance and reporting landscape for DDSS, ensuring alignment with Ofgems wider governance structures and cross-government standards.
• Providing secretariat and coordination support to the DDSS Senior Leadership Team and Formal Boards, ensuring meetings are well-structured, decisions are captured and actions are progressed.
• Designing and implementing performance frameworks, including KPIs and reporting mechanisms, to provide clear visibility of directorate performance across delivery, finance, people and service areas.
• Leading financial oversight, including budgeting, forecasting and spend monitoring, ensuring financial data is integrated into performance reporting and supports effective decision-making.
• Overseeing resource planning and management, ensuring capacity aligns with demand and supports both short-term delivery and long-term strategic planning.
• Embedding effective risk and issue management processes, ensuring risks are visible, understood and actively managed at the appropriate level.
• Leading business planning and contributing to spending review processes, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and government requirements.
• Ensuring alignment with government functional standards (e.g. GovS 002, GovS 005, GovS 007), developing assurance approaches and embedding best practice across the directorate.
• Using data and digital tools to provide insight, improve reporting quality and support evidence-based decision-making.
• Working closely with senior stakeholders, including corporate functions and external assurance bodies, to ensure effective coordination, reporting and compliance.

We are looking for:

A credible, strategic and delivery-focused leader who can bring structure, clarity and confidence to a complex and evolving environment. You will be comfortable operating at senior levels, providing insight and challenge while enabling effective decision-making across a broad range of activities.

You may come from a governance, PMO, portfolio or delivery background, but you will demonstrate:

• Significant experience leading governance, reporting or portfolio enablement functions within complex organisations
• Strong understanding of performance management, financial oversight and resource planning
• The ability to design and implement frameworks that support effective decision-making and delivery confidence
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence at senior levels
• Confidence operating in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment with competing priorities

Experience within government or regulated environments, and familiarity with government functional standards, would be beneficial.

This is an opportunity to play a central role in enabling Ofgems digital and technology transformation. You will shape how the DDSS directorate operates, ensuring that governance, insight and planning enable the organisation to deliver effectively, sustainably and with confidence at a time when its work has never been more important.

Essential Criteria

• Experience in leading a governance and reporting function either across a portfolio of projects or an operational business unit or directorate. (Lead Criteria)
• Experience of budgeting and cost management including accurate cost estimation, forecasting, budgeting, and spend control. (Lead Criteria)
• Extensive experience as a Head of Governance, PMO or Delivery.
• Experience of resource forecasting and monitoring.
• Proven ability to identify and amend appropriate frameworks and methodologies to enable a consistent and efficient approach to the orderly running of the directorate.
• Proven ability or experience leveraging digital tools and data analytics, combining an understanding of digital technologies with the ability to manage, interpret and utilise data to make informed decisions.
• Proven ability or experience establishing and developing productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, bringing people together to benefit the project.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience in a government context

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