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Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Building Safety Briefings Team. The objective of the Building Safety Programme is to deliver an ambitious system of reform, as well as a historic cladding remediation programme, with the aim of ensuring high-rise buildings are safe, and that residents feel safe in them, now and in the future. Our work involves a high level of Ministerial engagement, public and media interest.

The team sits in the very centre of the programme, providing a critical function in translating its work into clear, robust and high-quality briefing products and PQ responses for the Secretary of State, our ministers, senior officials and wider interest groups. This supports effective engagement with stakeholders, ensuring that the public and Parliament have appropriate responses. The successful candidate will enjoy being on top of and alive to a wide range of policy work and be able to convert that into succinct products that meet our customers’ needs.   

Job description

As a member of the BSP Briefing Team you will be responsible for ensuring concise and informative briefings are drafted for ministers and senior stakeholders, and for coordinating responses to parliamentary questions. This can include briefing for ministerial meetings with stakeholders, parliamentary debates, committees and oral parliamentary questions. 

You will:
•    Ensure the provision of high-quality, concise and informative briefings.
•    Evaluate all briefing requests and provide clear direction to policy leads drafting relevant material.
•    Liaise with Private Offices on requirements and keep them informed of progress
•    Ensure material is drafted on time, coherently and addresses the need.
•    Review existing material and contributions, draft, collate, and quality assure products.
•    Commission and quality assure answers to written questions from Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords, ensuring that the right officials are involved in responding, and that these answers are delivered in a timely manner
•    Maintain a shared repository of PQs and briefing that act as an auditable record of programme business.

Person specification

 •    Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal to deliver high quality products for Ministers and senior officials
•    Attention to detail, especially when working in a fast-paced environment
•    Ability to see strategically across the programme and to identify gaps
•    Flexible and inclusive approach to delivering work
•    Ability to work at pace and manage multiple requests

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): Delivering at Pace

Behaviour: Communicating and Influencing

Behaviour: Working Together

Behaviour: Managing a Quality Service

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:    

Behaviour  

Technical 

Strength 

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

Candidates will be expected to deliver a presentation at interview stage, the details of which will be provided upon invitation. 

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

Behaviours: Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Managing a Quality Service

Technical: Yes

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. 

HEO salary 

• The salary for this role is £33,875 (London) or £30,792 (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 

• Wolverhampton 

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. 

SC (Security Check) 

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 Security Check and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. 

Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the Security Check – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 5 years. Please refer to the DLUHC Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Security Check (SC).  

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