Head of P3M Profession, Defence Nuclear Enterprise

The UKs nuclear deterrence strategy is founded on maintaining a minimum credible, independent nuclear capability assigned to NATOs defence, delivered continuously at sea by the Royal Navy for over 50 years. This mission remains critical to national security.

The Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) achieves this through the Defence Nuclear Organisation (DNO) and Royal Navy, supported by the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Sheffield Forgemasters, and key suppliers such as BAE Systems, Babcock, and Rolls Royce. The DNE encompasses the full lifecycle of nuclear deterrence capabilities, involving highly complex projects that require collective scientific, technical, and delivery excellence.

Operating as an integrated team, the DNE portfolio includes submarines at various stagesoperational, in production, and conceptualalongside supporting systems like nuclear propulsion, the Trident missile and warhead, and submarine combat systems. This requires the safe stewardship and through-life delivery of complex programmes and support operations at pace.

The Head of Portfolio, Programme and Project Management (P3M) Profession is a senior leadership role within the Submarine Delivery Group of the DNO. This role is responsible for establishing and sustaining a coherent, enterprise-wide P3M capability across Defence, industry, and partners. It ensures consistent, effective systemspeople, standards, processes, and toolsare in place to manage the portfolios scale and complexity.

Key responsibilities include securing the right skilled personnel, embedding robust standards and processes, and providing tools and information for sound decision-making. The role oversees performance, delivers second-line assurance, and drives professional standards, ensuring the P3M workforce is compliant, adaptable, innovative, and capable of meeting evolving demands.

Success requires visible, credible leadership that exemplifies excellence, simplifies delivery, and promotes continuous improvement. The leader must operate confidently at senior levels, influence across organisational boundaries, and inspire the P3M Profession. They must attract, develop, and retain a diverse, capable workforce while fostering a unified culture across MOD, government, and industry.

Credibility as a P3M professional is essential, alongside the ability to define and embed standards consistently, build strong relationships, and align enterprise efforts. Ultimately, the role demands a decisive leader who takes accountability, translates strategy into sustained delivery, and cultivates an inclusive, high-performing environment.

Overall Purpose of the Job

The role reports to the DNOs Enterprise Portfolio Director and is responsible for:

• Leading the P3M (Portfolio, Programme and Project) Profession across the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) to ensure confidence, consistency and capability in delivery.
• Setting, owning and assuring enterprise-wide P3M standards, aligned to MOD and wider Government policy.
• Driving simplification and standardisation of ways of working, ensuring a coherent and proportionate delivery system across the portfolio.
• Leading the enterprise assurance rhythm, including second line of defence, to enable consistent, risk‑based oversight and strengthen confidence in delivery.
• Leading enterprise workforce strategy for the P3M Profession, ensuring the right capability, capacity and skills are in place to meet DNE priorities.
• Building a high-performing, inclusive and collaborative enterprise culture, enabling effective delivery across Defence, industry and partners.

The post holder will also support the development of the P3M profession across the Ministry of Defence (MOD), supporting MODs Head of Profession to help shape the approach to Project Delivery in defence; they are also the main responsible for applying PD policy from Defence and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) into the DNO.

Key Responsibilities

As Head of the P3M Profession, you are accountable for the leadership, development and continuous evolution of the profession across the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE). This includes:

• Setting and delivering the strategy for the P3M Profession, ensuring capability development aligns with organisational priorities and wider Defence objectives.
• Shaping and delivering the enterprise work plan, including setting standards, defining governance, and contributing to Defence-wide P3M professional frameworks.
• Providing visible, credible leadership to the P3M community, building confidence through clear communication, engagement and professional identity.
• Role modelling professional excellence, driving high standards, simplifying how we deliver, and enabling innovation in the development and application of P3M capability.
• Building strong relationships across professions, policy, assurance and delivery communities, ensuring alignment and consistent, proportionate application of P3M standards across the enterprise.
• Leading enterprise workforce planning and strategy for the P3M Profession, including capability assessment, supply and demand analysis, talent pipelines, and informed resource allocation aligned to DNE priorities.
• Strengthening specialist capability and developing the talent pipeline, including project management and project controls expertise, early-career pathways, mentoring, and accreditation.
• Acting as an ambassador for the P3M Profession, promoting a strong, inclusive community and attracting, developing and retaining diverse talent.

Essential Criteria:

• Extensive experience delivering complex P3M leadership across the full delivery lifecycle, including the ability to identify, manage and rationalise interdependencies in highly complex environments.
• Proven ability to define, lead and implement strategy that improves P3 performance and builds sustainable capability across individuals and teams to meet organisational and Defence priorities.
• Strong influencing and stakeholder leadership skills, with a track record of working across organisational boundaries and with senior leaders to shape decisions and resolve delivery challenges.
• Demonstrable success in leading large-scale business change, managing ambiguity and driving improved outcomes across complex delivery organisations.
• Experience of building and leading inclusive, high-performing cultures, with a clear commitment to Diversity and Inclusion and its role in enabling effective delivery.
• Recognised professional credibility as a P3M leader.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience as a NISTA project reviewer (or equivalent)
• Chartered Project Professional or willingness to complete early in tenure

Memberships/Qualifications:

• A full project professional membership or be an APM registered professional or have completed the Major Projects Leadership Academy

Evidence of the Qualification/Licence/Membership will be required at interview. All qualifications/licences/memberships declared must be held at point of application and be in date.

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