UKTMS S&I Head of Change Delivery

Can you lead complex programmes and drive delivery across scope, cost, time and quality to achieve strategic outcomes?

Are you able to influence senior stakeholders and make high‑impact decisions that shape organisational change and deliver long‑term benefits?

Have you delivered large-scale projects while balancing risk, governance and leading teams through transformation?

If so, wed love to hear from you!

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is seeking a UK Technical Maritime Services (UKTMS) S&I (Survey & Inspection) Head of Change Delivery. The MCA implements the governments maritime safety policy in the United Kingdom and works to prevent the loss of life and occurrence of pollution on the coast and at sea.

UKTMS inspects and surveys ships to ensure that they meet both UK and international safety, security and anti-pollution standards. The directorate also provides certification to ships and seafarers, the registration of merchant vessels on the UK Flag; in collaboration with Coastguard colleagues, it responds to pollution from shipping and offshore installations.

Survey & Inspections objective is to enable the Governments Maritime Strategy for Safer lives, Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas by ensuring high standards of marine safety and marine environmental protection through the implementation of consistent survey and inspection operations.

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 and a privilege day for the Kings 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: Maritime and Coastguard Agency - Department for Transport Careers

As the UKTMS S&I Head of Change Delivery, you will lead complex, multi-workstream projects and transformation initiatives, providing strategic direction across UKTMS. You will be accountable for delivering outcomes across scope, cost, time, quality, benefits and risk, ensuring alignment with MCA priorities and government policy. With significant delegated authority, you will make high-impact decisions, influence senior stakeholders, drive organisational change, and deliver long-term operational and strategic benefits.

Your responsibilities will include, but arent limited to:

1. Providing strategic leadership across complex, multi‑workstream programmes, with full accountability for delivery, direction and outcomes across UKTMS.
2. Acting as a senior decision‑maker on investment, prioritisation and delivery approaches, balancing risk, value and organisational priorities.
3. Leading the translation of strategic objectives into clear, compliant delivery plans aligned to MCA priorities, government policy and legislation.
4. Overseeing and assuring all core project documentation, including business cases, delivery plans, benefits realisation, risks, issues and dependencies.
5. Driving assurance activity and governance, confidently responding to audit, scrutiny and challenge while managing escalations and critical decision‑making.
6. Building and influencing senior stakeholder relationships, securing agreement across MCA, government departments and external partners on complex issues.
7. Leading organisational change and benefits delivery, ensuring adoption of new ways of working and intervening where delivery is at risk.
8. Managing teams, risks, interdependencies and digital delivery (including Product Owner responsibilities), while mentoring colleagues and promoting continuous improvement.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.

For further information on the role, please read the 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.

Required experience:

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

1. Leading programmes and/or project teams to successful delivery.
2. Working with multi-disciplinary teams in delivery of a high-profile project / programme.
3. Influencing and engaging stakeholders at senior level across an organisation and with externals.
4. PRINCE 2 or AGILE qualification or equivalent experience.

Additional Information

Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest and most diverse professional community across the Civil Service. Many of us will have an association with several professional communities or specialisms, ODP applies to all public facing roles / or a role that is primarily aligned to supporting the work of those with public facing roles. All critical to the delivery of UK public services.

This post is offered on a Fixed Term Appointment (FTA) basis to complete a finite piece of work, however this may be extended or made permanent.

Permanent Civil Servants will be appointed on an inward loan and subject to the terms of the agreed inward loan. You must have your home departments approval to return to them at the end of the loan before you apply. Internal candidates will return to their previous post at the end of the loan period, which will need to be agreed with your line manager in advance. If your home department cannot agree to release you on loan, there is the opportunity for you to move across to the department on a fixed term appointment. In this instance the Department for Transport would become your home department and if there is no role available for you at the end of this appointment, you would be subject to the redeployment and redundancy process.

If you're employed by a non-departmental public body (NDPB) by moving jobs this will involve a change of employer and you may break the statutory rules on continuity of employment.

Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 32 hours per week.

This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.

The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location/visiting stakeholders. Your designated workplace will be your contractual place of work. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

Regular travel to other offices will be required, which may involve overnight stays.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that we will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. Therefore, this role is not open to applications from those who require sponsorship candidates must ensure they have the appropriate right to work in the UK before applying. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.