CPMO Senior Assurance Officer

Job Introduction

About Us

At Oxfordshire County Council, we are committed to delivering high‑quality, efficient services that make a real difference to our communities. Our new Corporate Portfolio Management Office (CPMO) is central to this ambition, bringing together programme assurance, governance and performance oversight into a unified corporate function. 

As we transition to a strengthened corporate PMO model, this is an exciting time to join us. You’ll be part of a team that drives best practice, champions transparency, and enables confident, evidence‑based decision‑making across the organisation. 

We are an organisation rooted in our values — Always Learning, Be Kind and Caring, Equality and Integrity, Take Responsibility, and Daring to Do It Differently. These values guide everything we do, from the way we support our colleagues to how we deliver for the residents of Oxfordshire. 

About the Role

As a CPMO Senior Assurance Officer, you will be confident bringing independent challenge, asking the difficult questions and driving higher standards across complex programmes. You’ll sit at the heart of strategic change, testing assumptions, surfacing risks early and ensuring leaders have the insight they need to act decisively.  

You will play a pivotal role in supporting the delivery of the Council’s strategic programmes and projects. Acting as an independent source of challenge, you’ll ensure that risks, issues and performance are clearly understood and transparently reported at all levels. 

You will: 

• Maintain accurate programme documentation, dashboards, and risk/issue logs across all council programmes.
• Support strong programme governance and escalate concerns where standards are not met.
• Produce high‑quality reports, performance insights and briefing materials for senior leaders.
• Track dependencies, challenge assumptions and provide clear advice to Programme and Project Managers.
• Undertake deep‑dive assurance activities, making practical recommendations.
• Develop and refine CPMO processes, templates, reporting tools and best‑practice guidance.
• Analyse programme and financial data to ensure accuracy and auditability.
• Contribute to continuous improvement and the embedding of a unified corporate PMO culture.

About you

You will be an experienced PMO or assurance professional with strong analytical, organisational and communication skills. You’ll be comfortable working in a complex environment, managing competing priorities and challenging constructively where needed.  

You’ll provide trusted insight, robust governance and constructive challenge to support better decision making and stronger outcomes. Working across a diverse portfolio, you’ll help embed consistent standards, strengthen accountability and support lasting change — ensuring public resources are used wisely and ambitions translate into strategic priority outputs. 

You will bring: 

• Experience working within a CPMO/PMO environment, ideally in a large or complex organisation.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving and organisational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to work at all levels.
• A solid understanding of programme governance, risk management and reporting frameworks.
• Proficiency with project management tools, MS Office, PowerBI and emerging AI tools.
• Professional qualification such as PRINCE2, MSP, APM or Agile, or equivalent experience.
• A commitment to modelling our organisational values and championing equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Knowledge of Monday.com or similar PPM systems

Experience within local government or the public sector is desirable but not essential. 

Rewards and benefits

• Agile working policy
• 30 days of annual leave per year, plus bank holidays
• Option to buy additional leave
• Employee Assistance Programme, including access to health and wellbeing support
• Membership of the Local Government contributory pension scheme, with an employer's contribution of up to 19.9%
• Enhanced family friendly policies
• Local and national discounts for shopping and travel
• Great learning and development opportunities to support your continuing development.

Our commitment to:
 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Oxfordshire County Council we are proud of our diverse workforce. Everyone is accepted for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or on maternity or family leave. We have a number of staff network groups which provide peer support, education and safe spaces for all.

Our commitment to:
Guaranteed Interview Schemes

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job. We also guarantee interviews to care leavers who have completed further education and who meet the essential criteria for the job. For those leaving care without any further education, we guarantee an interview for our apprenticeships. We are also committed to helping and supporting those transitioning from HM Armed Forces to civilian life and guarantee an interview for those demonstrating the essential criteria for the role, within three years of leaving the service.

Our commitment to:
Safeguarding

Oxfordshire County Council are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect these commitments.

Our commitment to:
Flexible Working

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which can include flexi-time, full time and part time working, job sharing, nine-day fortnights and annualised hours, depending on the requirements of the role and the service.

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If you encounter any issues with the application system, please contact: louise.tustian@oxfordshire.gov.uk