Planner

At the Office for National Statistics (ONS), our work helps shape decisions that impact millions of lives. We are looking for a talented project professional to join us in the Census 2031 Programme!

Census 2031 represents our most ambitious data collection project yet a once in a decade opportunity to capture a complete picture of everyone living in England and Wales. Building on the digital success of 2021, we're pioneering new ways to reach every household and community, ensuring no one is left uncounted. This vital work will provide the foundation for policy decisions, resource allocation and community planning for the next decade.

Your work will support delivery of this transformational project that will shape how we understand and support our nation's future. You'll be part of a team that ensures everyone is countedand every voice is heard. We're building a culture that values collaboration, fresh thinking and respect for diverse expertise. Whether you're a seasoned professional or bringing new perspectives, you'll be part of a team that welcomes bold ideas, works transparently and thrives on solving complex challenges together.

You'll join a growing community of Census Project Delivery professionals - delivering projects that span multiple disciplines, partners and stakeholders, with the opportunity to influence decisions that will shape the successful delivery of Census 2031. Few projects offer the same scale, visibility and opportunity to contribute to a national endeavour that impacts every person and community across England and Wales.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing visible and effective leadership to the planning team, collaborating with the Project Manager to deliver the benefits and outcomes outlined in the business case, developing a clear vision and standards, championing best practice in planning tools and processes, and building strong internal and external networks.
• Applying advanced planning knowledge to analyse and resolve risks and issues, while identifying opportunities that support successful delivery.
• Identifying future planning capacity and capability requirements and implementing effective strategies to meet these needs.
• Building and maintaining external networks to access and apply technical and professional best practice.
• Analysing performance data to identify trends, opportunities for collaboration and areas for improvement, and using appropriate methods and tools to address them.
• Providing specialist planning advice and support to enable the successful delivery of projects and programmes, advising Project Managers during initiation on proportionate planning approaches, tools and processes, introducing best-practice templates aligned with industry standards, and building planning capability across teams.
• Using digital tools to analyse and validate data, developing and maintaining robust plans, using data insights to forecast timelines and resource requirements, and providing Project Managers with evidence-based insights into potential risks, delays and opportunities.

Essential Criteria:

• Expertise in planning, with the ability to define the fundamental components of a project in terms of its scope, deliverables, dependencies, time scales, resource requirements and budget.
• Expertise in scheduling, with the ability to develop, produce and maintain schedules for activities that take account of dependencies, resource requirements and constraints in order to enable the efficient realisation of benefits.
• Ability to inspire and motivate their own team, providing clear direction in line with corporate strategy.
• Ability to work with ambiguity, able to feel comfortable making decisions and setting direction without having the full picture and take proactive steps to reduce ambiguity across the programme workstreams.
• Ability to establish and manage stakeholder relationships, with a proven track record of effectively communicating with technical and non-technical stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience in creating, managing and maintaining the plans for a GMPP or equivalent programme.