Programme Support Officer - 12 month FTC
Department: Merger Management Office
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.
Further information:
At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.
The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.
We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.
When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.
We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly, and we recognise its growing role in professional work. Applicants may use AI tools to support preparation of their application, for example to research the role or structure written responses. However, applications must reflect the applicant’s own work and experience. AI tools should not be used during interviews or assessment activities unless this has been agreed in advance as a reasonable adjustment. Further guidance on the use of AI in recruitment can be found here.
We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.
We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.
Grade and Salary: Grade 6 - £45,829 - £53,462 Including London Weighting Allowance
Job ID: 163145
Post Date: 04-Nov-2026
Close Date: 25-Nov-2026
Contact Person: Joseph Morganite
Contact Details: joseph.morganite@kcl.ac.uk
