Programme Support Officer - 12 month FTC

About us

King’s College London’s mission is to achieve excellence in education and research, using our knowledge with purpose since 1829 for the benefit of society. The Merger Management Office (MMO), within Executive Portfolios, coordinates Project Whittle, the planned merger of King’s College London and Cranfield University. Working across both institutions, the team supports detailed integration planning and readiness for the planned merger completion on 1 August 2027.

About the role

The Programme Support Officer will play an important role in keeping Project Whittle organised and on track. Working within the Merger Management Office, you will coordinate programme information, governance activity and reporting You will work with workstream leads and senior colleagues as both universities prepare for merger completion. 

You will manage the programme reporting cycle, maintain the integrated programme plan, milestones and deliverables and check progress against agreed dates. You will keep risk, action, issue, decision and dependency records up to date, challenge gaps or inconsistencies in information and follow up with owners to help resolve issues promptly. You will also prepare accurate dashboards, reports and briefing materials to inform programme decisions and highlight emerging risks. 

Alongside this, you will coordinate governance meetings and workshops, prepare agendas and papers, record minutes and decisions and maintain clear action records. You will support document control, track due diligence and integration planning requirements and help with recruitment and onboarding within the MMO. The role calls for strong organisation, attention to detail and the confidence to work across teams and handle sensitive information. 

This is a full-time (35 hours per week) 12-month fixed-term appointment, based at Melbourne House with hybrid working arrangements.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• Experience supporting complex projects, programmes or PMO activity in a large organisation.
• Practical knowledge of planning, RAID, change control and governance, with experience challenging information quality and supporting timely escalation.
• Strong analytical skills, including validating information, identifying trends and producing accurate reports, dashboards and recommendations for senior colleagues.
• Excellent organisation and delivery skills, with the ability to work independently, balance competing priorities and follow actions through to completion.
• Strong stakeholder and communication skills, including explaining complex information, constructively challenging updates and coordinating colleagues across organisational boundaries.
• Experience coordinating governance meetings and workshops, preparing agendas and papers and producing accurate minutes, action notes and decision records.
• Proficiency in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams and SharePoint or equivalent tools for managing programme information and producing clear reporting.
• Sound judgement, discretion and attention to detail when handling sensitive information and maintaining records, version control and appropriate access. 

Desirable criteria

• Experience of higher education, research, the public sector or another complex stakeholder-led environment.
• Experience supporting a merger, integration, transformation or organisation-wide change programme.
• A relevant project, programme or PMO qualification or training, such as PRINCE2, MSP or P3O, or equivalent demonstrable knowledge gained through practice.
• Experience preparing dashboards, management information, governance packs or programme assurance materials.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

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