Governance model

The governance model defines how each level and function supports the delivery group.

Each function is represented by a role or individual. People are empowered to make decisions as part of their role, without the need for escalation.

Examples are given of roles with governance responsibilities.

Strategic level

Sets priorities and connects strategic decisions with coordination and implementation, ensuring the delivery group operates within the wider organisational strategy.

Business

Defines the delivery group’s overall objectives and outcomes. Holds responsibility for approving budgets to support delivery.

Roles: Core Defra or arm’s length body director, business governance board, senior responsible officer

Delivery

Responsible for the delivery group’s budget, decides how that budget is allocated, and ensures the right people are in place to deliver outcomes. Recruits strategic product and technology experts and organises co-ordination roles.

Roles: Delivery group lead, programme delivery manager, programme manager

Product

Works with business to shape, set and prioritise outcomes. Develops and agrees the strategic roadmap for the delivery group to achieve these outcomes.

Roles: Delivery group lead, lead product manager

Technology

Sets the overall technology guardrails which define how services will be developed in the delivery group, ensuring consistency with enterprise architecture principles.

Roles: Principal architect, principal developer

Co-ordination level

Ensures alignment and co-ordination across the delivery group, creating space for collaboration and making sure delivery is in line with the relevant roadmaps.

Service ownership

Oversees and co-ordinates multiple smaller services which form a larger service, making sure they work together to deliver to user and organisational needs.

Roles: Operations or policy deputy director

Service design

Defines how individual services fit together to form a larger service. This includes looking at the whole end-to-end user journey, covering both online and offline touchpoints throughout the lifecycle of a service.

Roles: Service designer

Product

Maintains the strategic roadmap set for the delivery group. Co-ordinates product management at implementation level, making sure that individual roadmaps align with strategic planning and dependencies are considered.

Roles: Lead product manager

Delivery

Manages the co-ordination of delivery across multiple teams at the implementation level. Responsible for service budgets and making sure that funding supports successful delivery. Brings people in to facilitate delivery at the implementation level.

Roles: Programme delivery manager, programme manager

Profession leadership

Brings in and co-ordinates people to deliver services within the delivery group, ensuring that they have the right people, professions and skills to meet delivery expectations. They work together to create and nurture a community of practice, to maintain standards and share knowledge across the delivery group.

Roles: Lead content designer, lead user researcher, design manager, principal business analyst, principal developer, principal architect, principal QA

Support

Defines governance standards for finance, reporting, assurance, and other operational processes, ensuring compliance with organisational policies and standards.

Roles: Project management office lead, project support officer

Implementation level

Focuses on delivering outcomes and maintaining effective services, working together to meet user and organisational needs in line with the relevant roadmaps.

Service ownership

Takes accountability for the policy, digital delivery and operational aspects of a specific service, often referred to as the ‘end-to-end’.

Roles: Policy lead, operations lead

Product

Defines and manages the vision and roadmap for a specific product or service, making sure that teams understand priorities to work towards outcomes.

Roles: Product manager

Delivery

Provides support to the delivery team, ensuring they work together efficiently and effectively to budget. Builds the delivery team of different professions often working with other functions to fill these roles, such as the profession leads.

Roles: Delivery manager, project manager

Professions

Specialists across different professions work together to deliver outcomes for the delivery group, ensuring the product or service is built and maintained using user needs.

Roles: User researcher, content designer, interaction designer, service designer, developer, QA, architect, business analyst, performance analyst

Support

Provides operational support so that the team can focus on delivery, including financial management, reporting, compliance and assurance.

Roles: Project support officer, resource manager

Visual versions

These versions highlight the information above in a visual way. These can be used to explain the model to different audiences.

Flow chart

Delivery group governance model flow chart

Simple visual

Poster