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Job summary

As the Deputy Director for Local Government Performance & Accountability you will be actively looking at how government provides oversight and assurance for local government, including sponsorship of the Office for Local Government, a key priority for the Secretary of State, and leadership on local audit. Local Authorities are highly independent organisations operating within a broad accountability framework. You will be responsible for ensuring that framework is operating as effectively as possible with the right checks and balances to ensure value for taxpayers whilst respecting local authority autonomy.  

Job description

This role also directly leads on three key aspects of the accountability framework – sponsorship of Oflog; local audit and transparency. The Office for Local Government is a relatively new organisation that has been created to help make local government even better. It will increase understanding about the performance of local authorities, warn when authorities are at risk of serious failure, and support local government to improve itself. You will work closely with the Chief Executive and senior team to support effective running, providing challenge and acting as an advocate of the organisation and help it to achieve its aims. 

The local audit system is currently not working as intended with very large numbers of late audits. You will also work closely with the Financial Reporting Council to oversee some significant reforms to the local audit system (including NAO, HMT, CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy), local authorities and audit firms) and lead cross government thinking on potential further changes to get the system back on track. 

You will be responsible for a budget of c. £22m, lead a team of 16 and be an active member of the leadership team in the Local Government Policy Directorate. You will build excellent relationships across the department, across Government and with the local government sector.

Key accountabilities

• Oversight of local government accountability system, providing advice to Permanent Secretary and Ministers on its effectiveness and options for improvement. This should include horizon scanning, injecting fresh thinking and ways of working to other teams to identify new opportunities, and the viability of them, for local government, recognising variation of need between local places.   

• Ensuring effective sponsorship of the Office for Local Government, enabling it to achieve its aims and maintaining good governance, including by further developing the Outline Business case.

• Working with the Financial Reporting Council provide oversight for the local government audit system and leading a programme of work to deliver significant changes to the local audit system, including secondary legislation.

• Working across government to consider further changes to the local audit system as needed.

• Providing policy leadership on transparency of data and current systems to manage volume of data collection in local government.

• Responsible for a budget of c. £22m.

Person specification

You will be a strategic thinker – able to take an overview of the local government accountability system, identify strengths and areas for improvement and work collaboratively across other parts of the local authority system to come up with solutions. You’ll need to be confident in navigating a way through by highlighting and managing tensions and building consensus.

Strong relationship skills are key – you will quickly need to build effective relationships by working openly and collaboratively with others, particularly Oflog, FRC and other audit organisations as well as people in local government. You will communicate confidently, effectively and persuasively with a wide range of audiences and stakeholders, including at senior levels.

You will need to be ready to provide leadership on key issues relating to oversight of the local government system – both across the Department and across Whitehall – whilst also shaping and leading your diverse team, and working across teams in the directorate.  You will need to be able to engage with technical finance concepts but there is no requirement for you to be expert in the area.  You will also need to engage confidently with the Oflog executive team and ensure effective governance to enable them to act independently.   

​All senior leaders in DLUHC will have a diversity and inclusion objective setting out how they promote diversity.

We particularly encourage applications from those of an ethnic minority background and those with disabilities, as well as those based in locations outside of London, who are underrepresented at this level in DLUHC.

As one of the Department’s senior leaders, you will also be a visible role model for the Civil Service leadership behaviours. These can be found in the Civil Service Leadership Statement which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-leadership-statement/civil-service-leadership-statement      

Essential criteria:​

• Excellent stakeholder and relationship skills, with a strong ability to work through and with others, partnering both within DLUHC and the local government sector with a range of key partners and stakeholders.

• The ability to lead a fun and inclusive team, embed a culture of openness and respect; and set the direction credibly whilst under pressure.

• The ability to communicate complicated material clearly and succinctly, bringing out key choices and trade-offs for ministers.

• Strong strategic and system thinking skills with the ability to set direction across multi-disciplinary teams and external partners to design and deliver impactful solutions.

• Excellent communication skills both in writing and orally and experience of working closely with senior stakeholders such as ministers or equivalents.

• Good judgment and a strong track record of leading policy development at pace, arriving at accurate and clear advice which weighs up options, impacts, risk and mitigations.

Desirable criteria:

• Knowledge of Local Government

• Experience of working with finance and accounting experts

• Experience of acting as a sponsor for other organisations

Selection process details

How to apply:

Please click the Be Applied link to provide the required information and complete your application through the Be Applied website by 23:55 on Wednesday 10 January 2024.

You will be asked to enter some personal details, upload your CV and to provide your responses to the role’s advertised essential criteria.​

When prompted to upload your CV, please upload a single document consisting of: ​

• a CV (including the names of 2 referees and your current remuneration) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities, achievements and your relevant qualifications. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. ​

• a statement of suitability explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria provided in the person specification. (max. 2 pages)​

Please remember to save these two items in one document.​

Please note that only completed applications through the Be Applied route will be considered and that any further progress updates will be sent through Be Applied.

The Hiring Manager, Siobhan Jones, would be happy to have informal discussions with candidates who would like further information about the role before submitting an application. If interested, please contact scs.recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk 

The selection panel will be made up of:

• Siobhan Jones, Director, Local Government Strategy, Intervention & Regulations​

• Nico Heslop, Director, Local Government Finance

• One additional panel member TBC

Additionally, the panel will be joined by one of our staff representatives from a pool of volunteers as part of our commitments to diversity and inclusion.

Selection process and assessments

Candidates that are shortlisted may be invited to attend a staff engagement panel. 

At DLUHC we hold staff engagement panels as an integral part of the recruitment process for Senior Civil Servants (SCS) – they are designed to help us build up a rounded picture of each candidate and give us an insight into how you might engage and interact with your team should you be successful. The purpose of the session is to help us assess your engagement and communication skills and is not about testing your subject knowledge or expertise for this particular role. Feedback from the session is passed onto the selection panel for consideration alongside the final interview.

Candidates may also be invited to a meeting with a Minister or the Secretary of State, and/or other senior stakeholders. This is not a formal part of the selection process but an informal chance for candidates to find out more about the role and the organisation.

Shortlisted candidates will also be invited to give a short presentation or complete an exercise at the beginning of their final interview. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates when invited to interview. 

All of the evidence presented as part of the process will be considered in the final assessment.

Security Clearance

All DLUHC colleagues must meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. This is a series of basic security checks to confirm identity and employment history.

In addition to the BPSS, the level of security clearance required for this role is Security Check (SC) and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. For more details of vetting levels and requirements please refer to the Cabinet Office HMG Personnel Security Controls.

Salary

For external appointments, remuneration for this role will be circa £75,000 pa plus a bonus opportunity depending on performance (within the normal Civil Service pay arrangements) and attractive pension.​

For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If appointed on promotion you would get the higher of 10% uplift or the new minimum for Deputy Director.​​

Future pay awards will normally be made in line with current SCS performance-related pay arrangements.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.