Project Control Officer

Department Project and Programme Office

Location(s) Cheltenham, Manchester, Samlesbury
Salary £33,750, plus a Concessionary Payment of £2,658

Job description 

Flexible working

We support a variety of flexible working arrangements, including part-time hours, compressed working patterns, and flexible start and finish times. All roles involve working on site. However, for some positions there may be opportunities to work from home for part of the time, subject to business needs.

About us
GCHQ is an intelligence, cyber, and security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting-edge technology, ingenuity, and partnerships to identify, analyse, and disrupt threats. Working with our intelligence partners MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber-attacks, and espionage. At GCHQ, you’ll do varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.

The role
As a Project Control Officer, you’ll be part of our award-winning Programme Management Office, playing a key role in financial planning and risk management. While the role currently spans risk and planning, its focus is expected to shift increasingly towards finance. You’ll work with financial data, forecasting, and planning activities contributing to a wider range of tasks–preparing data for meetings, maintaining accurate records to supporting financial risk workshops and developing expertise in key project control techniques.

The role centres on finance, risk, and planning, bringing structure to the delivery of transformational projects. You’ll oversee areas such as budgeting, resource management, and project scheduling. By collaborating closely with project managers, you’ll help identify risks and trends, ensuring teams have the financial resources needed to mitigate potential issues. Your responsibilities also include managing monthly financial governance, analysing data, and providing insights into project performance. Through this, you’ll help enhance process effectiveness and uncover opportunities for improvement.

Collaboration is at the heart of this role. Whether working with project managers, stakeholders or customers, you’ll be part of a culture that values teamwork, trust and clear communication. From interpreting financial figures to implementing controls, you’ll be the reliable source of support. As you grow in the role, you’ll have genuine opportunities to advance your career–whether within the Service Management Team, Project Management Team, or in other areas across our wider community.

About you
To apply for this role, you’ll need a Level 2 qualification (GCSE or equivalent) in English Language and Maths at Grade 4/C or above. Beyond that, we’re looking for individuals who are confident working with numbers and have a genuine interest in financial data. Experience in fields such as teaching, customer support or other areas can bring valuable skills, especially if you’re comfortable presenting information clearly, collaborating under pressure, and contributing to data-driven reports. We value the diverse experience people bring and are focused on the strengths you offer.

You’ll approach numerical tasks with adaptability, contributing to a range of projects led by different managers. Proficiency in MS Office and a solid grasp of budgets and financial reports are essential. As the role involves working closely with colleagues, customers, stakeholders, and visitors, you’ll be confident in collaborating, clearly communicating tasks, risks, and financial information, and offering support wherever it’s needed.

Training and development
When you join us, you’ll receive a comprehensive induction into GCHQ, followed by a team-specific induction into Project Control. This includes three days of structured onboarding and plenty of on-the-job training to help you settle in smoothly.

We’re committed to developing our staff and understand that everyone requires different levels of support and training. Our exceptional, friendly community of colleagues brings a diverse range of skills, perspectives and experiences, and they’ll be on hand to share their expertise with you.

Our supportive environment ensures you receive the guidance and resources necessary to thrive. Whether you’re looking to deepen your expertise in a specific area or explore new specialities, we’ll provide the tools and opportunities to help you succeed.

Rewards and benefits
We provide a base salary of £33,750, plus a Concessionary Payment of £2,658.

•    25 days of annual leave, automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, plus 10.5 days of public and privilege holidays
•    opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
•    an interest-free season ticket loan
•    an excellent pension scheme
•    a cycle to work scheme
•    on-site facilities such as a gym, restaurant, and coffee bars (available at some locations)
•    paid parental and adoption leave.

Equal opportunities
At GCHQ, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word–individuals with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking, and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions.

We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including from groups that are underrepresented in our workforce, such as women, individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website.

We’re disability confident
GCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This initiative encourages employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain, and develop disabled people.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview, where practical. (This is known as an “Offer of an interview”).

To secure an interview for this role, applicants must meet the following minimum criteria, which will be assessed at the application sift stage:

1.    Complete an initial application from, including pre-screening questions, to ensure you meet our eligibility requirements
2.    You must have a minimum of 4 GCSEs at Grade 4 or above in Mathematics and English Language (or an equivalent Level 2 qualification or relevant work experience/evidence).
3.    Experience using Microsoft Office and Excel, which you’ll use to manipulate and extract data.
4.    Ability to demonstrate an understanding of budgets and financial reporting
5.    Demonstrate skills relevant to the role, including processing and presenting data in a report
6.    Ability to describe how you would approach a situation where key information must be obtained from a key individual to meet an upcoming deadline.
7.    Demonstrate a proactive approach, being self-starting and able to engage effectively with a range of stakeholders and customers.

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to help you perform at your best. See our website for information on the reasonable adjustments we can offer.

What to expect
Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

1.    Initial application
2.    Full application
3.    Application sift, which will assess your motivation for the role, the organisation and your relevant experience 
4.    Interview to assess competency and suitability for the role.
5.    If successful, you’ll receive a conditional offer of employment, subject to a drugs test and vetting

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before you apply
To work at GCHQ, you must be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. Read our full eligibility criteria on our website.

This role requires the highest level of security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV), which is undertaken by everyone in the UK Intelligence Community. Find out more about the vetting process on our website.

Please note we have a strict drugs policy. Once you begin your application, you must not take any recreational drugs, and you’ll be required to declare any previous drug usage at the relevant stage.

Before you apply, we recommend setting up a separate email address for your correspondence with us. This helps keep your personal and application-related communications separate. Avoid including identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or last name or date of birth. This is considered good practice and will help you manage your application more securely.

The role is based in Cheltenham, Manchester, or Samlesbury, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are currently overseas, wait until you are in the UK to apply. Applying from outside the UK may affect our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application with anyone other than your partner or a close family member.

Right to withdraw statement:
Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.