This role description is part of a wider P3M job set which can be viewed in
the P3M Resource Centre or the Health Informatics Career Framework:
www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/p3m
www.hicf.org.uk
SENIOR/PRINCIPAL PROJECT MANAGER
This generic role description is based on the minimum competences required to
undertake this role. It can be used in recruitment, skill mix reviews, career
progression and team development or restructuring. It must be expanded to
include any specialist or local knowledge and skills required, any background
information or description of work to be undertaken which is not included in this
generic template. The competences have been derived from a variety of sources,
including the Association of Project Management, Skills Framework for the
Information Age and National Occupational Standards. More information, including
indicators, on these competences can be accessed through the P3M Resource
Centre under “Full list of APM competences”.
JOB DETAILS
Career framework
level:
Job Title:
Framework Levels see below
Senior/Principal Project Manager
Department:
Responsible for:
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For more details of Career
Reporting to:
JOB SUMMARY
The Senior Project Manager will provide project management for a portfolio
of projects, identified as part of the organisation’s plans. This will involve
the production of plans, documentation and the provision of guidance for
project teams and ensuring communication is maintained between all
stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring all organisational
procedures are adhered to, objectives are identified and met, and benefits
realised from the implementation of the change.
The Senior Project Manager’s prime responsibility is to ensure that assigned
projects produce the required deliverables within the defined quality, time
and cost constraints and to facilitate full realisation of benefits defined in the
business case. This should be achieved by appropriate adherence to the
NHS standard project management methodology: PRINCE2 and best practice
within the profession, involving the production of plans, documentation and
guidance for project teams throughout the project lifecycle and ensuring all
organisational procedures are adhered to.
The Senior Project Manager role is appropriate for a highly-experienced
project manager, with responsibilities for complex projects within the
portfolio, and with normally high budget and risk to the organisation.
KEY TASKS
 Project plan and PID development
 Project change control
 Stakeholder management
 Benefit and change management
 Reporting
 Risks and issue management
 Project closure including the capture of lessons learned
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COMPETENCIES
The following list of competences is a guide to the skills and knowledge
required for this role. Applicants should ensure that they are able to provide
evidence to the required level for each competence.
COMPETENCE
DESCRIPTION
LEVEL
REQUIRED*
Communication
Giving, receiving, processing and interpreting of
Level A
information, acknowledging own personal style of
communication and the impact it has on others. Information
can be conveyed verbally, non-verbally, actively, passively,
formally, informally, consciously or unconsciously.
Corporate
This concerns those areas of corporate governance that are
governance of
specifically related to project activities, ensuring that an
project
organisation’s project portfolio is aligned to the
management
organisation’s objectives are delivered efficiently and are
Level A
sustainable. It also includes the determining and applying
of appropriate standards and methods to minimise health,
safety and environmental damage risk during the project
and the operation of its deliverables.
Definition
The evaluating and optimising of the preferred solution
Level A
which can affect requirements and the project’s scope,
time, cost and quality objectives. Involvement in the
production of key Programme/Project documentation such
as the mandate, brief, PID and the project management plan
which states how resources required during the
implementation phase will be identified.
Handover and
Handing over the final project deliverables to the sponsor
closeout
and users and finalising all project matters, carrying out
Level A
final project reviews, archiving project information ad
redeploying the project team
Implementation
The practical executing, monitoring and control of the
Level A
project management plan, where the design is finalised and
used to build the deliverables.
Map the
Ensuring you have a clear and up-to-date picture of the
environment in
environment in which your organisation operates and can
which your
produce information which could be used for planning and
organisation
operational purposes. The environment includes the
operates
external’ and ‘internal’ operating environment.
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Level A
Organisational
Understanding , identifying and defining the organisational
structure and
structural environment in which the project is taking place
roles
and the organisational roles performed by individuals and
Level A
groups within the project, including hierarchical structure,
accountabilities, relationships and decision-making
responsibilities
Project life cycles
Understanding the concept of project lifecycles, the use of
Level A
project phases and contributing to the support of this
process which allows the project to be considered as a
sequence of phases and which provides the structure and
approach for progressively delivering the required outputs
Project risk and
Understanding, identifying and proactively managing
issue
individual risk and issue events and overall project risk by
management
minimising threats and maximising opportunities
Project success
Satisfying stakeholder needs, measured by the success
and benefits
criteria as identified and agreed at the start of the project.
management
Benefits management is the identification of the benefits at
Level A
Level A
an organisational level and the monitoring and realisation
of those benefits
Scope
Identifying and defining the deliverables and work to
management
produce them. Identifying and defining the scope must
Level A
describe what the project will include and what it will not
include, i.e. what is in and out of scope
Stakeholder
The systematic identification, analysis and planning of
management
actions to engage with, communicate with, negotiate with
Level A
and influence stakeholders.
Behavioural
The element that separate and describe a person’s
characteristics
preferred way of acting, interacting and reacting in a variety
Level B
of situations. They complement knowledge and experience
and are a function of values, beliefs and identity. They can
be used in assessment, engagement and career advice
Budgeting and
The estimating of costs and the setting of an agreed
cost management
budget, and the management of actual and forecast costs
Level B
against budget
Business case
Understanding of the content and is prepared to write a
Level B
business case on behalf of the sponsor according to the
agreed standards which provides justification for
undertaking a project, to obtain management commitment
and approval for investment in the project.
Change Control
management
Creating, maintaining and controlling change of the
configuration throughout the project life cycle, ensuring
that all changes made to a project’s baselined scope, time,
cost and quality objectives or agreed benefits are identified,
evaluated, approved, rejected or deferred
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Level B
Conflict
Identifying and addressing differences that, if unmanaged,
Management
would affect project objectives. Preventing differences
Level B
becoming destructive elements in a project
Estimating
Ability to produce estimates of project time and cost targets
Level B
which are reviewed and revised as necessary throughout
the project life cycle, possibly in liaison with other
functional areas and expertise
Information
Using intelligence and presenting it in an appropriate
management and
format which includes the formal communication of project
reporting
information to stakeholders. -
Leadership
The ability to establish vision and direction, to influence
Level B
Level B
and align others towards a common purpose and to
empower and inspire people to achieve project success. It
enables the project to proceed in an environment of change
and uncertainty
Negotiation
Searching for agreement, and seeking acceptance,
Level B
consensus and alignment of views, both formally and
informally
Procurement
The acquiring of the resources (goods and services)
(may be
undertaken by a
procurement
team where
available)
required by a project including the development of the
Professionalism
Professionalism is demonstrating awareness and application
and ethics
of qualities and competences covering knowledge,
Level B
procurement strategy, preparation of contracts, selection
and acquisition of suppliers and management of the
contracts
Level B
appropriate skills and behaviours. Ethics covers the conduct
of moral principles recognised as appropriate within the
project and programme management profession
Project
Bringing together all the plans for a project in order to
management
document the outcomes of the planning process and to
plan
provide the project management plan for managing the
Level B
project
Project quality
Discusses and agrees quality expectations with
management
stakeholders, develops quality approach and project quality
Level B
plan, executes plan and recommends and applies
improvements and corrective actions.
Project Review
Ensuring effective project reviews are set up and used
during and after the project is complete, to check the likely
or actual achievement of objectives specified in the project
management plan and the benefits detailed in the business
case.
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Level B
Requirements
Capturing, analysing and testing the documented statement
management
of stakeholder and user wants and needs. Requirements are
Level B
a statement of the need that a project has to satisfy, and
should be comprehensive, clear, well structured, traceable
and testable
Scheduling &
Determining the overall project duration, when activities
Resource
and events are planned to happen, including the
Management
identification of activities and their logical dependencies,
Level B
and estimation of activity durations, taking into account
requirements and availability of resources. Identifying and
assigning resources to activities so that the project is
undertaken using appropriate levels of resources and within
an acceptable duration
Team work
The process whereby people work collaboratively towards a
Level B
common goal, as distinct from other ways that individuals
can work within a group
Technology
Managing the relationship between available and emerging
Management
technologies, the organisation and the project and
Level B
managing the enabling technologies used to deliver and
manage the project, and the technology of the project
deliverables
Earned Value
Using a project control process based on a structured
Management
approach to planning, cost collection and performance
Level C
measurement to facilitate the integration of project scope
and time and cost objectives, and the establishment of a
baseline plan for performance measurement
Value
Applying a structured approach to defining what value
management
means to the organisation and the project, allowing the
Level C
needs, problems or opportunities to be defined and then
enabling the review of the initial project objectives to
ensure the optimal approach and solution
Benefits
Monitors benefits against what was predicted in the
management
business case and ensures all participants are informed and
Level D
involved throughout the change programme
Business analysis
The methodical investigation, analysis, review and
Level D
documentation of all or part of a business in terms of
business functions and processes, the information used and
the data on which the information is based
Business process
The planning, design, management, execution and
testing
reporting of business process tests and usability
evaluations. The establishment, clarification and
communication of non-functional requirements for usability
(for example, screen design/layout/consistency, response
times, capacity).
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Level D
Manage business
Managing business processes to make sure the organisation
processes
delivers outputs that meet customers’ needs and
Level D
stakeholders’ needs, and organisational and legal
requirements
The following are competences that have been developed to fulfil apparent
gaps in the current National Occupational Standards and competency
frameworks that were analysed as part of the wider P3M Improvement
Programme. These competences are still under development and are being
tested and reviewed accordingly.
Dependencies
Understanding and active management of the internal and external
and critical
linkages and inter-dependencies (e.g. political or legislative
path analysis
changes, structural or organisational plans etc) across programmes
Level B
and/or projects, and incorporating any changes into the
project/programme plan.
Indicators
Ability to differentiate between external and internal
dependencies and to prioritise these by
importance/impact on the project/programme
Awareness of dependences between the
project/programme and its benefits and actively
managing these in liaison with the Benefits Manager
Ability to identify the critical path of tasks within a
project/programme and to manage this
Knowledge of risk and issue management processes
and utilising these to ensure that all dependencies and
the risks that these may pose to the
project/programme are minimised
Ability to appropriately take account of any
dependencies during project/programme re-planning
Knowledge of matrix management and the interdependencies that this way of working has
Service
Designing a new service/or model, or re-designing an existing
modelling
model to align with and deliver on policies or strategies, can be
linked with other projects (e.g. new build, or to support a new care
pathway, etc)
Indicators
Ability to work with service staff and to facilitate senior
management to help identify the best design of a new
or changing service/model
Ability to ensure all parts of the service area are
aligned to the new or changing service/model
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Level C
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LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS
LEVEL
APM DESCRIPTION
MAPPED TO
SUMMARY
OTHER
FRAMEWORKS
Level A
Can successfully execute all
the indicators by directing the
management of complex
Career
Framework
level 8-9;
Displays extensive and
substantial experience and
applied knowledge of the
projects and/or programmes
subject. Significant managerial
for an organisation or
experience and may be at the
functional unit
top of their profession in the
skill area.
Level B
Has successfully executed
most of the indicators by
managing a complex project
Career
Framework
level 5-7;
Displays detailed knowledge of
the subject and are capable of
providing guidance and advice
to others, based on significant
commercial experience and
qualifications
Level C
Has successfully executed at
least some of the indicators by
management of a project with
Career
Framework
level 3-5;
limited complexity
Demonstrates behaviours and
outcomes above the Awareness
level but have not had sufficient
opportunity or experience to put
the skill into practice to merit
Practitioner level
Level D
Has the knowledge required
and may execute some of the
indicators in supporting a
Career
Framework
level 1-2;
Ability to understand key issues
and their implications and able
to ask relevant and constructive
project manager and or project
questions on the subject. Are
team
early in their PPM career or a
practitioner of another
profession with some
involvement in PPM, or the
subject may not be a priority
skill area within their current
role.
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PERSON SPECIFICATION
ESSENTIAL
DESIRABLE
Relevant degree level qualification plus
Foundation/Certificate in IS
post graduate qualification (e.g. Masters,
Project Management (ISEB)
MBA), or equivalent experience
Extensive knowledge of a project
Evidence of continuing
planning, implementation and
professional development
management gained through experience
using formal project planning tools and
recognised project management
methodology
At least 5 years experience of working in
a complex and high-risk change
environment with multiple stakeholders
and securing their engagement to deliver
change
In-depth knowledge and practical
experience of change management and
workforce & business re-design
Knowledge and experience of developing
and implementing policies and
procedures.
Experience of influencing staff at all
levels to ensure that all members of the
team including users and stakeholders
own project objectives
Experience of working across
organisational boundaries to achieve
results
Ability to work collaboratively with staff
of all disciplines to promote and develop
service improvement projects
Skilled in negotiation and influencing
techniques including the ability to
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challenge and reality test other’s
positions constructively
Extensive experience of training and
facilitating group discussions, and
supporting training, education and
development opportunities
Practical and extensive experience in
business case development
Experience in managing substantial
budgets / effective resource
management
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