Programme Management Office (PMO) Centre of Excellence - Project Management

The overall objectives of the project are: Objective 1 - To develop a PPM lifecycle that can be embedded across the organisation to drive excellence in the way we manage our projects and programmes. Objective 2 - To improve our skills and expertise in PPM from a baseline that we can measure from a skills assessment.

Scope of Work We are looking to work with an expert provider in PPM and change management that, in alignment with best practice, can provide:

i) Development of a PPM lifecycle for Ofwat with associated "How to Guides". Based on sound principles of PPM, we require a standardised approach to PPM. This will be one that not only drives excellence in delivery but is scalable and proportionate for the work being undertaken. This element of the project will require the Contractor to use the lifecycle outline in Ofwat's Governance framework (which will be provided to the successful Contractor) to develop processes and guidance for each element of the programme lifecycle, broken down to its constituent parts e.g. (managing risk and opportunities, how to plan, how to forecast resource, how to provide assurance etc). The development of tools will enable us to drive consistency and improvement in the quality of our delivery. The successful Contractor will be expected to develop this in conjunction with the PMO.

ii) Development and delivery of a PPM skills assessment. As set out in our Vison, Ofwat is striving for excellence in PPM. To understand our increasing maturity, this part of the project will require the successful contractor to develop a PPM skills self-assessment for Ofwat employees that can be undertaken to baseline our current skill levels in PPM. Currently an ad hoc approach exists to programme and project management training with a host of training taking place within pools (e.g. PRINCE2, MSP, Agile etc). It is clearly accepted that whilst these training opportunities provide an outline of managing projects and programmes, it requires succinct changes within the learning to ensure it is fit for Ofwat's purposes. There is no consistent approach to PPM learning and development, and difficultly in understanding whether this learning has been embed across Ofwat. Through the development of a self-assessment framework, this will enable us to understand the current levels of PPM skills within Ofwat and what corporate training needs for PPM remain. This will put us in a position where we are able to take a strategic approach to learning and development in the future.