Please read before applying:

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@levellingup.gov.uk with your application and/or CV before the submission deadline. Any applications received after the deadline may not be considered.

Short summary

The Implementation Unit was created – at the Secretary of State’s request – to bring support and impetus to securing his key priorities across DLUHC’s portfolio. Pursuing project-based approaches, themes of focus are a combination of defining and picking a way through knotty delivery problems – brokering solutions and offering advice – and convening actors, including outside government, to frame programmes and pursue vigorous delivery. In building the team’s approach, we have blended technical and behavioural characteristics intentionally: ​​

• Problem definition – clear-eyed, rigorous crystallisation of exam questions, including with an eye to systems and to root causes; ​

• System analysis – delivery chains, process mapping, causal relationships and root cause analysis, fieldwork interviews, building or interrogating numbers; ​

• Solutions design and quantification – operational, policy and enabling options; ​

• Defining and tracking outcomes – goal-setting, metrics design, dashboards, different models for performance reporting and governance. Together with,​

• Scalable deployment – project-based working; range of deployment models (short diagnostic through to multi-week reform options). 8 FTE core, adding capacity by training others. And, ​

• Explicit premium on behaviours – collegiality, humility, trustworthiness, follow-through.​

We have aimed for a range of backgrounds and skillsets – No.10 and other delivery units, policy teams, Private Offices, private sector infrastructure consultancy, and local govt, currently – so that we can offer blended support, from problem definition and analysis through to cross-Whitehall political handling.

Job description

Together with the director (SCS2) this is one of two SCS roles amongst a central team of eight officials, alongside some scope to draw down external support. We are appointing at SCS1 for the strategic insight, depth of experience, handling dexterity and leadership heft that strong candidates at this level will bring. The role will include significant exposure to Ministers, top officials and senior local leaders, and a high level of personal autonomy.​

Working interchangeably with and deputising for the director, you should expect to define, broker, lead team members and convene others in characterising problems, agreeing solutions, framing projects and pursuing practical delivery to get things done. You will need to be comfortable with ambiguity, poorly defined boundaries and the need to generate your own work and inspire your team and colleagues.

To be successful, you will bring together strong interpersonal skills and integrity, with high intellectual acumen and drive: The essence of the role will be helping Ministers, Special Advisers and wider / external actors to agree common diagnoses and to implement brisk, practical approaches to complex problems.

Person specification

You will be an experienced and inclusive leader, able to empower, develop and inspire your teams to deliver, including under pressure and ambiguity.​

You will be able to think strategically and analytically, taking on board complex information about a wide variety of topics. You will be able to synthesise what you hear from experts and form a broad strategic direction, which you can then communicate confidently in order to deliver DLUHC’s policy objectives.​

You will need to be able to engage effectively across boundaries at a senior level and have proven and credible experience working with Ministers or equivalent senior stakeholders.​

You will give priority to developing your own knowledge of DLUHC policy, so that you are seen as an authoritative source of advice by Ministers, senior officials and colleagues elsewhere in Government.​

For any successful based outside London, frequent travel to London will be required to facilitate team and ministerial meetings.​

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

• Political and wider handling acumen – material experience of successfully supporting and influencing top Ministerial or equivalent stakeholders in pinning down complex issues and in framing and agreeing practical responses, marrying strong integrity and professional judgement with an ability to get things done; ​

• System thinking, strategy and strategic analytical skills – demonstrable experience in defining, bringing structure and evidence, and simplifying complex problems, to clarify choices and provide quantified foundations for actionable plans; ​

• Delivery grip, delivery recovery and delivery leadership – practical leadership experience in delivering outputs or change, including applying that experience to creating grip or turning around projects that are off track; ​

• Team and collegial leadership and management – successful creation and operational leadership and management of strongly performing teams with high levels of employee engagement – ideally, organising work programmatically – and of building rapport and providing effective ‘soft’ leadership to peers and seniors.

Selection process details

Please enter your email address above to provide the required information and complete your application through the Be Applied website by 23:55 on Sunday 24th March.

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, Robert Arnott, 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:

• Robert Arnott, Director, Implementation Unit​

• Two additional panel members, 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.

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.