Meet Ijeoma!

I work in Department for Works and Pension as a Project Manager. I joined the Civil Service in March 2021 as a learning and development manager within People and Capability directorate. Since then, I have transitioned to the role of a Portfolio analyst, Project manager and now an Assurance manager in Change.

I have always worked in the government sector both in the UK and abroad, I see it is a chance to make a positive difference to the lives of people in the communities.

The Path That Led Me Here

Before Civil Service I was worked for the NHS as a PMO analyst. My background is in Human Resources and was working in HR in the NHS this meant I had to be in the office every day, this had a huge impact on my work life balance. In a bid to work more flexibly to accommodate Childcare my career took an unexpected path which led me a temporary position in IT dept as a PMO Administrator. An opportunity to sit for Project management certification course (Prince 2) came up, I took the course, sat for the exam passed and that began my career part as a Project/Programme/Portfolio (P30) manager.

Getting My Foot in the Door

My transition into Civil service was through the usual route, I applied for several roles got several rejections and eventual landed a role. The process to getting this role was not easy, I had a friend who was already working in DWP, she guided me in setting up my Job profile and adapting my examples into Behaviour and Strength questions. I must have applied to at least 15 – 18 jobs before getting an Interview, at that time I was applying for both HR and Project Jobs eventually I got a role in HR and after 6month transitioned to Project/ Programme.

A Day in My Life

I currently work as Programme Assurance Manager in my current programme – Health Transformation Programme (HTP), I develop and implement project and programme strategies for audit reviews. I oversee planning, scheduling, and management of assurance activities, while driving continuous improvement of assurance processes within the Department. My typical day/week starts with Team daily stand ups, meeting with both internal and external stakeholders, attending various product show and tell. Supporting/managing relevant governance activities including planning, risk management and preparing reports for Portfolio board.

Lessons That Shaped My Career

I like how dynamic a Project manager can be and how much opportunities there are to learn, develop, and pivot.

While transitioning into Projects from HR, I brought a lot of soft skills across. However, I have now honed a complex combination of technical, digital, business, and interpersonal skills which has made me to be more adaptable and to lead effectively.

I will say the biggest skill that has changed my career is Adaptability, being able to adapt and take on the different roles within Project & Digital Delivery Profession family. In Projects Profession careers, we have different roles ranging from Business Case, Assurance and Governance, Programme management office (PMO), Benefit management, Risk management, Dependencies, Project Planners, Delivery managers, Portfolio Analysts/managers.

 I recently led a Project in delivering the new Functional Assessment Service under the HTP Programme I worked in partnership with external IT supplier and key stakeholders in Digital, Finance, CMPD and Commercials to deliver several iterative releases(timeboxes) for a full range of IT/telephony systems and infrastructure to this new service. Alongside that I had to undertake the role of a Business Analyst to develop requirements against an aggressive timescale. It was very challenging working alongside digital and learning to understand different digital lexicons. There were mistakes made but also had a big win when we went live, lots of lessons learned and acquisition of new skills (using Miro/ Confluence).

What I Wish I Knew Earlier

There are a lot of career opportunities within the Civil Service, different roles and career path to navigate, you also don’t necessarily need to have the experience – some of the roles are only looking for potential. I will advise to find a role that seem suited to you on CS Jobs and apply.

Civil Service also offers good prospects to move across different department, Job families, get temporary deployed on promotion, Job shadowing, and developmental opportunities.

• There are a lot of routes into Civil Service, Graduate, apprenticeship, fast streamers
• Have a good understand of the different categories of Behaviours and Strengths
• Take time to reflect, categorise and bank evidence of tasks as an example for interview use.
• Make the most of the several training and career progression opportunities
• Engage in network/ interest groups and career profession groups.
• Attend events and network – Get Mentors, Coaches and Sponsor
• Invest in your personal and professional development.
• For progression always think beyond function, profession or department, think systems, customers and leadership
• Be flexible and open to new ways of doing things – take a risk
• Be bold, confident and never afraid to make mistakes or fail
• See Failure as a learning experience for new opportunities.
• Embrace Change and be agile
• Learn to navigate your career during constant uncertainties and finally
• Be kind to your inners self by looking at areas for growth from a holistic perspective