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To apply for this role you will need to submit a CV and statement of suitability. These need to be merged into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and statement of suitability. There are further details in the Selection Process section further below in this advert.

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If those don't work please email scs.recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk with your application and/or CV before the submission deadline. Any applications received after the deadline may not be considered.

Job summary

We are recruiting a Deputy Director role within the Executive Team and Central Operations of the Levelling Up Group in DLUHC. This Group drives Levelling Up across government, delivering on the commitments made in the Levelling Up White Paper and using data and evidence to monitor progress against the twelve Levelling Up missions. ​

​This role supports the DLUHC’s most Senior Civil Servants to deliver the Department’s wide-ranging and exciting agenda, levelling up the United Kingdom, fixing the building safety system and supporting the housing and local government systems as well as ensuring DLUHC is a well-run and effective organisation. ​

​The role directly supports the Permanent Secretary to lead the whole Department, working across her responsibilities as the principal policy advisor to the Secretary of State, head of department, and Accounting Officer. You will advise her on policy issues, stakeholder engagement, complex propriety questions, and Accounting Officer issues, moving at pace between very different challenges in the course of every day. ​

​This role also leads a number of teams which are responsible for sensitive and important processes in the Department, including a new central secretariat for DLUHC’s key boards and committees as part of new governance arrangements our Executive Team have agreed making sure DLUHC has strong, clear governance and a good grip of some of our most sensitive issues. You will oversee the work of c55 people, across 5 G6 led specialist teams (honours and public appointments; chief scientific adviser; FOI and data protection; as well as permanent secretary and DG private offices, and the central governance and secretariat team). You will need to get involved in resolving tricky and sensitive issues across all those teams, as well as bringing them together into a new and high performing division and maximising efficiencies and joint working. ​

​You will take forward preparations for a General Election, working directly with the Permanent Secretary, central strategy and HR and with Cabinet Office to ensure DLUHC is well prepared, across both organisational questions and policy, as well as ensuring the Permanent Secretary’s office is well prepared for the propriety issues raised. 

Job description

• Leading the Executive Team Offices to provide exceptionally high-quality advice and support to the Permanent Secretary, driving forward her priorities and supporting policy, operational and parliamentary work.​

• Lead our new central secretariat and governance team, to provide excellent support to the Executive Team and to the Non-executive Directors in carrying out their responsibilities and ensuring that actions are recorded and communicated across DLUHC. You’ll act as the ‘company secretary’ and guide the governance framework for DLUHC as an organisation. ​

• Leading the Knowledge and Information Access teams to provide exceptional support to the Department on responding to FOIs, data protection issues and all statutory compliance the Department has obligations to meet.​

• Lead our Honours team to ensure that nominations put forward by the Department celebrates the people who go above and beyond to change the world around them for the better, rewarding those doing vital and extraordinary work across the country. ​

• Lead our Public Appointments team to ensure Ministers make high-quality Public Appointments to DLUHC bodies and observe the eight principles.​

• Building effective working relationships with extremely senior stakeholders to provide leadership and an effective channel of communication for the Permanent Secretary with other private offices, the Department, the rest of Whitehall and the department’s stakeholders. ​

• Using your relationships, judgement and understanding of wider contexts to support the Permanent Secretary in their work and to make sensitive decisions on their behalf. ​

• Add strategic value to the process and substance of decision making, especially on matters relating to the Accounting Officer’s responsibilities, the implementation of Managing Public Money and propriety and ethics.​

Person specification

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      

• This is a high-profile Deputy Director role working directly with the Permanent Secretary, DGs and equivalents across Whitehall which requires an ability to work at pace in an often-ambiguous environment, think strategically and operationally, engage in complex problem solving, and work with others in developing and delivering effective responses. ​

• You will have a high degree of political sensitivity and professionalism to command confidence with senior officials across the Civil Service.  You will be experienced in leading, developing, and empowering diverse teams to deliver in a complex environment that is fast paced and constantly evolving. ​

• You will want to help lead across the Department and will have a strong commitment to the Civil Service values of impartiality, honesty, integrity, and objectivity.  You will need strong personal resilience and to thrive on reactive challenges.  You will have excellent judgement, strong influencing and communication skills and the ability to manage competing demands. 

Essential Criteria:

• Strong leadership skills - An inspiring, confident, and empowering leader, who can set strategic direction, lead effectively through ambiguity, and get the best out of a diverse workforce through promoting an inclusive, high- performance culture. ​

• Building and managing relationships and partnerships - Excellent interpersonal skills able to influence others and negotiate on Ministers’ behalf. Adept at building strong working relationships with colleagues at all levels within the Department, across Whitehall and externally, with the ability to communicate complex messages clearly and succinctly and with impact and able to present effectively to ministers and senior colleagues.​

• Strategic thinking - The ability to spot linkages between different parts of the Department’s policy agenda and identify strategic opportunities and risks. ​

• Using information, data and evidence to make decisions and influence - Can offer Ministers sound robust advice with clear recommendations, based on critical analysis of available evidence whilst also being sensitive to the wider political context in which Ministers operate.​

• Strong personal resilience – experience of working effectively and of leading a team successfully during periods of sustained pressure and ambiguity, managing risks effectively and providing an excellent service to ministers and the wider Department.​

 Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes £20,250 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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%

Things you need to know

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 Sunday 3rd December 2023.

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, Kate O'Neill, 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:

• Kate O'Neill – Levelling Up Director​

• Nico Hislop – Local Government Finance Director​

• Cathy Francis – Regeneration and Housing Delivery Director

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.

Location​

Wolverhampton, Darlington and London.​

​Some travel to London (at least one day a week) will be required when Parliament is sitting. 

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

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

Role Assignment Duration

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.