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Job summary

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is the lead department for HMG’s hugely important and high profile Levelling Up agenda. 
 
This is a very exciting time to join the department as we are at the heart of the government’s central mission, driving forward a programme of tangible improvements in every part of the country as we build back better from the pandemic, and deliver on the people’s priorities.

The Funding Delivery Directorate – Levelling Up Major Programmes responsible for funding programmes, including the Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund and Freeports. Our focus is on getting funding to where it is needed most and maximising impact so that everyone can benefit from economic growth and prosperity. We care about the quality of our products, our customer experience and team well-being.

Our programmes deliver across government priorities and we have strong networks across other government departments, bringing them into programme design, assessment and funding decisions.

We design and implement the delivery of these funds, working in collaboration with both internal stakeholders from our Areas and Analysis team and local delivery partners, for example local authorities.

The £3.6bn Towns Fund is a priority for the department’s levelling up agenda. Through working directly with places and putting power in the hands of local businesses and communities, we are unleashing the economic potential of towns and high streets across England. We want to see vibrant towns that are more attractive places to live, work and visit; and to level up opportunity across the country so that everyone (wherever they live) can contribute to and benefit from economic growth. 

This role is for an SEO Towns Fund Finance Lead, and we are seeking a highly motivated individual who is looking to develop themselves and their career in a high profile and impactful policy area. 

Job description

The key activities will include a number of the following:

·    Lead on the Towns Fund’s financial forecasting and payment processes, working closely with programme team colleagues, Finance Business Partners and other stakeholders in DLUHC 
·    Manage processes to collect, quality assure and interrogate management financial information
·    Act as a first point of contact on financial queries from local authorities, DLUHC colleagues and other Government Departments, including the Treasury 
·    Assess financial information provided by grant recipients and ensure Town Deal and FHSF financial profiles are up to date 
·    Work closely with colleagues leading on other workstreams, including performance, project change requests and business case approval, to ensure a joined up approach and that financial implications are properly considered and understood. 
·    Be responsible for timely and accurate reporting, including through building trusted relationships with colleagues and ensuring they understand the importance and value of the process
·    Support high quality financial reporting and briefing for Ministers and Senior Civil Servants at key programme decision points and in response to commissions.  

Person specification

We are looking for a highly motivated and organised individual who can demonstrate:

·    Experience of managing and analysing data, preferably in a financial role 
·    Strong teamwork skills, with the ability to establish and develop productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, bringing people together to deliver results.   
·    Attention to detail with the ability to accurately assemble key data and information for reports.
·    Strong organisational skills and the ability to work at pace when required. 
·    Good stakeholder management, including strong communication and engagement skills – an ability to build and manage relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
·    Excellent communication skills, with an ability to clearly convey complex information and data to a range of stakeholders.

Desirable criteria:

·    Experience of working in a complex environment with multiple stakeholders and projects.
·    Experience of managing budgets, profiling spend and managing payments

Offered benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role

• An environment with flexible working options

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Selection process details

We are for everyone 

At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation. 

We would strongly recommend that applicants get in touch with the vacancy manager to find out more information about this role.  

We are for everyone 

DLUHC want to bring in a diverse workforce at all levels.  

Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system – this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).  

Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions for example all candidates’ responses to ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ rather than seeing a candidate’s full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.  

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors. 

When writing your application, remember: 

• The assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially.  

• Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.  

• If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!) 

At sift, we will be assessing 

Behaviour (Lead Behaviour): Changing and Improving

Behaviour: Making Effective Decisions

Behaviour: Working Together

There is a 250 word limit per question. 

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progress straight to assessment/interview  

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:    

Behaviours

Strengths

The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.  

In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements: 

Behaviours: Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Working Together

Strengths: Yes

We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs 

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign. 

SEO salary 

• The salary for this role is £40,390 (London) or £37,064 (National). 

• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. 

BENEFITS: 

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018: 
Any move to DLUHC from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk 

For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. 

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: 

• London

• Birkenhead

• Birmingham

• Bristol

• Cambridge

• Darlington*

• Exeter

• Hastings

• Hemel Hempstead

• Leeds

• Manchester

• Newcastle Upton Tyne

• Nottingham

• Plymouth

• Sheffield

• Truro

• Warrington

• Wolverhampton

There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role. 

*Please note: The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) is a pioneering new cross-government hub which will bring together people across departments and public organisations to play an active role in the most important economic issues of the day. The work of the Campus will make a real difference to people both across the UK and internationally. There will be substantial career opportunities and exciting prospects - a career at the Campus means you will be working at the heart of Government, with access to the benefits and fantastic opportunities offered by the civil service. This role is based at DLUHC and we will be joined on the campus by: 

• HM Treasury  

• Department for International Trade 

• Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy  

• Office for National Statistics  

• Department for Education 

For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack. 

SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES: 

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 1st May 2023 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. 

RESERVE LIST: 
 
In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Due to the length of time CTC checks can take, our HR Shared Services team will contact reserve list candidates for London based roles to commence CTC checks. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. 

CTC (Counter-terrorism Clearance): 

Important note 

 
Successful candidates for roles based in our 2 Marsham Street building must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. 
 
Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the CTC security checks – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years. Please refer to the DLUHC Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC). Thank you. 
 
Candidates should also note that with effect from 1st August 2018 the department will also check all applicants who are successful at interview, against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) held by the Cabinet Office. In accordance with the Civil Service Internal Fraud Policy, any applicant who is included on the IFD will be refused employment by DLUHC. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database. 

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules 

Internal Fraud Database 

The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.  

For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register